My Shadow ~ Solo Game Project

        Your Greatest Fear, is You.

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       Pre-Production Document

Below is the Pre-Production document I created for the game. All background info is displayed here. All 3D and In-Engine work was a work-in-progress at the time of creating this document. 

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          Pre-Alpha Development

During Pre-Alpha Development, I wanted to get the base structure of the level down. Establishing what is going to happen in each room and how the player will navigate through them. What vibe each room has and what they will contain. 

      The Dining Room - Cutscene

This cutscene here was created to show off The Dining Room area as it was the most finished room at the end of the Pre-Alpha stage. I added a large pencil in the room to try and establish the scale in the game. As the player was a doll inside a dollhouse, I wanted that to come across whilst playing, connecting the 2 worlds. I ended up rearranging this room many times until I was happy with it.

            The First Teaser Trailer

This is the first teaser trailer I made to capture the vibe I wanted of the overall game. That vibe being unsettling and uncanny.

             Alpha Development

During Alpha Development, I planned out what kind of interactions the player will have with the hands. How they will show up and affect the flow of the gameplay. I also started to include more assets to fill the rooms out more. I also started creating the main puzzle mechanic where the player has to collect 3 objects and place them in-front of the correct hands. If all have been accepted, the player will win.

               Beta Development

During Beta Development, the layout of the game has been finalized and most of the rooms have been filled with assets, grunge and extra details. Puppet sight has been added, which reveals important items when activated. I originally wanted the hands to appear when using the mechanic so that they have to use it for a limited time however, I never got round to creating that part of the mechanic unfortunately.

      Final In-Engine Screenshots

This is what the game currently looks like. I added a lot of cutscenes and interactions with the hands in this last stretch. However, most of my time was spent on bug fixing the mechanics I had created, hence why some of the other aspects of the game are not up to my standard. Aspects such as the lack of hand interactions, having to hide from them as they search for you, being picked up by the hands and taken somewhere else and perhaps a more modular level design. By this, I wanted to make the Dollhouse infinite. Creating the sense that the player is trapped inside with the shadows and the only escape is to do their bidding. Overall I am extremely pleased with what I've created and how little time I have done it in. Before the game is released, I want to add a couple more features to make the gameplay feel more reactive and possibly add the features suggested previously. 

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                           Gameplay

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                          3D Models

The models are low poly because the viewing angle of the game is far away, so I could get away with lower resolution models and textures (which are at 2k). To the optimize the game further, rooms that are not currently in view are unloaded to save on memory and are loaded back in when the player is close. 

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I had a couple freelancers work with me on this project. Sasha Gallie created the character model of Wayne. Lloyd Hickman created the walk and run animations for Wayne and rigged the hands. Josh Griffin created all music and SFX. Third Party Assets used: Mixamo.com, Megascans: Sandstone Desert and Ultimate Spline Camera System. 

Finally, I'd like to thank you for looking at my work! This as been an amazing experience being a solo dev and creating such a surreal experience for you all to enjoy. The game is still being created but if you wish to play the game upon release, the link underneath my profile will send you to my Linktree where the link to the itch.io page will be located at the top. Again, Thank you for your time and good luck!