https://harveyhayman.com Harvey Hayman, Game Designer Wed, 31 May 2023 15:48:59 +0000 https://harveyhayman.com en https://harveyhayman.com/Morgan-Metal-Detective Wed, 31 May 2023 14:53:48 +0000 Harvey Hayman, Game Designer https://harveyhayman.com/Morgan-Metal-Detective ‘Morgan: Metal Detective’ is a cosy, first person metal detector adventure game, where you reunite residents of the beautiful Cornish island of Glasden with things they have lost. And with your late Grandpa's help, maybe restore magic along the way. <img width="7087" height="4904" width_o="7087" height_o="4904" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c1c53e40abea3d6dd86c7dbb0e4dd9295764b1a4474abe436296221424f2900c/MMD-POSTER-REFINEMENT-PRINT-03.png" data-mid="193360164" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c1c53e40abea3d6dd86c7dbb0e4dd9295764b1a4474abe436296221424f2900c/MMD-POSTER-REFINEMENT-PRINT-03.png" /> Coming soon on Steam, wishlist now. Downloadable for Windows and Mac. Morgan is currently being developed by myself and Holly Hudson. It was showcased publicly at EGX, 12-15 October 2023. Interview for press: How did the idea of Morgan: Metal Detective first come about between the two of you? [Harvey]: I keep a running Google Doc of game ideas and one of them was just “mudlarking” (when you scour the beaches of an estuary for finds). I played around with this a little bit and thought about a murder mystery where you accidentally discover a murder weapon while mudlarking and are embroiled in the acts of a vicious London gang… but I quickly got rid of that idea. One of things I liked about a game involving mudlarking was the premise of discovering items hidden just below the surface; the idea that there’s history hidden under every footstep. Then it struck me, why limit ourselves to the banks for a river? Why not expand out to anywhere? Metal detecting. I pitched this basic idea to Holly, “first person game about metal detecting”, and we quickly picked up and ran with it. The way our course is structured is that we’re meant to pitch three different ideas to a panel of industry experts, and use their feedback to inform our choice of which one we develop. Although we pitched two other game ideas, we’d already decided that we were invested in this one concept, initially named “Searching for Treasure”. Early on, we joined up with the game’s writer, Ruby Abbiss, and started to talk about how we could build a narrative around metal detecting. We envisaged that a rewarding game loop would be listening or finding clues then use these to pinpoint a location where a treasure could be found, then return this item to its rightful owner for an emotional payoff. I don’t think we’ve ever lost sight of this goal! <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5079269405ef0a6d8b868df91bbb426cc3b18f5d8a78796de2d7576133572b24/ss_1497265985e35970b3159d62584b752116772e8f.jpg" data-mid="193360288" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5079269405ef0a6d8b868df91bbb426cc3b18f5d8a78796de2d7576133572b24/ss_1497265985e35970b3159d62584b752116772e8f.jpg" /> What were your main reference points through its development? [Harvey]: These were super clear for us really early on. Our main touchstones have always been ‘Firewatch’ and ‘Alba: A Wildlife Adventure’. We wanted to create a unique blend of the two, but also add in the core mechanic of metal detecting. From an art style perspective, we were certainly inspired by the chunky models of ‘Firewatch’ and the low poly gradients of ‘Alba’, but we were also inspired by ustwo’s previous title, ‘Assemble with Care’. We loved how each of the objects to disassemble, then carefully assemble, are lovingly designed. In addition, we adored its hand drawn character art style. Another strong reference point for us was the design of the magical, soft 3D environments in ‘Sky: Children of the Light’. [Holly]: We also took inspiration from the likes of ‘Untitled Goose Game’, ‘Ooblets’ and ‘Frog Detective’. Each with a unique style, these games utilize flat-shading and lower poly models to flesh out their worlds and visually narrate their stories. As a two-person team, there were many time constraints Harvey and I had to consider, one of which being how we could efficiently create 3D assets in a small amount of time. Using these flat-shaded, minimalist looks as inspiration, we were able to build a low-poly library of assets that use block colours and gradients. This enabled us to produce the assets we needed within our production schedule. <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/385b8da2025cd746cf29774399ba9668762e165df9f8e09c90a44a246a3f6921/ss_3159052aa16416bb6cebbf19960eea4de35b7770.jpg" data-mid="193360292" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/385b8da2025cd746cf29774399ba9668762e165df9f8e09c90a44a246a3f6921/ss_3159052aa16416bb6cebbf19960eea4de35b7770.jpg" /> Is there any element of the game that each of you found most challenging to make right? [Harvey]: The most difficult element to get right has certainly been how metal detecting works, looks, interacts with the terrain and around the story elements. Early on in development we got obsessed with the idea of keys. One key you found underground led to a safe, which contained a key, giving you access to a beach hut, which contained another key that opened a gate in a cave… We got carried away. What really helped us was to think about what items which each of the game’s characters could desperately want returned, and weave a larger narrative into that. From a technical perspective, we went through several iterations of how the metal detector system would work, and interact with the game world. We initially played around with a third party system, Digger which literally rips holes in the Unity terrain system. However, we could not get this system to operate in a performant way, so had to abandon this approach. We played around with another third party system, See-Through Shader but couldn’t find a reliable way to get this to work with the terrain system. Next we played around with a system which uses a second camera to show a hole on the ground, much like ‘Portal’. But this felt like overkill. We ultimately ended up with a stencil shader system which renders layers and materials such that we can fake a hole intersecting with the terrain, without actually making a hole in the terrain. A huge thanks to fellow National Film and Television School Games student, Thomas Porta for masterminding this solution. <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/74934aed8e83befba9d15918b4b870b89865d963059c6297217626562917d383/ss_44e8f39a7e5945c97fe9ed14ace0dcf7cbd5c8f5.jpg" data-mid="193360290" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/74934aed8e83befba9d15918b4b870b89865d963059c6297217626562917d383/ss_44e8f39a7e5945c97fe9ed14ace0dcf7cbd5c8f5.jpg" /> However, quite a long way into development, we let players dig wherever they wanted. Some people found this quite unsatisfying when they didn’t hit quite the right spot to find the treasure (too much like real metal detecting). So the system we landed on was the game tells you when you can dig, and you will always find treasure, maybe that treasure is an old can, but you never get the disappointment of an empty hole. What is it in the game that you feel most proud of? [Harvey]: I’m really proud of how the game feels to play. From playtesting, we’ve seen that players LOVE metal detecting, maybe to an obsessive degree. I’m not sure if we anticipated how content players would be just searching for stuff hidden underground. In some cases, we’ve developed these intricate quests and storylines, but the players weren’t interested. Good stuff. [Holly]: I’m also so proud of the world we’ve created on this little Cornish island. We wanted to evoke a sense of child-like wonder in this game, so it is really rewarding seeing the player's enthusiasm to want to run around and explore the beauty and mysteries of the island! Is there anyone you had specifically in mind as the audience while creating the game? [Harvey]: We think that cosy games are a really powerful tool to help people relax, decompress and switch off. We wanted to create a place where people can do that. No stress, no danger, just get out your metal detector and explore. I guess it was anyone who feels like they need that space? [Holly]: I’m a huge cosy game fan, and have been loving the recent wave of wholesome titles such as ‘Mail Time’, ‘Ooblets’, and ‘Bear and Breakfast’. When Harvey pitched me the initial metal detecting idea, we could see how this meditative mechanic would really lend itself to the stress-free and calming nature of cosy games. The games market is saturated with high-adrenaline games that lean on the idea of fight or flight, but with ‘Morgan: Metal Detective’ we wanted to reach out to audiences that crave emotionally and socially engaging games through soothing visuals and gentle gameplay mechanics. <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aa9dab5bc89a81aa0343aa7203f729decc46822c18b1f2f0edf7c26369899eef/ss_739f4a5337354aeff8b85789c32c5af30534ad5a.jpg" data-mid="193360291" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/aa9dab5bc89a81aa0343aa7203f729decc46822c18b1f2f0edf7c26369899eef/ss_739f4a5337354aeff8b85789c32c5af30534ad5a.jpg" /> Anything else you want to say? [Harvey]: I quit my job in tax consultancy to pursue a career in video game development. I decided to study the Video Game Design and Development MA programme at the National Film and Television School (NFTS). I’m so happy that I did. The school has enabled me to work alongside the most talented artists, programmers, writers, composers, sound designers, producers, and receive feedback from some truly brilliant tutors. I’m deeply thankful to the faculty and all my fellow students. If you’re reading this as someone who is struggling to make their way into the games industry but is bubbling with interesting ideas, please consider studying at the NFTS. [Holly]: I’ve been very fortunate in that I’ve been surrounded and supported by many talented, passionate people within the games industry. It’s been particularly inspiring to see an increasing presence of women in leadership positions. Seeing women lead with creativity and determination is not only empowering but also a demonstration of the industry's steps towards a more diverse and inclusive space. It is a reminder that the games industry is a place of opportunity for anyone! <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/01f6a7d5238b5cea96134ef54ea95fac7fd77fd86d2002f176f94d1a503ed5f0/ss_9b0e3135fcab9482a6aff5f52af8ecad7eaace3e.jpg" data-mid="193360289" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/01f6a7d5238b5cea96134ef54ea95fac7fd77fd86d2002f176f94d1a503ed5f0/ss_9b0e3135fcab9482a6aff5f52af8ecad7eaace3e.jpg" /> https://harveyhayman.com/Snowy-Springs Wed, 31 May 2023 15:44:41 +0000 Harvey Hayman, Game Designer https://harveyhayman.com/Snowy-Springs 'Snowy Springs', a quest based adventure where you take on too much. The game was nominated for the Game Development World Championships (GDWC) 2022 Student Game Award and showcased at Game Development London Expo (GDLX) 2023. Released for free on Itch.io in January 2023. Downloadable on Windows ---&gt; play here &lt;--- Holly and myself, who developed the game, have personal experience with struggling to manage our own and others’ mental health. At its core, Snowy Springs is a game about taking too much on without thinking about your own mental wellbeing. It's meant as a twist on the cosy quest genre such as Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing that sees you carrying out chores with little thought to the strain this puts on yourself. <img width="1600" height="735" width_o="1600" height_o="735" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d72a8833001508d6627e480bfb9d82ee4acda4f8cab7e2f728ab2c770370a14c/snowyspringsdesignsinspo.png" data-mid="182656024" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d72a8833001508d6627e480bfb9d82ee4acda4f8cab7e2f728ab2c770370a14c/snowyspringsdesignsinspo.png" /> Design references and inspirations for Snowy Springs We consulted with the UK charity, Gaming The Mind, an organisation of UK-based mental health professionals, when designing Snowy Springs. The charity aims to promote positive mental health within the gaming community and the games industry; and reduce the stigma surrounding these issues. Their input was valuable and critical. Snowy Springs promotes the idea of self-care in modern life, the importance of focusing on your own needs and radical empathy. We intended for the game to reduce stigma surrounding anxiety, depression and panic attacks; but also promote the self-care activities to self regulate and calm. <img width="1904" height="1072" width_o="1904" height_o="1072" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5fccceb2bbb76dc582080a8ae152b6a562e7ba93f1e98b73898cab84a302d793/screenshot.png" data-mid="182656484" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5fccceb2bbb76dc582080a8ae152b6a562e7ba93f1e98b73898cab84a302d793/screenshot.png" /> The tranquil village of Snowy Springs Snowy Springs has been specifically designed to promote the role of self-care for people who struggle with prioritising their own mental health. All of the gameplay mechanics, the story and world have been tailored to serve this purpose. <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aa4b69db7a55f146743ce235e73fbb7464295d993b3698616c61d771f6cda4b0/still3.png" data-mid="182656486" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/aa4b69db7a55f146743ce235e73fbb7464295d993b3698616c61d771f6cda4b0/still3.png" /> Alex takes on a task for one of Snowy Spring’s residents We wanted to subvert the player's expectations: they expect a cosy game experience similar to that of Animal Crossing but the rug is pulled from under them when the character's mental health starts to falter. When the player first enters the game world, they should find it to be familiar, warm and welcoming. However, this sense of security is slowly eroded by a barrage of tasks put on the player by the village's people, culminating in the main character suffering a panic attack and depressive episode. <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b19849210e12e105f727e7793df98a1243b79e40b7c3c9023893505f683a63ce/still4.png" data-mid="182656485" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b19849210e12e105f727e7793df98a1243b79e40b7c3c9023893505f683a63ce/still4.png" /> The game’s protagnaist, Alex, suffers a depressive episode Snowy Springs was nominated for the Game Development World Championships (GDWC) 2022 Student Game Award. It was also selected for a GOLDEN TICKET entry at Game Development London Expo (GDLX) 2023, which meant we got to showcase the game in the Vaults under Waterloo Station on 29 March 2023. Snowy Springs was developed November 2022 to January 2023 by students at the National Film and Television School, Holly Hudson and myself. Snowy Springs was made possible with the help of our fellow students: producer Bernardo Angeletti, sound designers Joseph Russell, Liam Sharpe, Lucas Lehmann and composers Umberto Gaudino and Nir Perlman. We're super proud of it and the game's themes are very close to our own hearts. https://harveyhayman.com/Shadows-of-them Wed, 31 May 2023 15:45:46 +0000 Harvey Hayman, Game Designer https://harveyhayman.com/Shadows-of-them 'Shadows of them', a psychological horror story set in the London Metro, nominated as a finalist for the Develop Indie Showcase 2022. Released for free on Itch.io in April 2022. Downloadable for Windows ---&gt; play here &lt;--- This was the first game which I worked on at the National Film and Television School. We worked in a team of eight, dividing roles between each of us. We were all heavily involved in the concept phase to iron out the game’s themes, story and how these connected with the game’s puzzles. We settled upon the theme of grief, with the player inhabiting the role of a mother who’s children, and abusive husband have been killed in a drink driving accident. The game forces the player to loop around the same platform and train; completing puzzles in the slightly changing environment each time. Each of the loops closely tracks the five stages of grief: Denial - the character begins in a state of not being able to accept the fact that her children and husband are dead. To cope with this she avoids anything that might remind her of her former life. She is in denial about the actual state of reality and shields herself from the parts of her reality which bring her pain - the memories of her family.Anger - the character is forced to remember her family and this brings her to anger and she fails to deal with the memories and is helpless to do anythingBargaining - the character attempts to address her pain by thinking through what she might have done differently, what if she did “that”? Would things be different?Depression - after succumbing to the fact that she is truly helpless, there is nothing that can be done, she descends into fully embracing the pain and depression consumes her in her inability to do anything about the saddened reality that she now exists inAcceptance - after she has experienced the acceptance of depression she begins to accept the entire reality that she is now in - one in which she has suffered great losses but still has happy memories to hold onto which she chooses to cherish and take with her into the future rather than trying to block everything out. At this point of resolution - the game ends. I’m particularly proud of how we iteratively designed and improved the puzzles based on player feedback, really fine-tuning the player experience. The core to improving most of these puzzles was dialling in what emotion we wanted the player to feel in each of them, and through the use of well positioned lighting and audio cues. <img width="1807" height="1030" width_o="1807" height_o="1030" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f6af519a823068c9c001847dbbfaf816e3be41801d66c1d9db0b7886b5f4734e/shadowsofthermpuzzles.png" data-mid="182698267" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f6af519a823068c9c001847dbbfaf816e3be41801d66c1d9db0b7886b5f4734e/shadowsofthermpuzzles.png" /> Story beat, puzzle, emotion, esclation and loop matrix for ‘Shadows of them’ Within the project I took on the following roles: Writer, Game Designer, 3D Artist, 2D Artist / Graphic Designer and Video Editor. <img width="852" height="1083" width_o="852" height_o="1083" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3d7dce90efe4134bdaa3069e6251396baa1ff447d1ef5431228e88ef694f0857/script-extract.png" data-mid="182699711" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/852/i/3d7dce90efe4134bdaa3069e6251396baa1ff447d1ef5431228e88ef694f0857/script-extract.png" /> Extract from the script for ‘Shadows of them’ After the game was released, we were approached by Wireframe magazine in a request to be interviewed about how the game was inspired by Konami’s ‘P.T.’ I think the article does a great job at explaining our thought process so I include it here in full. &nbsp; Full transcipt of interview with Wireframe for their article about the cultural significance of Konami’s ‘ P.T.’ in issue #67 What was it about psychological horror that made you and the team want to tackle the genre with Shadows of them? [Holly Hudson] We knew we were going to create a walking sim, and the genre of psychological horror seemed to tie hand in hand with the way in which we wanted to delve into the protagonist’s states of grief within the environment. After the game’s release, we received feedback from some players who asked whether Shadows of them can be classed under the ‘psychological horror’ genre because of the lack of jump scares and typical ‘scary’ conventions found within other horror games. It was great to have these conversations and reflect upon what makes a game a psychological horror. I think Shadows of them really leans into the psychological aspects of the mental and emotional states of our protagonist and as a result, leaves players feeling unsettled and disturbed. Where the game swerves away from the genre is the uncharacteristic feeling of relief at the end of the game; that sense of catharsis as you board the train for the final time and the credits roll. Would it be fair to say that you hoped to capitalise on the missed opportunity left by P.T.? [Harvey Hayman] It’s fair to say that P.T. was our key inspiration. I’m pretty sure the early pitch line was “P.T, but on a tube train”. Thomas even drew out a map of every single corridor loop in P.T. to really inspect how it works under the hood. He was trying to work out how it builds and maintains tension but also how each of the puzzle elements are designed. Our main takeaway from this was that P.T. is great from a horror environment perspective but its puzzle design is obtuse - Kojima wanted players to take their time to try and solve it. In designing Shadows of them we wanted the puzzles to be both integral to the storytelling but fairly simple in their design and solution. [Thomas Porta] While P.T was masterful in creating a coherent and chilling atmosphere, I believe it lacked lasting narrative elements. It absolutely nails fear and immersion but fails to hit other, emotional beats. When I finished P.T, I was not sad nor was I happy. It did not make me feel anything except, “Wow, that is a well-made game”. In contrast, in Shadows of them we set out to focus on the player’s emotional experience. Can you remember the first time you played P.T and if so, what was your first reaction to it? [Thomas Porta] My first playthrough of P.T. was one of the most immersive experiences I’ve had playing games. I remember being terrified of the right angle in the corridor… always leaning round to peek at what awaited me. There’s the feeling of constant dread created by the ghost, breathing behind you, watching menacingly from above the dangling lamp. You never feel safe, you never feel at ease. You want to stop, but you keep on going, petrified whenever anything happens! Saying that, there’s also this escalating sense of confusion. The obscure, occult puzzles do not always lend themselves to the atmosphere, creating frustration or uncertainty. What other games served as your chief inspirations? [Harvey Hayman] I’ll always be inspired by the level design of Half Life 2, which gave birth to the first popular walking sims Dear Esther and The Stanley Parable (which both started their life as Source engine mods). Then of course the wonderful, Gone Home and What Remains of Edith Finch. The best walking sims all excel in subtly directing the attention of the player to the next story beats. They feel like a direct response to the adventure game genre which often sacrifices the flow of story to force the player to attempt to use every object in their inventory with every interactable item in the game space. This is where P.T. falls down for me. From a horror game perspective we were certainly inspired by the likes of Visage and Resident Evil VII: Biohazard. RE7 transcended its roots and reinvented itself by taking the best bits from not just previous titles in the series but walking sims, P.T, and modern first person shooters. From a story perspective, we wanted to subvert the horror genre. So often in a horror story you either follow a victim of violence, or a perpetrator of violence. The video game trope here is a story about a guilty man being punished, e.g. Silent Hill and P.T. We wanted to make a game that doesn’t rely on the protagonist being the perpetrator or victim of violence but the horror is built from their own internal grief. Was it tough to make the structure of a time loop constantly interesting over 15 mins or so? [Holly Hudson] We spent a couple weeks at the beginning of the project planning out each aspect of the loops, rewriting the script and redrawing the floorplans to try to find a balance between the seemingly endless loop and revealing the internal challenges that the protagonist was facing. We used repetition as a narrative device to tap into the deteriorating mental state of this grieving mother whilst also taking the player on this emotional journey. [Harvey Hayman] Early playtesting was essential to help us firm up the length of each loop and the scale/difficulty of the puzzles. If players ever got stuck they’d immediately become frustrated, taking them out of the story. We completely redesigned some of the loops and puzzles based on player feedback, always being driven by the desire to make the experience understandable to the player. Where did the idea of an announcer who slowly speaks more and more irregularly first come from? [Harvey Hayman] We very quickly settled on this idea that the narrator could be a voice which you would expect to hear on the London Underground, the train announcer. We liked the idea that we could pull the carpet out from under the player in subverting what they’d expect a train announcer to say. When I wrote the first draft of the script, we had a trickster god narrator who belittles the protagonist but ultimately assists them in overcoming their grief. We threw this out because it lost sight of the main story and it was just a bit goofy. The second and third drafts had the narrator explicitly as the mother, voicing her thoughts and fears. We ended up dropping this because it felt like it was really spelling things out, too on the nose.&nbsp; [Holly Hudson] We landed on what sounds like a standard underground station announcer, fully immersing the player in the environment. This really emphasises the irregularity of the strange announcements during the later loops, making you question what is even real anymore. Nearly all of the lines are inspired by real announcements you’d expect to hear on the London Underground. We were fortunate enough to work with Janine Cooper-Marshall, the voice of Great Western Railway, to record lines for the train announcer in the game. This took the reality of the underground station to the next level. What do you think makes domestic, everyday settings such as the London Underground, kitchens, and bedrooms so scary, and what techniques did you use to heighten this tension? [Holly Hudson] I think having such a familiarity with the surroundings was key in creating an immense sense of vulnerability. Not to mention the claustrophobia of being trapped in repeating underground tunnels. The underground station was a stage for each new revelation, and by throwing these mundane settings together we managed to create something nightmarish. This went hand-in-hand with the lighting which our lighting artist, Thomas Porta, used as a tool to guide the player through the environment and silently communicate the abnormal blend between the rooms of the house and the underground station. Just how important is sound design in maintaining the scares in psychological horror games such as Shadows of them? [Thomas Porta] Good sound design is paramount in creating effective psychological horror. Without it, the player is not grounded in the world, they are not fully immersed. In Shadows of them, the sound’s purpose is twofold. First, it helps the player believe that they are in this station, that they are moving, that something real is happening to them. In Shadows of them, several elements take that role. The lights buzz, the protagonist's heels click clack, the train’s engine hums and the doors swoosh as they open. Removing any of these sounds would lessen the immersiveness. Second, sound can guide the player. A thumping electrical switch guides the player to where the action is, and the action is where the scares are. The player instinctively knows this, they are aware that the game is inviting them through sound. It creates expectations where half the fun is deciding whether you satisfy those expectations, but you cannot create those expectations without sound in the environment. &nbsp;&nbsp; Why is having a family tragedy at the heart of this story so key to the Shadows of them experience, and were you ever worried about keeping things too vague? [Harvey Hayman] Everyone can relate to the fear associated with the loss of family so we knew this could be an effective story device. It was always critical to us that we knew the story of our protagonist, so it was clear to us how to devise the script, level design and puzzles around that. That’s at the core of all storytelling, right? I know the entire story, you don’t know anything. How am I going to reveal things to you in a way which is suspenseful and entertaining? With a first person game, the player doesn’t immediately know who they are unless they bought Duke Nukem - there’s a picture of the Duke chewing on a cigar; or Half Life - there’s Gordon Freeman clasping a crowbar. You have to employ some device to ensure the player knows who they are, or be content with them having to infer it. First person narration, cutscenes or on-screen text easily spells it out, but what happens if you don’t do that? We had some quite interesting playtesting where players went in blind, we didn’t tell them anything up front about the game, or who you play as. Very much on gender lines, female players understood they were playing as the mother, but male players assumed they were her husband. There’s something very powerful about first person games that truly allows the player to fill the boots of the protagonist. Now we think about how players come to play Shadows of them, if they’re downloading it from Itch.io, the first thing on the site there is: “Shadows of them is a first-person psychological horror game where the player must navigate a series of challenges, guiding a mother through her grief after the loss of her family”. If they’re playing it at an expo, we’ll make sure there’s a brief blurb on the table with the same text. What do you think makes this new brand of “defenceless” horror, where you can’t really fight back, so popular with audiences today? [Holly Hudson] Taking away the player’s agency to fight leaves you completely vulnerable, with no option but to endure the horrors before you. This presents a great opportunity for storytelling, as game developers know we have the player’s full attention, and you can lead them on every intricate twist and turn of the journey as it unfolds in front of them. The adrenaline from this type of game is addictive. Despite walking the same path in P.T. through that hallway and around the corner over and over again, it was this lack of power that kept players wanting more. Is Shadows of them a complete and finished product in your eyes, or is it just a taster of something more ambitious you hope to create? [Harvey Hayman] Shadows of them is a complete and finished product! So while we’re not going to make a bigger version of the game, I think it’s a good indication of the standard of the quality that all the members of the team are capable of producing. [Thomas Porta] We discussed this amongst the team and we don’t think a longer version would really work in its current form. A long, looping game would likely become exhausting and claustrophobic. After a while the looping mechanic would become uninteresting, as the same environment becomes non-threatening and no longer novel. Novelty, that threat of uncertainty, of being unaware of what’s next, these things are necessary for psychological horror. But more importantly, what would a player do in a longer version of the game? Not sure if we have the answer to this one… yet. Would you like to see what Konami had cooking up with Silent Hills, or do you feel the legacy of P.T. (and the games inspired by it) benefit by the demo’s reputation and its untapped potential? [Thomas Porta] In my view, the success of P.T. was born out of its in-game atmosphere. Any group of developers that are capable of creating such a strong feeling of presence - using its visuals, sound design and level design - is a group of developers whose games I want to play. Konami’s Silent Hills would’ve been all those things and perhaps more. But alas, we’ll never know. On whether the legend surrounding P.T. would exist if Silent Hills hadn’t been cancelled, the chances are that it would not? But that has no effect on its legacy or what this teaser achieved. [Harvey Hayman] Shadows of them likely wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for P.T., so thanks Kojima and crew! Selection of 2D assets I designed for ‘Shadows of them’ <img width="2880" height="4320" width_o="2880" height_o="4320" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/abbc55704b8ddcf9cbcf92b20608feacc6dc59a10c1a62e40edec5298a2dc25b/Shadows-of-them_Game-poster-1.jpg" data-mid="182698911" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/abbc55704b8ddcf9cbcf92b20608feacc6dc59a10c1a62e40edec5298a2dc25b/Shadows-of-them_Game-poster-1.jpg" /> <img width="2881" height="4320" width_o="2881" height_o="4320" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/03e1ef41f260fd998de73656987a2382927ea3f4ede22d3b48fb079df67013c2/Poster_Portrait_London-Metro_Helping-journey_Blue.png" data-mid="182688808" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/03e1ef41f260fd998de73656987a2382927ea3f4ede22d3b48fb079df67013c2/Poster_Portrait_London-Metro_Helping-journey_Blue.png" /><img width="2880" height="4320" width_o="2880" height_o="4320" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2410013cfd42db765216c85adad99469217591bd309f45af98eeb3bff27d10e6/Poster_Portrait_London-Metro_Round-and-Round_White.png" data-mid="182688814" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2410013cfd42db765216c85adad99469217591bd309f45af98eeb3bff27d10e6/Poster_Portrait_London-Metro_Round-and-Round_White.png" /> <img width="2880" height="4320" width_o="2880" height_o="4320" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/14d87fc0ff97b8edb8fc31e78e213faf3906061209dc81db0eaadfed1f0cf267/Poster_Portrait_Borrow-Tomorrow.png" data-mid="182688800" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/14d87fc0ff97b8edb8fc31e78e213faf3906061209dc81db0eaadfed1f0cf267/Poster_Portrait_Borrow-Tomorrow.png" /><img width="2880" height="4320" width_o="2880" height_o="4320" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7cb396bc2ac0543808492d281bda2968b9d8244fe5af5db340a8554576ef81b7/Poster_Portrait_Davy-Jones-Rum.png" data-mid="182688802" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7cb396bc2ac0543808492d281bda2968b9d8244fe5af5db340a8554576ef81b7/Poster_Portrait_Davy-Jones-Rum.png" /><img width="2880" height="4320" width_o="2880" height_o="4320" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e7c265f48e7d75816e657d6b3923143e06e82109a0a12156b5af48dc2ae62a3d/Poster_Portrait_Drink-Last.png" data-mid="182688804" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e7c265f48e7d75816e657d6b3923143e06e82109a0a12156b5af48dc2ae62a3d/Poster_Portrait_Drink-Last.png" /><img width="2880" height="4320" width_o="2880" height_o="4320" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3234259de77436eaef975537a2fdf7bbda1ca33294eb47c6803e3f25a06f1711/Poster_Portrait_Invest.png" data-mid="182688807" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3234259de77436eaef975537a2fdf7bbda1ca33294eb47c6803e3f25a06f1711/Poster_Portrait_Invest.png" /><img width="2880" height="4320" width_o="2880" height_o="4320" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bae7496007969137fd7701e7074a0309319cd43295d9cf991c606d2e34cfc94d/Poster_Portrait_Roll-Again.png" data-mid="182688817" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bae7496007969137fd7701e7074a0309319cd43295d9cf991c606d2e34cfc94d/Poster_Portrait_Roll-Again.png" /><img width="2109" height="371" width_o="2109" height_o="371" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4e6004636f90a4cd359c1f84d8c167aa19fe6b26d30ba4a013f5700e67452768/Metro-Direction-Signage_Way-Out-Right.png" data-mid="182689665" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4e6004636f90a4cd359c1f84d8c167aa19fe6b26d30ba4a013f5700e67452768/Metro-Direction-Signage_Way-Out-Right.png" /><img width="7933" height="1414" width_o="7933" height_o="1414" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/330b6940b647cf10f03dda1d7b956864827b427646446349addfaaf266dfbb27/Metro-Train-Signage_Car-line-diagram.png" data-mid="182689265" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/330b6940b647cf10f03dda1d7b956864827b427646446349addfaaf266dfbb27/Metro-Train-Signage_Car-line-diagram.png" /><img width="1180" height="309" width_o="1180" height_o="309" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8d63e77559ef1469668f06a73c233f3bd5228859c6addb5390673a7bff55b063/Metro-Train-Signage_Attend-luggage.png" data-mid="182695079" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8d63e77559ef1469668f06a73c233f3bd5228859c6addb5390673a7bff55b063/Metro-Train-Signage_Attend-luggage.png" /><img width="2188" height="283" width_o="2188" height_o="283" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/33844026b1aba08ccfa29efa3c7d8eadb818a04e6761dc455212eb775177d226/Metro-Train-Signage_Closing-doors-and-penalty-charge.png" data-mid="182689269" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/33844026b1aba08ccfa29efa3c7d8eadb818a04e6761dc455212eb775177d226/Metro-Train-Signage_Closing-doors-and-penalty-charge.png" /><img width="1851" height="2712" width_o="1851" height_o="2712" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/52383b6320ab1a12fe18f76e66ebcfb8fa3f5895faa9071990817ee3c8f9cb55/London-Metro_Northbound-signage.png" data-mid="182689673" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/52383b6320ab1a12fe18f76e66ebcfb8fa3f5895faa9071990817ee3c8f9cb55/London-Metro_Northbound-signage.png" /><img width="1036" height="404" width_o="1036" height_o="404" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/90be2922d124ae43d1ca44042af2673adc8fdd436e0db0fd0be31e47f96d6d9c/Metro-Station-Tiling-Text.png" data-mid="182689667" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/90be2922d124ae43d1ca44042af2673adc8fdd436e0db0fd0be31e47f96d6d9c/Metro-Station-Tiling-Text.png" /><img width="1848" height="1382" width_o="1848" height_o="1382" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f52e04d72da7164cef2de428ff04b91f0c64339048b407b85848e342896ebc27/Kings-Street-Sign_Transparent_Blue-Edge.png" data-mid="182689670" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f52e04d72da7164cef2de428ff04b91f0c64339048b407b85848e342896ebc27/Kings-Street-Sign_Transparent_Blue-Edge.png" /> https://harveyhayman.com/Who-Gets-Bruiser Wed, 31 May 2023 15:45:18 +0000 Harvey Hayman, Game Designer https://harveyhayman.com/Who-Gets-Bruiser 'Who Gets Bruiser?', an interactive story following the break-up of a couple. Released for free on Itch.io in October 2022.&nbsp;Playable in browser and downloable for Windows ---&gt; play here &lt;--- On ‘Who Gets Bruiser?’, I worked closely with screenwriter, Alfie Flewitt on the concept and throughout the project. Early in concepting, we decided to make a branching narrative story about the break-up of a couple.From a game design perspective, I was hugely inspired by a free game I played when I was a teenager, Facade, in which the player arrives at a dinner party hosted by a couple, and can completely change the course of the evening and the couple’s lives based on what they say and what items they interact with. I’d also recently played Twelve Minutes which I would describe as a conversational puzzle game with a time loop mechanic. I like the idea that a player explores dialogue by playing the game multiple times. From a visual perspective, we were certainly inspired by Wes Anderson’s cutouts which feature in some of his movies. <img width="1024" height="410" width_o="1024" height_o="410" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/57c145c7368847d895aad6f8693d0958eb0cf5223d3a53cd88ad0092613844dd/0_nKQAtv3fIV4HN-Tf.jpg" data-mid="182668643" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/57c145c7368847d895aad6f8693d0958eb0cf5223d3a53cd88ad0092613844dd/0_nKQAtv3fIV4HN-Tf.jpg" />Full size cut-out set of the Belafonte in ‘The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’&nbsp; Player choice We initially designed the game in Twine, so that the game could be simply tested in a web browser. As a result of iterative script writing and testing we arrived at a final version of the script. The player can influence what happens based on their dialogue responses. The game follows our main character Hans as he navigates conversations with his partner, Paul, starting with the first question, “Who Gets Bruiser?” (their dog). <img width="1325" height="727" width_o="1325" height_o="727" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/064cd29870a0f72452ad21ff0545cff71e1a37c8a35d86c15ed4bcd54199129f/whogetsbruiserhouse.png" data-mid="182668923" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/064cd29870a0f72452ad21ff0545cff71e1a37c8a35d86c15ed4bcd54199129f/whogetsbruiserhouse.png" />Rooms in the house in ‘Who Gets Bruiser’. What rooms the player visits is related to their dialogue choices. We designed the game to have multiple endings based on Hans’ responses to Paul; the player will learn new information about the couple as they are transported around different rooms of the house. How will your dialogue choices affect Hans and Paul’s relationship? Do you want them to stay together or do you think they’re better going their separate ways? <img width="2560" height="1440" width_o="2560" height_o="1440" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0a8efe27ca9c6975182494e3b94065b9b7ac6d680c17ac94cc59db20eed3888b/d2ikQF.jpg" data-mid="182668348" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0a8efe27ca9c6975182494e3b94065b9b7ac6d680c17ac94cc59db20eed3888b/d2ikQF.jpg" />Hans opens up to Paul We attempted to explore the characteristic divide that so many couples face of emotional versus analytical thinking. Contrary to many role playing games we wanted each ending to feel satisfying and justified in its own way, rather than the classic “good” or “bad” endings. Ultimately we still wanted the player to make the final deicsion on whether Hans should leave or stay. <img width="960" height="720" width_o="960" height_o="720" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c73b934d550fe93b6832e424577ed25a67c9a752192fbb580783cf453c782b00/Who-Gets-Bruiser_Decision-Map.jpg" data-mid="182668927" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/960/i/c73b934d550fe93b6832e424577ed25a67c9a752192fbb580783cf453c782b00/Who-Gets-Bruiser_Decision-Map.jpg" />Dialogue flow diagram for ‘Who Gets Bruiser?’. At a certain point in each each room, a scale check is done based on how emotional or analytical Hans’ response have been. This dictates which room the player will go to next, and the ending of the game. Dialogue system and animation management To integrate the voice dialogue, text dialogue, dialogue options and to control animation I sought the use of an external third party tool and eventually settled upon the use of Dialogue System for Unity, which has been used in games such as Disco Elysium. It took some time to get used to the tool but eventually it became a hugely efficient part of my toolset, especially when adding all the dialogue recordings into the game.<img width="2876" height="2521" width_o="2876" height_o="2521" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/318fb8521bd673bb13566e1ee7cadd4fbd7c27c227e9543bcdedd20cbd0c6f45/dialoguetree.png" data-mid="182684336" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/318fb8521bd673bb13566e1ee7cadd4fbd7c27c227e9543bcdedd20cbd0c6f45/dialoguetree.png" /> During the course of development, Alfie wrote 621 lines of dialogue, which are all fully voice acted. Due to the branching nature of the narrative, the player will likely only experience ~30% of this on a single playthrough. I created a system for automatically blending between different animation states based on the current emotion of the player. Unfortunately, the animation loops sometimes, which is distracting and something I was unable to fix during the short timeline of the project. <img width="982" height="602" width_o="982" height_o="602" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2c1bb66b6cadfaaca262abc9eb9da28ae5b814bffd28ee648efb476ebf704999/animpentagram.png" data-mid="182685015" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/982/i/2c1bb66b6cadfaaca262abc9eb9da28ae5b814bffd28ee648efb476ebf704999/animpentagram.png" /> Animator nodes for conversational states (don’t read anything into the pentagram) Post-mortem I’m really proud of what we achieved with ‘Who Gets Bruiser?’ in such a short timespan. In terms of improving the game further, I think that the dialogue splits too aggressively early on, and it is not clear how or why dialogue will push the player down a certain branch. If I spent more time on the game I would like to improve the robustness of the animation system and improve the first section, so the split to a different dialogue route happens more gently. https://harveyhayman.com/SLUGDOUGH Wed, 31 May 2023 15:45:43 +0000 Harvey Hayman, Game Designer https://harveyhayman.com/SLUGDOUGH 'SLUGDOUGH', a silly mobile game which asks the player to cut the SLUGDOUGH into pieces to fit into holes. Released for free on Itch.io in August 2022. Downloadable for Android ---&gt; play here &lt;--- I wanted to make a playful, mobile game with a consistent visual and auditory aesthetic, and a surprising amount of depth from a puzzle perspective. How did I make SLUGDOUGH? I started out by identifying the key development areas that would be required to make a functioning prototype possible. This includes: Tile based pathfinding Puzzle creation Character rendering along path Cutting logic Hole logic Soundtrack Animation&nbsp; Tile based pathfinding I researched potential options for the tile based pathfinding, watching several tutorials on YouTube and considering building the system myself by scratch. I settled down on implementing a tile based pathfinding solution by Random Art Attack. Once I had this up and running, I wrote code to move an object along a path set by the algorithm. This is the core of how SLUGDOUGHS find and move along a viable path. <img width="1313" height="737" width_o="1313" height_o="737" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/12f34a7041f295b18991d8090c8a4fa874eebe22992002dfece15de35b326b65/pathfinding.png" data-mid="182568228" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/12f34a7041f295b18991d8090c8a4fa874eebe22992002dfece15de35b326b65/pathfinding.png" /> Random Art Attack’s Custom Movement on a Grid and Path-Finding: Unity 3D Tutorial (this is truly the worst tutorial I have ever followed but the ultimate solution is sound) In addition to this, I built functionality for each grid square, such that it shoots a raycast upwards to detect what object is sitting above.&nbsp; If it is a closed cutter, or SLUGDOUGH piece, this is an impassable space and therefore not a feasible route. If it is an open cutter, it can only be passed through in the x or z plane depending on its orientation. A desired outcome of this design is that when a SLUGDOUGH sets out, it will not set a route which pases through the existing body of its own, or another SLUGDOUGH. However, it does not update its route throughout travel and therefore can collide with a racing rival SLUGDOUGH closer to its final destination, which will result in a reset state. Puzzle creation I sat down with my pen and pad and noodled through all the potential types of puzzle which I could imagine for SLUGDOUGH. I then stripped it back to basics to determine how I could teach the player the mechanics involved in making more complex puzzles possible. Abandoned ideas for new mechanics include: Giant slow SLUGDOUGHSLUGDOUGHS that combine into strange shapes Infinite cutters Deep holes which can take multiple SLUGDOUGHS <img width="1200" height="1600" width_o="1200" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0308a58a5b349d78d390d7748b507fa08398516157f586ef34c16cbb729bf93d/concepts.jpg" data-mid="182567998" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0308a58a5b349d78d390d7748b507fa08398516157f586ef34c16cbb729bf93d/concepts.jpg" /> Some sketches planning the early tutorial levels On train journeys to and from Beaconsfield and during lunchtimes I'd load up a test version of the game on my phone, press it onto friends and playtest the first few levels to get an understanding of how well the tutorialisation was working. My first few iterations left players irritated. The key to improving player enjoyment and effective feedback was in both speeding SLUGDOUGH up and adding a marker which flashes, indicating SLUGDOUGH's target. Without these changes players would violently mash the screen in an attempt to get SLUGDOUGH to move, which in itself caused another SLUG (read as bug), either resulting in the SLUGDOUGH teleporting around the screen or cutting into bizarre segments mid-path. For a game all about decapitation, too many heads were rolling here. Character rendering along path Next, I needed the SLUGDOUGHS to render correctly when moving along their given path. This started to get complex considering there are four different types of possible SLUGDOUGH: Main SLUGDOUGH Extends one square in length every move. Is made up of a half circle head and trailing straight or curved pieces depending on path orientation Solo SLUGDOUGH Made when a cutter slices a pre-existing SLUGDOUGH, leaving a SLUGDOUGH of just one square length. Is made up of circular head only Duo SLUGDOUGH Same as the solo, except two squares long. Made up of a half circle head and a half circle end Child SLUGDOUGH Three squares or more long Is made up of a half circle head, trailing straight or curved pieces depending on path orientation and a half circle end Therefore I made four different types of SLUGDOUGH head object prefabs to differentiate and treat them each differently. Further,&nbsp; I ensured that each SLUGDOUGH piece knows the next and previous piece in the chain. This allows a search to be done up and down the length of the SLUGDOUGH to find the head and end. Finally, I wrote a script which moves the SLUGDOUGH appropriately along its path to match visual expectations. This essentially involves moving the head to the next position in the path, and the rest of the pieces to the location of the next piece in the chain. <img width="738" height="1600" width_o="738" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/775a50f8c5cb14bf13dafc678b8c001ad2b8019f051b2ffcd22199532b5f7a84/screenshot1.png" data-mid="182567997" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/738/i/775a50f8c5cb14bf13dafc678b8c001ad2b8019f051b2ffcd22199532b5f7a84/screenshot1.png" /> There can be any number of different sized SLUGDOUGH on screen simultaneously Cutting logic The most complex part of developing SLUGDOUGH was creating the cutter logic. Less brain scratching about how I was going to do it - I knew I could use the previous/next piece logic as the character rendering system. More so, the complexity was due to the huge number of permutations of cutting different length SLUGDOUGHS. <img width="738" height="1600" width_o="738" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9e1179a7a720f43c6525e9e5542e74f4788ca5b7e9e3d8d477ecaf4929acdf9c/screenshot2.png" data-mid="182567996" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/738/i/9e1179a7a720f43c6525e9e5542e74f4788ca5b7e9e3d8d477ecaf4929acdf9c/screenshot2.png" /> Ready for the chop Hole logic I’m&nbsp; proud of the logic I wrote for the holes. Following the difficult time I had building the cutting logic, I sought to simplify the hole logic as much as possible. Simply: If a SLUGDOUGH is smaller than the hole, and its head and end (if it has one) is over the hole, then the level will restart. If a SLUGDOUGH is a matching length to the hole’s length, and the head and the end are over the top and bottom of the hole, the SLUGDOUGH will fall into the hole. The hole will then no longer act as hole and will be passable. If a SLUGDOUGH is longer than the hole, then the SLUGDOUGH is free to pass over the hole. <img width="738" height="1600" width_o="738" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3aed2cbd36cf3557508dd957ab65bcebf3ae347719c57830fc6de0262cbff7ff/screenshot3.png" data-mid="182567995" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/738/i/3aed2cbd36cf3557508dd957ab65bcebf3ae347719c57830fc6de0262cbff7ff/screenshot3.png" /> Fill all the holes to finish the level! Soundtrack I worked with one of the National Film and Television School’s composers, Nir Perlman, to compose the SLUGDOUGHS’ different songs; each length of SLUGDOUGH has a different song depending on whether it is moving or stationary. These layer to create an orchestra of sound. We both lent our voices for the acapella recordings. The music was implemented in game by having all the tracks playing constantly on loop, and the volume is turned on and off when appropriate, linked to which types of SLUGDOUGH are moving or stationary. Animation This was fairly simple to execute but slightly difficult to conceptualise. I ended up creating a child object from each head prefab which contains the rendering component, with a pivot at the bottom, and a parent which has a pivot at the centre. This ensured that the head would move exactly on the tile grid but that it would animate, and could squash from its base. Tidy. Animation is linked to if the SLUGDOUGH is moving or not, with a more pronounced animation if it is moving. https://harveyhayman.com/Make-it-Snappy Wed, 31 May 2023 15:45:45 +0000 Harvey Hayman, Game Designer https://harveyhayman.com/Make-it-Snappy 'Make it Snappy', a frenzied mix of Where's Wally and Pokémon Snap. Released May 2022 for free on Itch.io. Playable in browser and downloadable for Windows ---&gt; play here &lt;--- I wanted to make a fast paced combination of Where’s Wally and Pokemon Snap, where the player is given clues, through messages on their phone, of who to photograph and quickly scramble around a rooftop searching for the potential subject. My main priority on this project was to design and develop a game that was fun, and to improve these skills in the process. My focus was not on the development of art assets, therefore I used third party assets where possible. Gameplay First person photography camera which allows the player to zoom with the mouse wheel, take pictures with the left click and commit/send pictures with the right click.The player can move freely around a rooftop, with the ability to sprint.Messages come through to the player in a hint system, where the hints get progressively easier if the player fails to find the subject they’re looking for.The game rewards less money to the player if they require more messages to find their subject.The game randomises the order and location of all subjects in the scene which means no one game is the same.<img width="1600" height="1137" width_o="1600" height_o="1137" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e07000c6b0a4fdabbc359c3aa80fec28490b0949eb1fa612c663d4d7a2709d47/makeitsnappyconecpt.jpg" data-mid="182657428" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e07000c6b0a4fdabbc359c3aa80fec28490b0949eb1fa612c663d4d7a2709d47/makeitsnappyconecpt.jpg" /> Initial sketch and game concept Camera mechanic and subject detection I iteratively designed a camera mechanism which uses spherecasting to detect if a subject has been captured in the frame. This spherecast excludes certain layers in the environment, such as low fences, to ensure a subject is not missed. In addition, the spherecast’s distance is adjusted based on how zoomed in the camera is, so that a shot will only count if the subject is large enough in the frame. <img width="2560" height="1438" width_o="2560" height_o="1438" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7e21d5de3417991ec747c87ac21991d1e65057f9fd0527c013ce40973d672b9f/makeitsnappyscreenshot.png" data-mid="182662497" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7e21d5de3417991ec747c87ac21991d1e65057f9fd0527c013ce40973d672b9f/makeitsnappyscreenshot.png" /> Dragon searching for a quick meal Phone chat mechanic and clue database Make it Snappy features 37 characters each with three sets of clues and a failure/success dialogue line. To easily manage the script I kept it in an spreadsheet and then imported this data in a JSON format to ingest it into Unity. More than anything, this was to avoid copy and pasting 135 lines of dialogue into inspector fields in Unity. These dialogue lines are correctly assigned to each character, and called upon when the randomised target is chosen. The game will randomly move through the entire list of 37 characters until they are exhausted and will then restart the list. <img width="2559" height="1267" width_o="2559" height_o="1267" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f0590e895b81cf68e52192981f1227da8b8696f68b0ee43bf284dbef84114cf2/makeitsnappydialogue.png" data-mid="182662122" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f0590e895b81cf68e52192981f1227da8b8696f68b0ee43bf284dbef84114cf2/makeitsnappydialogue.png" /> Make it Snappy Dialogue spreadsheet Post-mortem I’m generally really happy with how the game turned out, I think it achieves my desired look and feel of playful, upbeat, irreverent and jokey. To improve the game further I would seek to change the scoring system to penalise the player for skipping targets and potentially improve the hint system and character design to be in combination randomised based on the look of the characters generated in any given scene. https://harveyhayman.com/Bread-and-Roses Wed, 31 May 2023 15:48:59 +0000 Harvey Hayman, Game Designer https://harveyhayman.com/Bread-and-Roses A series of short games which explore the idea of collective action. Made for the Games Transformed | Love Games, Hate Capitalism 2023 game jam. <img width="1661" height="887" width_o="1661" height_o="887" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f9af851402d95932d597b4ca8ad9c353b444320281b335093e8518dd78b5fe85/breadandroses2.png" data-mid="180570021" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f9af851402d95932d597b4ca8ad9c353b444320281b335093e8518dd78b5fe85/breadandroses2.png" /> Released for free on Itch.io May 2023. Playable in browser ---&gt; play here &lt;--- We developed ‘Bread &amp; Roses’ over a one week development period. During the concept period we devised five concepts which were allegorical or metaphorical to the game jam’s theme of collective action. In addition we tried to frame each of these games under the slogan of “Bread and Roses”.&nbsp;The phrase originated from a speech by American women's suffrage activist Helen Todd. It relates to how in this movement, the people were demanding not just the essentials (i.e. bread) but also the beautiful, artistic things in life (i.e. roses). One of the things I wanted to play around with in the design was the idea of zero tutorialisation. Each of the mini-games is designed to be about player exploration with regards to the controls. The player has to try buttons to see the impact they have on the game world. The first of the mini-games is about the idea of co-ordinating action together to achieve a common goal. The player controls when each of the six groups of wheat grow. Only if all the wheat grow at the same time are they able to avoid being cut by the scythe. <img width="2555" height="1440" width_o="2555" height_o="1440" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/74fcc65984847bf55c6ed16fadf0bc32ab37f6c4e14fb355c294a60dfb5f3eef/wheat.png" data-mid="182701400" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/74fcc65984847bf55c6ed16fadf0bc32ab37f6c4e14fb355c294a60dfb5f3eef/wheat.png" /> 1. The Tall Poppy Syndrome The second of the mini games is leaning into the idea within the Bread and Roses slogan that art is also critical for society to thrive. As each character comes on screen, the player needs to plant at one of the pillars on the building until all six pillars have plants placed at their base to proceed.&nbsp; <img width="2558" height="1440" width_o="2558" height_o="1440" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c42a839083e1a9e0057839c2b96127619aa0c3f6622467a78b6fc2dbdf44db40/paintingbyplanting.png" data-mid="182701399" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c42a839083e1a9e0057839c2b96127619aa0c3f6622467a78b6fc2dbdf44db40/paintingbyplanting.png" />2. Painting by Planting This one is just a bit of fun.&nbsp; Based on Nicholas Gurewitch’s Perry Bible Fellowship comic strip, The Bunny Pit. The player must mash buttons, breeding rabbits, until the bunnies spill and sucessfully escape the pit. <img width="2560" height="1440" width_o="2560" height_o="1440" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1dd592c4a760aaf8bbc82ae4973ec2c163f5aa2ae5fbf7f1b0357917d280b2da/bunny-pit.png" data-mid="182701398" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1dd592c4a760aaf8bbc82ae4973ec2c163f5aa2ae5fbf7f1b0357917d280b2da/bunny-pit.png" />3. The Bunny PitThe fourth mini-game is based on a European folk story called ‘The Stone Soup’. The story goes... a hungry stranger convinces the people of a town to each share a small amount of their food in order to make a meal that everyone enjoys. It exists as a moral regarding the value of sharing. In our version, the player is the stranger, stirring a large pot and asking for particular ingredients until the soup is finished and all the characters come together to drink the soup. <img width="2560" height="1440" width_o="2560" height_o="1440" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a66ddcb0b1c3b207d3a89fc49266654af1d2ce0694664d55e14cd6b73fa69387/thestonesoup.png" data-mid="182701397" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a66ddcb0b1c3b207d3a89fc49266654af1d2ce0694664d55e14cd6b73fa69387/thestonesoup.png" />4. The Stone SoupThe final sequence sees a group of protestors walking down a city street as the credits roll by the top of the screen. <img width="2560" height="1440" width_o="2560" height_o="1440" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1c480ea4f64d17e0ba5bd4626d2b65ea0b3114b86f56844e953de46ea7f0d952/march.png" data-mid="182701499" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1c480ea4f64d17e0ba5bd4626d2b65ea0b3114b86f56844e953de46ea7f0d952/march.png" /> 5. Bread and Roses https://harveyhayman.com/Water-Being Wed, 31 May 2023 15:47:35 +0000 Harvey Hayman, Game Designer https://harveyhayman.com/Water-Being From 2020-22, I worked as a Producer on the development of a short animated film, 'Water Being', which has been entered into Annecy Film Festival 2023. <img width="1552" height="873" width_o="1552" height_o="873" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a2ea9cb2ce9483775794f0c27a90fb615567f0d41065207ee5ef8db1bf2f34d2/xLKfxj.jpeg" data-mid="180569758" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a2ea9cb2ce9483775794f0c27a90fb615567f0d41065207ee5ef8db1bf2f34d2/xLKfxj.jpeg" /> ‘Water Being’ was completed February 2023. https://harveyhayman.com/NGSX Wed, 31 May 2023 15:45:48 +0000 Harvey Hayman, Game Designer https://harveyhayman.com/NGSX I am passionate about promoting the creative endeavours of students on the course. I recently organised a three day festival, National Games School Expo (NGSX) which allowed visitors to play all of the games students’ previous releases. Ran 2, 3, 4 November 2022 at the National Film and Television School. <img width="1696" height="1272" width_o="1696" height_o="1272" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/229bf53fdc1377ea8edba28eebe48e7354198d6cbb3cf2160da1f5510a7f9dd3/PXL_20221104_191413024.jpg" data-mid="182696047" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/229bf53fdc1377ea8edba28eebe48e7354198d6cbb3cf2160da1f5510a7f9dd3/PXL_20221104_191413024.jpg" /><img width="1696" height="1272" width_o="1696" height_o="1272" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/378d4646b311bddf89f0f1c34ec417c259998f05a7943b79c36bf280e92d623b/PXL_20221104_191419646.jpg" data-mid="182696048" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/378d4646b311bddf89f0f1c34ec417c259998f05a7943b79c36bf280e92d623b/PXL_20221104_191419646.jpg" /><img width="954" height="1272" width_o="954" height_o="1272" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4a63e996a1b8021f41196149d15018c09cc223f1f5b80ab27a27f163f04b16b5/PXL_20221102_120035978.jpg" data-mid="182696448" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/954/i/4a63e996a1b8021f41196149d15018c09cc223f1f5b80ab27a27f163f04b16b5/PXL_20221102_120035978.jpg" /><img width="954" height="1272" width_o="954" height_o="1272" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5b2151c87c7d19867c55c92fdb7c96198f1b8ab6dc96782841f52df0ca39995f/PXL_20221104_204440803.jpg" data-mid="182696447" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/954/i/5b2151c87c7d19867c55c92fdb7c96198f1b8ab6dc96782841f52df0ca39995f/PXL_20221104_204440803.jpg" /><img width="954" height="1272" width_o="954" height_o="1272" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fe2039444afdfd9422895fcdb642772635cabf6b6fa8185dcaabcb673f9af7be/PXL_20221104_105927335.jpg" data-mid="182696637" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/954/i/fe2039444afdfd9422895fcdb642772635cabf6b6fa8185dcaabcb673f9af7be/PXL_20221104_105927335.jpg" /><img width="954" height="1272" width_o="954" height_o="1272" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0fd75c75f3089efa7c742b153c8d7c860f9e3ccd1038f05fc62ca1c90547d505/PXL_20221104_214138806.jpg" data-mid="182696046" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/954/i/0fd75c75f3089efa7c742b153c8d7c860f9e3ccd1038f05fc62ca1c90547d505/PXL_20221104_214138806.jpg" /> https://harveyhayman.com/About Wed, 31 May 2023 14:53:51 +0000 Harvey Hayman, Game Designer https://harveyhayman.com/About Itch.io LinkedIn YouTube Instagram Twitter <img width="1200" height="1200" width_o="1200" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/05d35ed22fa78484f39e3437f7fe4e29dc6296e2c5d4757e77f218304cd8c810/IMG_20211222_100301_122.jpg" data-mid="180578051" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/05d35ed22fa78484f39e3437f7fe4e29dc6296e2c5d4757e77f218304cd8c810/IMG_20211222_100301_122.jpg" /> Hello! I am a Game Designer currently studying the Games Design and Development MA at the National Film and Television School (NFTS). During my time at the school I have worked on the development of six video games and am currently working on the development of Morgan: Metal Detective. I was responsible for various roles across the projects: worked in a range of roles on Snowy Springs including: Director, Game Design, Programming, Lighting, Camera Rigging, Systems Integration (including WWise and Dialogue System for Unity) and Unity implementation.worked in a various roles on Bread and Roses, including: Director, Game Design, Programming, Unity implementation and Producerworked as a Writer, Game Designer, 3D Artist, 2D Artist, Video Editor on 'Shadows of them'. solo developer on 'Make it Snappy', 'SLUGDOUGH' and 'Who Gets Bruiser?' covering the whole breadth of game development tasks on these titles. Here’s a link to my CV. I previously studied Mechanical Engineering, being awarded a first in MEng Mechanical Engineering from the University of Leicester. Over the last 10 years I have worked as a technology consultant and recently made the shift into games design and development starting at NFTS. If you would like to get in contact, please drop me a message using the form below. 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