June 29th, 9:00 AM. Chris's bedroom, now a digital construction zone, was filled with the sounds of clicking, typing, and the occasional muttered curse. The whiteboards were covered in diagrams of room layouts, lighting setups, and…interaction nodes.
"Environment detail!" Chris announced, gesturing towards the unfinished research lab room. "Let's make this place feel…real. Abandoned, but real. And creepy. Definitely creepy."
Max, who had spent the previous days wrestling with the first-person controller, was now focused on expanding the interaction system. "We need more things to poke, prod, and…potentially regret touching. Drawers, cabinets, lockers…anything that can hide clues, items, or…surprises."
Tyrone, surrounded by reference images of scientific equipment and decaying interiors, was ready to unleash his artistic skills. "Textures, lighting, details… Time to make this lab look like it's been abandoned for…a long, long time. And maybe…add some hints of what happened here."
They spent the day transforming the basic, blocky research lab into a more believable and unsettling environment.
Max expanded the interaction system. He added the ability to open and close drawers, cabinets, and lockers. He implemented a simple inventory system, allowing the player to pick up and examine items. He also added text descriptions to interactive objects, providing hints and clues.
Chris helped him design the interactions, deciding what objects should be interactive, what items they should contain, and what information they should reveal. He wanted to create a sense of exploration and discovery, rewarding players for their curiosity…but also making them slightly nervous about what they might find.
Tyrone focused on the visual details. He replaced the placeholder textures with more realistic materials: scratched metal, cracked plastic, dusty surfaces. He added dynamic lighting: flickering fluorescent lights, casting long, distorted shadows. He also added "set dressing": scattered papers, broken equipment, and…subtle hints of something having gone terribly wrong.
June 30th - July 2nd. The work continued. The research lab slowly came to life, growing more detailed, more atmospheric, and more…unsettling.
Max continued to refine the interaction system, adding sound effects to object interactions (the creak of a drawer opening, the clatter of a metal cabinet). He also experimented with adding "physics" to some objects, allowing the player to push or pull them around.
Chris focused on the layout of the lab, adding more rooms and corridors, creating a sense of interconnectedness and exploration. He also started to integrate the puzzles from the GDD, placing clues and interactive objects in strategic locations.
Tyrone added more environmental storytelling. He created "clues" in the environment: bloodstains, cryptic messages scrawled on walls, and…disturbing scientific diagrams. He also experimented with adding subtle visual effects, like dust particles floating in the air and cobwebs clinging to corners.
July 3rd - July 5th. Sanity mechanic improvements. "Time to mess with the player's mind," Chris said, a mischievous glint in his eye.
Max, who had been researching visual and auditory hallucinations, was ready to implement some new effects. "We can add subtle whispers, distorted sounds, maybe even…brief glimpses of…things…that aren't really there."
Tyrone, who had clearly been spending too much time looking at horror movie reference material, was full of unsettling ideas. "What about…a flickering shadow that seems to follow the player? Or…a distorted reflection in a mirror? Or…a sudden, unexpected change in the environment?"
They spent the days implementing and refining the sanity effects. They wanted to create a sense of unease and paranoia, making the player question what was real and what was a product of their deteriorating mental state.
Max added auditory hallucinations: whispers that seemed to come from nowhere, distorted sounds that played at random intervals. He also implemented some basic visual effects: a subtle "tunnel vision" effect, a flickering distortion at the edge of the screen, and…occasional, brief glimpses of…something…moving in the player's peripheral vision.
Chris tied the sanity effects to specific events and discoveries. Finding a disturbing document, encountering a particularly unsettling scene, or spending too much time in darkness would all cause the player's sanity to decrease, triggering the hallucinations.
Tyrone added subtle visual cues to indicate the player's declining sanity: a slight tremor in the player's hands, a faster breathing sound, a subtle blurring of the vision.
July 6th - July 8th. Sound design and (slightly) smarter AI. "Final touches," Chris announced. "Sound, and…something that vaguely resembles an enemy."
Tyrone, who had been collecting a library of creepy sound effects, was ready to unleash his auditory arsenal. He added more ambient sounds to the research lab: the hum of broken machinery, the drip of water, the distant, unsettling…groan. He also refined the existing sound effects, making them more impactful and realistic.
Max tackled the AI. He didn't have time to implement a full-fledged enemy, but he wanted something more than the "creepy cube." He created a simple "patrolling" AI: a shadowy figure that moved along a predefined path, disappearing and reappearing in different locations. It couldn't hurt the player, but its presence added a new layer of tension. He made it so if the player's sanity is low.
The player could see the shadow.
Chris helped him test the AI and the sound design, providing feedback and suggesting tweaks. They wanted to create a sense of constant threat, even without direct confrontation.
By 9:00 PM on July 8th, the second prototype was complete. It was a significant improvement over the first. The movement was smoother, the interaction was more robust, the environment was more detailed and atmospheric, the sanity mechanic was more effective, and the sound design was…truly unsettling. And there was even a (vaguely) creepy AI.
They were ready for another round of playtesting. They were ready to scare themselves. And they were ready to see if their creation could scare others.