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Listen to This
Project Type
Video Game Prototype
Date
April 2023
This project was a game prototype/concept, intended to emphasize the "altered states" pillar of game systems - the idea that players become totally immersed in the game's environment & disconnected from real-life. The way I chose to achieve that was to have players rely on senses that aren't otherwise essential for playing games - hearing was the only feasible option, and one that I am extra sensitive to.
Listen to This puts the player in a labyrinth-based area. At any given time, there is 1 target in the area with you, trying to track down the player and shoot at them; the player must shoot & destroy these targets first. The targets are completely invisible, but the make sounds as they move, so the player must use their hearing to sense where they are relative to them & zero in on them. Once a target is destroyed, another one spawns in seconds later; players repeat this cycle until they've met their quota, as displayed on the HUD.
This project was also part of a self-guided effort to learn how to use Unreal Engine 5 in preparation for senior year. As such, I had to learn to code all of the basic game loop functions; projectile physics, target collisions & functions, objective tracking, UI, etc. When it came to mechanics, my first challenge was the implementation of spatial audio - a feature in Unreal 5 where sound is scaled & offset based on where the source is relative to the player. This was essential for sustaining the player's sense of spatial awareness.
I also needed to enforce that the player's HAD to rely on sound to play the game instead of sight; for this, I designed the level to obstruct the player's line of sight as much as possible. The labyrinth structure of the level, on its own, was meant to achieve that, but when testing revealed that players could still see targets from a reasonable distance, I chose to make the targets completely invisible.
After testing & the project's initial submission, a few changes were made. Obstructions in the level weren't enough to create the intended game experience, so I made the targets completely invisible. Additionally, I opted to enhance the game loop by having targets pursue & attack the player, instead of just remaining stationary.














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