Artifice
The initial level begins without any monsters activated, to familiarize players with their surroundings and the different tools around them. This also allows for exploration and testing using finding the flashlight and using it.
Developed with Iris Oh (3D Modeling), May Li (programming and project management), Apple Li (narrative writer and 2D artist), and me (Programming), Artifice was developed as an iteration of another classmate's similar survival horror prototype with a living painting.
As the lead programmer, I focused on the implementation of team-made assets and general scripting for the enemies, player interactivity, and core gameplay loops. This ranges from all the item interactions, view changes, scene setup, and enemy behavior programming. The initial two weeks were focused on laying the groundwork for the map and implementing simple monster AI. For the latter two weeks, I incorporated the team's 3D assets (for monsters, environment, and items) into the scene by scripting their interactivity. Collaborating with the artists in our team was crucial, and the implementation went fairly smoothly because of streamlined asset production and a pipeline to replace placeholders throughout the project.
Gameplay
Artifice is a 3D Survival Horror Game in which as a museum curator, you must keep the living, violent museum installments under control. Looming sound effects and creeping monsters will aim to increase your heart rate until you die. Try to use your tools to survive this stressful multi-tasking horror.
Center View
Scripted the Portrait Lady to appear at certain, randomized times, with visual cues to hint when she is prepared to attack. Players can also view the clock countdown to when the first encounters would begin.
Left View
Scripted the Screaming Sculpture to make distorted weeping at certain intervals of time, to distract players from other important audio cues. Additionally, these screens increase your heart rate, pushing you toward death. The headphones are an added mechanic to reduce players' heart rate and add another useful tool for players’ survival.
Right View
I scripted the Screaming Sculpture makes distorted weeping at certain intervals of time, to distract players from other important audio cues. Headphones were programmed to be an added mechanic to reduce players' heart rate and improve difficulty concerns.
Collaboration
For this project, our communication on the art assets and external scripting was crucial. In having a single main programming pipeline, we would indicate who would be working on the main branch directly in order, which would help reduce wider merge conflicts and allowed for members who wanted to focus on art assets to easily add them in. Consistent discussion and feedback on gameplay adjustments, animation implementation, and level design were a part of our daily workflow.