A shadow descends. . .

So this is it!
Done.

All done.
It's quite an emotional moment really, it's not just finishing dissertation, but finishing UCS and my entire university experience, so I'll keep it brief and not too soppy.
It's been an amazing project, I've loved most of it. Apart from that time when I had to redesign the hotel 3 or 4 times. That was pure hell. But now that it has all come together I'm incredibly proud, of the work and of myself. I have learnt so much over this project; level design, new ways of scripting, art techniques, sound production, animation. . .the list goes on.
I feel so much richer as a games designer for this work and I'll carry it around with me forever.

The project was meant as an experiment in immersive gameplay and due to some time to spare at the end, has evolved the way I always wanted it too, into a game. The finished product offers an opening cutscene explaining the 'story' to the player, whilst giving them spacial bearings (allowing a mouse look function as they are transported to the hotel). On entering the hotel, the game begins.
The player starts in the reception area, decked out with dark ambient light, fog (to disturb long distance viewing and cause apprehension) and typical hotel props, cages, seating and dead plants to boot.
A glowing note on the desk entices the player over and without previous instruction, the player doesn't know how to pick up the note, but most will figure out correctly that simply clicking on it will do. A few things including controls are explained here, with a direction of 'room 41'. The player is now ready to enter the hotel, feel immersed, scared and explore what the hotel has to offer.
Playtesters seem to really enjoy the game and days before when the 'ending' hadn't been written, seemed genuinely gutted when they realised it hadn't been finished. This is proof enough for me to believe I have succeeded in my original aims to create an atmospheric, immersive level, with gameplay that gives the player reason to dig in deep and enjoy every second my game has to offer.
The game will be posted online soon enough, so I will be back to post links. Until then, I fear this is where we must part ways for the forseeable future. It's been a fun one folks. Maybe too fun.
Thank you.

Setting the mood. . .

So after some restless nights of solid ploughing on with dissertation, I have come along in a good way. The game is scarier than ever, with working game objectives, scares and some aesthetic design that will hopefully make the player as uneasy as possible.
Part of building this suspense is coming from the music. It's been a 'problem' since the project started, that I could find/make music tailored perfectly to how I imagined this game from the start. With a placeholder dark ambient track used until now (and played in the video in the last blog) it served well, but due to copyright issues etc was not feasible for the long term project. However, I can now proudly present my very own piece of dark ambient horror music, completely made by myself for use in the game. It can be found on my personal youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87grUoek6gk

Also, I'll throw in a couple of screen shots, seeing as quite a few minor changes have been added since my last blog!
Hope you enjoy! :)