Entering the bayou
This game was the final project of my undergraduate studies at the University of Utah and presented a lot of new challenges. The biggest change compared to previous projects was the drastic change in team size, which was 30 students instead of the previous ~6-member teams. This meant that working on features and collaborating with team members became much more chaotic and making sure everyone was on the same page became even more important. This game was also developed over a full school year, which was almost twice as long as the previous games I had worked on so far.
Supporting the scare
Since I wasn't as familiar with the genre, I chose to work on designing a lot of the supporting mechanics for the main monster to help create a more polished experience for the player. One of these mechanics was the "fake" scares spread throughout the game to cause the player to become paranoid and make the gameplay feel more intense. By working with the environment artists, we created specific scenery and props that would throw off the player so they would never get too comfortable.
I also helped develop the game's branding and a good amount of marketing assets for social media accounts & the program's big end-of-the-year showcase event, Utah Games Launch.
Working on a project for almost twice as long as my previous games and a much larger development team was a major challenge but provided some invaluable experience. Although this was probably my least satisfying project to work on, I learned a lot of helpful lessons from the challenges and mistakes I made. Being part of such a large team, I learned how important it is to ensure your voice is heard and to stand up for ideas & work you are confident in. I also learned how important communication is and what can happen if it's severely lacking within a team, especially with such a long development cycle.
