DecayPage | marshall

1 Player
DigiPen Student Project
Exploration with slight Horror vibes.
Solo Project Created in DigiPen's Zero Engine using Python

Decay started out as a proof-of-concept that I could get a Luigi's Mansion-esque camera working in DigiPen's proprietary ZeroEngine, a python-based Game Engine. Each room had a master block at its center that defined the room's dimensions and how much leeway the camera had to move foreward/backward and left/right.

To create a room, an new master block was placed, the dimensions defined, and, when the game started, it attached itself into the proper room ID in the script.

Once the Camera System was set, I decided the game would follow it's inspirations, but take on a more Exploration-based Gameplay-approach.

The decision was made for the Player to be a Looter exploring a condemned Mansion searching for valuables.

During the Playtesting stages, before the Player Model was in, one of the Playtesters didn't understand the motives of the player character. In my quick explanations, I made an off-hand quip about the Looter selling the stuff he found on eBay. The 'sell it on eBay' appraisal as the Player picked up items was an immediate hit with the Playtesters, and allowed for the Player Character to take on a personality otherwise left undefined.

Moving onto the Mansion itself, it was was drafted on Graph Paper, based around the center Foyer areas and the Goal, which was located in the rear of the Ballroom.

The Mansion was to be a dilapitated wreck, scheduled for demolition. But before destroying it, I had to build it.

Reseraching older mansions to understand their architecture and keeping in mind how the foot traffic would flow through the building, two wings were created.

The Eastern Wing of the building contained the kitchen, the dining room, and the sunroom for the Lady of the house to entertain her guests. Meanwhile, the gentleman's Billiards room, as well as the Library, and study were tucked away in the Western Wing as it would be the quieter of the two.

Once the Paper Prototypes of the Mansion was completed, I set about constructing the Player Path, etching out missing floors, scribbing in destroyed walls, placing objects to steal and keys to find.

Next, lacking expirance in Blender, I moved to Google Sketch up for a quick mock-up to see the Mansion in scale. Adjustments were made and the model exported to the ZeroEngine to be remade and retweaked using ZeroEngine's Tile System.

At the time, the block-based Tile System was used instead of the actual model as it was easier to punch out holes, move entire walls around, and get the tiles to dissapear when in front of the camera by a sort of custom-made layering system.

In hindsight, the layering system could have been imitated by slicing up the mansion in Google Sketch up, and knocking out the holes in there. Not only would this result in a less Blocky mansion, but the game would have run a whole lot smoother.

It was decided early on that there would only be one floor open to the Player, but I used the Mansion's half-destroyed state to block off Player access to the upper floors by having the staircase being a pile of rubble due to time and one of the decorative pillars having fallen across it.

Not only would this give reasonable explanation to why there were no additional floors, the ruined hall was the first room where the Player saw just how destroyed the Mansion really was. Along with the staircase, the Player also sees holes in the floor as well as the rain pouring in through a hole in the wall.

The result, while blocky, ended in a Mansion with some slight creepy elements. Using an Event System based on the Player's Interaction with certain objects, sounds were played, doors were locked behind the player, and objects moved around or flat-out appeard. While the horror was not meant to be scary, it was too subtle for several Playtesters to notice.

In the end, I am fairly happy with the result. It is a project I wish to remake in Unity with the assets made in Blender.