Vollun
Vollun is a horror game focused on solving puzzles. An ambitious project would not qualify me in production alone. The player wakes up in a cell and appears to be part of some kind of experiment. It is strangely linked to a decreasing numerical counter, which when it reaches zero the player dies. The player needs to explore the area behind the clues to escape, but always remember to come back to reset the counter so as not to die.
The game's development was paused to re-analyze some design points, but there are plans to resume development.
Main mechanics
One of the main game mechanics, in addition to the traditional ones of the genre, is that the player is trapped in a mechanism that keeps him alive for just 5 minutes, this mechanism needs to be restarted before the counter reaches zero.
The further the player moves away from the counter when he is exploring the location, the more attentive he needs to be to know when to return.
An alarm always goes off when there is 1 minute left until the counter reaches zero, it's time to run!
To make it possible to reach very distant locations on the map without it being impossible to return to the mechanism and reset it, the player unlocks some portals on the map that allow him to return to the mechanism more quickly.
Another different element that vollun brings is that whenever the player dies he is born in a new body in a new cell, and the number of cells and bodies is limited, so the player needs to escape before the bodies run out.This was a difficult design decision to apply as it is far from the most modern design concept and still needs to be improved in the game to be used in addition to needing to be clearer to the player.
Another different element that vollun brings is that whenever the player dies he is born in a new body in a new cell, and the number of cells and bodies is limited, so the player needs to escape before the bodies run out.
This was a difficult design decision to apply as it is far from the most modern design concept and still needs to be improved in the game to be used in addition to needing to be clearer to the player.
AI
The player needs to face enemies during the game. During the first stage of development a stalking monster was built, this first monster was not very intelligent and only chased the player. That's when the second enemy AI was created, a little more complex and intelligent. This AI still has the base behavior of chasing the player, but it has a more complex memory and area of vision, allowing it to find the player even when he is hidden under a table or behind an object, as long as it can perceive him in those locations.
Furthermore, the AI now has a hearing system, which allows it to listen to the player in different types of movement and changes its patrol target to these areas, looking for the source of the noise.
This AI did not make it into the official version of the game but is finalized in the development project.
Level Design
Vollun's level design is linear, but the player will need to go through some areas more than once in search of clues and items.
The objective of the vollun level was to make the player's movement through these areas as less boring as possible, so the player can unlock some shortcuts as they progress, in addition, some events are called according to the stage of the game, to help with the immersion, history and always bringing something new to an already known region.
The production of the cutscenes was part of the game, among which we can highlight the production of the video above, showing the game's prologue that tells the story of the protagonist going to the facilities of a mysterious organization in search of his missing brother.
The objective was to create a scene in which he drove while narrating his story. To create the intention of driving on a linear road, the system was programmed to simulate a long road.
The lighting was designed to represent the sunset, symbolizing the protagonist's entry into a dark area of his journey, the end of one journey and the beginning of a darker one.