{"id":2021,"date":"2025-11-10T00:03:01","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T00:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/hl1d23\/?p=2021"},"modified":"2026-01-05T03:35:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T03:35:05","slug":"inital-ideation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/hl1d23\/inital-ideation\/","title":{"rendered":"GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS PROTOTYPING"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Prototype Overview<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In this prototype, I focused on three essential mechanics in first-person horror games: the player\u2019s basic movement behaviours,<\/strong>the door interaction<\/strong> system<\/strong> and the enemy chase logic<\/strong>.<\/p>

This prototype aims to understand how interaction timing and enemy behaviour<\/strong> shape tension and pacing in a horror experience.<\/p>

This prototype focuses on functionality only – <\/strong>no final animations, sound, or polished visuals. The goal is to validate the logic before integrating it into the full game.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Player Movement Prototype<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Goal: Validate core movement responsiveness and pacing through walking and sprinting mechanics.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As this is my first time working with the UE5 engine, I started by using the First-Person Template, which already includes basic walking and jumping functionality. This allowed me to quickly set up a testable movement framework. Building on top of that, I added a sprinting mechanic that lets the player switch between walking and running speeds. This addition helps me explore how different movement speeds influence pacing and tension in a horror gameplay context.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Blueprint of the basic movement <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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GIF showing the difference between walking and sprinting after pressing Shift.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Door Interaction Prototype<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Goal: Establish interaction timing and feedback that supports tension pacing in enclosed spaces.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In horror games, doors are not just physical barriers \u2014 they act as rhythm controllers that shape the intensity of the player\u2019s tension.

If it opens too quickly, it weakens the sense of fear.<\/strong>
If opens too slowly, players may feel stuck\u00a0<\/strong>

For this reason, I began by developing a basic door interaction system to test interaction distance, trigger logic, on-screen prompts, and door-opening speed.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Blueprint visualizing the door interaction logic<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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This graph handles the player\u2019s overlap detection, input enabling, on-screen prompt visibility, and the timeline-driven rotation used to open and close the door.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In-engine GIF showing the door interaction in action.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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This GIF demonstrates how the interaction prompt appears when entering range and how the door opens after pressing E.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Enemy Perception & Chase Prototype<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Goal: Enable perception-driven AI response to player presence, ensuring chase behaviour is triggered only on visual confirmation.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Most horror games include some form of chase sequence, so I began experimenting with this core mechanic to understand how it shapes tension and player behaviour. While testing the early chase logic, I accidentally modified the character\u2019s pose, which resulted in a very strange and unexpected posture.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Animation Blueprint setup that caused the unexpected pose during early chase-system testing.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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After that, I began exploring the enemy\u2019s vision system. I wanted the AI to enter a chase state only when the player is actually within its line of sight. To achieve this, I experimented with defining a field-of-view radius and angle, allowing the enemy to detect the player only when they appear inside that visual cone.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Visualization of the enemy\u2019s field-of-view setup, showing the detection cone used to identify the player when they enter the visible range.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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AI chase blueprint using PawnSensing to detect the player and move toward them.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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GIF demonstrating the enemy chasing the player after detection.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Prototype Demo Video<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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