HORROR HUNT
Released on STEAM October 30th, 2019
Horror Hunt started as a simple idea that I was going to conceptually introduce for a game jam over the summer of 2019. At the time I was still streaming on Twitch full-time but continued to learn game development within Unreal Engine in my free time. Horror Hunt was also my first project that was going to be fully multiplayer with peer-to-peer networking. I unfortunately didn’t make the time frame for the game jam due to the time required to fully understand replication; I was basically in over my head. I did, however, go on to finishing the game in roughly 5 months.
ABOUT THE GAME
Horror Hunt is a “prop hunt” styled game that bends its traditional rules and is mixed within a horror atmosphere.
If you’re not familiar with a traditional prop hunt styled game, click here.
Prop Hunt is a popular multiplayer party game mode in which players take on one of two roles: Props or Hunters. The gameplay revolves around deception, hiding, and seeking, and it’s often played in various games like Garry’s Mod and Call of Duty.
Props: These players are tasked with hiding. They transform into inanimate objects (like a chair, a box, a barrel, etc.) in the environment. The goal of the Props is to blend in and avoid being found by the Hunters. They can move, but only in small bursts to avoid drawing attention.
Hunters: The Hunters’ job is to find and eliminate all the Props. They have guns to shoot at objects in the environment, trying to identify which ones are actual players hiding as props. If the object they shoot at is not a player, they take damage. Hunters typically have a time limit to find and eliminate all the Props.
Because the Prop’s job is to hide until the time runs out, it can make the game boring and dull at times. I introduced some twisting elements to the original style in hopes to remedy this. Instead of the props just hiding and waiting out a timer, they must attack the opposing team to prevent them from escaping the level. On the other side, The Hunted (Previously the hunters in the traditional prop hunt), must defend themselves with a gun and traps, while looking for pages of a four-digit code that unlocks the door to escape the level. The round is won by either all over the Hunted eliminated by the Props, the Hunted escaping the level, or the Hunted eliminating all of the Props. Looking back, the naming of the teams was not my greatest idea.
As mentioned above, each team is equipped with different abilities to help twist the gameplay.
The Props
- Melee – Attack the hunted with your daggers
- Disguise – Disguise yourself as a prop within the environment
- Night vision – A togglable resource that allows the player to see in the dark
- Stealth – Go completely invisible for a fixed time
- Throwing Dagger – On successful hit, slow the hunted and cause their flashlight to flicker momentarily
- Scare Trap – A proximity trap that when triggered, deploy a ghostly apparition briefly and play a loud jump scare
The Hunted
- Shoot – Shoot your gun at any approaching Props, take damage if the prop is not a player
- Sprint – Get separation from enemy Props
- Glowstick – Mark already cleared out areas with glowsticks
- Trip Wire Trap – A trap that deploys a hardly visible red wire across a designated section of the level. When triggered by Props it does a significant amount of damage to them and a large explosion. Can be disarmed if detected
- EMP Grenade – A grenade that reveals hidden Props within the proximity of the explosion
Even though Horror Hunt was completed, it was never intended to be a commercial release. After multiple tests with some close family and friends, I was honestly shocked that it was even working in the first place. This was my first time doing replication within Unreal Engine and I spent countless hours studying to make multiplayer work. When it got to an acceptable build, I decided to release it on STEAM with no marketing. Shortly after that it was back to focusing on my stream and starting a new game project in the future. Horror Hunt was absolutely a life changing project. I proved to myself that I could develop something relatively quickly, while learning replication / multiplayer in the process. This experience also taught me the development pipeline for STEAM at the time.
TECHNICAL OVERVIEW & DEVELOPMENT FACTS
- 99% Done in UE4 Blueprints (Used C++ for a copy a paste function for lobby code)
- All of the logic was programmed by me – No templates or assets were used in programming the gameplay / multiplayer functionality
- All of the models were from the marketplace (I am no modeler / artist)
- Over 100 different props to transform into. All derived from one class
- Each prop has their own health points (Smaller props less health, larger props more health)
- Functional in-game text chat system
- No baked lighting – Since the maps are all dark there was no need for baked lighting
- Guns are hit scan (line trace)
- Melee attacks use anim notify
- Stencil post processing used to see teammates / codes through walls
- Night vision used post process material that utilized scene depth, therefore did not require a fake point light or spotlight
- Code combinations are generated at the beginning of each round. Their locations are also randomized on over 100 fixed locations per level through an array
- After the round is over the server destroys any player created objects, sets all objects back to their original state, and respawns the players on the opposite team. Re-opening a level would erase all data