Woodside Developer Spotlight - Dames 4 Games Showcase
Welcome to Woodside, a haunting survival horror adventure. Explore, investigate and survive as Grace, confronting supernatural terrors that plague a seemingly quaint British village. Experience dynamic horror as spirits react to the way you play. Can you find the truth before it's too late?
Woodside adopts the unique capacity of horror to evoke strong emotions in its players, weaving a dark mystery through its gameplay to tell an important story.
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT LEAD
Woodside adopts the unique capacity of horror to evoke strong emotions in its players, weaving a dark mystery through its gameplay to tell an important story.
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT LEAD
Role & Responsibilities:
- Leading design and development of all core systems, narrative, and gameplay experiences.
- Level editing and gameplay prototyping in Unreal Engine 5.
- Direction of art and audio to create an immersive horror atmosphere.
- Project and community management for a small indie team.
- Leading design and development of all core systems, narrative, and gameplay experiences.
- Level editing and gameplay prototyping in Unreal Engine 5.
- Direction of art and audio to create an immersive horror atmosphere.
- Project and community management for a small indie team.
Team Size: < 5
Genre: Survival Horror / Psychological Horror / Adventure
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Genre: Survival Horror / Psychological Horror / Adventure
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Steam Page: Woodside
Design goals
- Empower player agency throughout exploration, investigation, and survival phases.
- Tell an immersive and original horror story that balances classic tropes with innovative narrative techniques.
- Craft a detailed, believable rural English village setting with authentic cultural and environmental cues.
- Tell an immersive and original horror story that balances classic tropes with innovative narrative techniques.
- Craft a detailed, believable rural English village setting with authentic cultural and environmental cues.
DESIGN QUESTIONS/SOLUTIONS
How can we maximise player agency at all stages of the core loop while maintaining a power balance that best serves horror experiences?
Exploration:
While village regions are, for the most part, explored in a sequence that follows the game's narrative, non-linear exploration in Woodside allows players to explore locations within regions in any order. Additionally, when new information is gained, backtracking to locations previously visited opens up new areas of the map to the player.
While village regions are, for the most part, explored in a sequence that follows the game's narrative, non-linear exploration in Woodside allows players to explore locations within regions in any order. Additionally, when new information is gained, backtracking to locations previously visited opens up new areas of the map to the player.
Investigation:
Clues collected by the player are added to the Clue Log. From there, the player can decide to cross-reference clue information wherever they see a connection. While this is one way to reveal important story information, cross-referencing can also reveal additional lore and hidden extras, rewarding the player's curiosity with optional content.
Clues collected by the player are added to the Clue Log. From there, the player can decide to cross-reference clue information wherever they see a connection. While this is one way to reveal important story information, cross-referencing can also reveal additional lore and hidden extras, rewarding the player's curiosity with optional content.
Survival:
Combat offers a choice between empathetic spirit pacification or aggressive damage-dealing, balancing risk and reward dynamically.
Combat offers a choice between empathetic spirit pacification or aggressive damage-dealing, balancing risk and reward dynamically.
How can we provide an engaging and immersive horror experience, while also telling a unique story that does not overly rely on common horror tropes?
Horror tropes are used by developers for a reason - they help the player draw connections and expectations from other media without the game spending extra time establishing these themes and concepts. However, subverting these tropes and experimenting with new ideas can keep gameplay fresh and the experience less predictable. Woodside pushes the boundaries of what we have come to expect from horror media with cinematic, narrative and player-focused techniques.
Additionally, Woodside is a game with a focus on character. Who Grace is, her fears and motivations, are vital to the story being told. To encourage a connection between Grace and the player and keep players immersed in the game's world, the character is fully-voiced with relatable dialogue and believable reactions to her surroundings.
What will make Woodside's setting distinctly British and how will the player experience this?
The village of Woodside is designed and developed by team members with experience residing in or around the British countryside. Every detail of the village's design (with the exception of the more fantastical) references elements from real-world locations researched by the team. Realistic Foley sound design is used to capture and implement a believable soundscape to accompany the player during exploration.
Woodside's player camera adapts to environment, story and the needs of the player. The game's default third-person camera switches between over-the-shoulder and fixed perspective depending on the atmosphere and desired focal points in the current environment, as well as the pacing of narrative progression. While exploring Woodside, the player can also inspect their environment more closely by switching to a first-person 'Focus' perspective.
The development of characters and lore in the world of Woodside can be explored at the level of depth preferred by each player. This is achieved through a combination of environmental storytelling, readable items and optional content discovered by cross-referencing clues.
PRESS
Fearzine Issue #1 - Early Birds Feature
CONCEPT & DEVELOPMENT
Grace - Protagonist - Collaborative Concept with Franshawn Langley, Artist
Supernatural Creatures - Collaborative Concepts with Lauren Watkins, Artist
