Game Summary

Vodonaut is a 2D horror game where the player takes control of a diver who is fully geared and able to walk under the ocean. The diver's goal is to locate a missing submarine located at Bikini Atoll. Bikini Atoll was a nuclear testing site for the United States, which caused it to be filled with mutated coral and mutated ocean animals. The diver needs to use all the tools and resources he has and go look for the missing submarine.

Role

Length

Tool

System Designer

Programmer

Movement

Tools(Flashlight, Sonar, IR beam)

Enemy AI

1 Week

Unity

Team Size

Controls

Immersive Control and Feedback

Creating an immersive experience for the player is extremely important in games, in order to create immersion for the player both the visuals and audio must work together. In this game not only did we use underwater sound to help make the player think that they are moving through water, we also made the movement feel like you are moving underwater. Since the diver is walking underwater with heavy gear, having the player have a slow acceleration but strong deceleration is important. On top of that since the diver is heavily geared each time he takes a step a timed sound effect will occur as the diver places his feet on the ocean floor.

Enemy AI

There are two types of enemy in this game. The basic enemy is a type of swarmer which is used in all the level. This enemy will attack the diver on sight, but they are also easily scared by the diver. The other enemy type is a stalker enemy, where there will only be one of them in each level. Unlike the swarmer the stalker will always be following the diver, and attack when it sees a chance. The flashlight on the diver is the only way to fend off the enemies.

Swarmer

The swarmer are small and easily scared, and they will never attack the diver unless they are attacking from the dark. On top of that the swarmer isn’t quick, which gives the diver more time to fend off the swarmer. Given the amount of swarmers are in each level attacking in the dark will work as a jump scare to the diver if they are not checking their surroundings enough.

Stalker

The stalker is always following the diver and will give the diver a warning before attacking the diver. This warning is obvious as it will circling around the diver before charging into the diver at high speed. Unlike the swarmer this enemy doesn’t stop attacking the instant it’s not in the dark, it takes time to scare him off. Stalkers will always be around the diver and the diver will not know when it is going to start attacking. Therefore the diver must pay attention to the stalker at all times throughout the level, knowing where it is and what it’s doing. Stalker’s purpose is to always keep pressure on the diver and force the diver to use the light to fend off the stalker while the swarmer can attack from the dark.

Flashlight

In such a dark environment the diver is given various tools to keep himself safe and allow him to know his surroundings. One of the major tools is a flashlight which is used to scare the monsters away. The flashlight is always turned on and only points forward. The diver must rotate in order to point the flashlight, and because the diver is heavily geared, it can be slow to rotate and shine the flashlight at a different location. This is to enhance the horror experience since the player’s only tool against the monster is slow, which will create pressure for the player as they have to deal with multiple enemies at once.

Sonar

Since the flashlight only points in one direction the diver would still only be able to have very limited information. Therefore the diver is also equipped with a sonar that helps him scan the environment and gives him detailed outlines of what his surroundings look like. It will also reveal any creature within the range, however all creatures will only be revealed as a dot. Given how slow the flashlight rotates, sonar can be used to know what is around the player. Sonar doesn't help identify threats.

Infrared

The diver will have an infrared scanner which will reveal any terrain and creatures to the diver. This will mainly be used to keep the diver knowing where he is located, while also being used to reveal what types of creature is around him. This tool which gives full information in the dark, cost energy and can't scare off enemies, it can be rotated at a much faster rate in comparison to the flashlight

How they Work Together

These tools are all designed to help the player navigate and go through the level. Each of these tools have their main purpose. While sonar is used to provide the diver with information of a large area it leaves out the details of what creature is detected. Infrared on the other hand only gives information for a much smaller area but it has the additional ability to show what creature it is to the diver. After confirming what creature it is and where it’s heading the player can decide if they should rotate and point the flashlight a certain direction.