Mason Achilles

Game Designer



The Ringleader



Horror Game





Playing as a journalist who goes by the name of Alex West known for taking on the riskier cases. There is word that there is a cabin in the woodland that people are visiting and not coming back to tell the tale, so Alex sets out to find out why. To his surprise he's in for a circus show he does not want to be a part of, with there being a lot more to the case than he expected and it now being a one-way journey with his life on the line. It’s the nightmare at the circus.


Soon to be Released!

23.11.22





Soon to be released for PC and Console!



I plan to release to the game on PC on steam and on the Xbox store for console but just awaiting for the rights to upload it



Screenshots



Added bridge to make level flow better >



Level one Overview >



Early Terrain development >



In-game note >



Cabin in the woods >



Uggsy in animation >



in-game snip >



Zany in animation >



Bigsy in animation >



VHS TV >



The workings of The ringleader





UI



As seen in the image below you can get a feel for what the UI will look like and the general aesthetic of the game that’s the aim. Visibility is going to be kept as clear as possible on screen but limited in the atmosphere to keep the player guessing what’s lurking in the zone.





The game is very dark when outside but the set path has a slight glow to it so the player knows the direction they should be heading.



Mechanic



The player will be able to pick up items and inspect them by rotating and zooming in on them to look for any hidden clues and to pick up some insight of the area and maybe what to expect. I will be aiming to follow the style of inspection of objects like "Skyrim" or "Resident Evil" so the player can clearly see what it is and will be a brief description of the characters thoughts on it. The player will have access to a flashlight, a diary and a gun throughout the game which will become very useful as they playthrough the stages. In the second zone there will be puzzles lined up for the player to solve without getting caught the patrolling enemies who will give chase if they spot the player.



Services.





Key card puzzle



There is a locked door with no way through but with a scanner on the wall next to it, the dialogue from the player will indicate that they need a key card to get through the door.


The key card they require will be on a dead body in another room in the dungeon that the player will need to find and pick up.


When they pick up the card a dialogue will play saying they should head back to that door.



Secret torch handle



Scratchings on the floor indicate that the way to go is through this door but with no handle or anything around to indicate the way through the player is stuck, unless they have found a polaroid showing the torch next to the door is twisted and the door open showing they need to turn the torch to open the door.



Patrol



The enemies will patrol this zone constantly, so the player is going to need to memorise the pattern they follow if they are to go undetected.


If they are detected, they will need to break line of sight with the clowns for them to lose interest and go back to patrolling. If caught, the player will be hit and if hit too many times they will die and will have to restart over in that zone.



Security traps



The player will need to be observant as if they trigger the alarm, they will need to disarm it as soon as possible as all enemies will be running to that location and it is almost certain the player is going to die here.



How i got the idea?





When I first got my idea, it was from an experience and a song. When I was younger, I went to an event called “Fright night” at an amusement park called “Thorpe Park,” this is a Halloween event where workers dress up in Halloween costumes and scare you whilst you visit the park and enjoy the horror mazes they have set up. When I went there was a new one called “The Big Top,” it was a large tent filled with horror clowns that jumped at you and chased you, this was an amazing idea to me and has stuck with me ever since.


On day one of production, I decided to use Unreal Engine over Unity, this was a risk, but it was one I was willing to take for the task at hand. Although I am more experienced in Unity, I felt that Unity would not be up to the task and would let my idea down and would not let me show my idea fully, so I decided on Unreal. Another benefit of using Unreal was the wider options of assets available to use and the free monthly assets I had gathered over time. One of my goals was to 3d model for my project but only select things so I decided on the “Circus Tent”. I knew this was not going to be easy, but it was decided.


I started with gathering assets I liked the look of, and thought would fit well in the levels and put them in a project. As the number of assets started to build, I could start to see how the levels would look and at such early stages I was happy. I wanted to use high level assets, so it looked as realistic as possible. When looking at different textures and props, I tried to make sure they all fit together just so that they didn't look out of place. Looking back at my GDD I was still following it as I had planned, and the reference images were starting to come to life.







ACHILLES STUDIOS