Cosy Cabin

~8 Weeks development time.

This project was made by me as a solo developer.

The purpose of this project was to create a small cosy game experience using researched methods of creating cosy environments in game, such as the effects of absence, comparison, tactility and others.

This project also displays a comparison between base-level system implementation and those same systems after several passes of game feel and polish have been applied.

My Contributions

Gameplay and Gameloop design

Gameloop that focused more on a cosy 'experience', including a weather system, small tasks for the player to complete and generally a more laid back 'experience' as opposed to a more intense game.
All systems created in Unreal's Blueprint
Weather System
- Weather system that included multiple weather conditions, including Rain, Snow, Fog and Sunny weather conditions
- Different weather conditions have different effects on lighting, audio effects and the player's movement speed.
- Day/Night system that will select a random weather condition at the start of a day.
Applied 'cosy' audio concepts found through literature review and research report
- Researched multiple concepts such as absence, tactility and comparison to help further develop the cosy environments through the use of audio techniques
- Performed content analysis on multiple games to confirm findings from the literature review
- Task system was implemented as a method to ensure that player's are properly exposed to the conditions that make the cabin feel cosy
Game feel and polish
- Many utilised effects such as animated elements, particle systems, camera shake/bob effects, countless sound effects, etc.
UI Design and implementation
- Wireframes, layouts and asset lists
- UI implementation using Unreal's UMG
Endless Bug fixing
Participant playtests conducted to identify weak points in the game's design and where elements were not communicated effectively, as well as quality of life improvements.