Alright, so this is the first dev blog for my new project, that I’m naming Infernal Affairs. For those who missed my earlier posts, I'm making a horror game trying to go for a liminal vibe, the protagonist is an incubus soldier working for the human resistance against the demon lord. I originally had a more grand idea for a story that you can see a bit of in that old post, but I abandoned it after reading a post replying to it about smaller scope stories that are more character driven, which after sitting on that for a few days, I find more fun to write anyways. The game will have survival horror elements where you're scavenging for items. The sex scenes will be unlocked through the story, in between missions you can talk to characters in a hub to level your friendship with them, that part won't be super in depth, as I don’t want to balloon the scope of this game but I want it to feel at least cozy and fun.
Making a proper foundation takes forever but once it's done, the other stuff gets done alot faster. Here's the basics I've implemented so far:
Player character with movement
Camera system (both fixed cameras that’s meant to feel like a camera on a wall watching you and a 3rd person option just for testing purposes)
Scene switching
CRT filter and color grading for that liminal vibe
Player Controls & Combat
Built a state machine for the player (this makes everything cleaner code-wise)
Added/removed/re-added a dodge mechanic (toned it down from DMC to more Dark Souls-esque with harsher timing)
Added a jump then removed jumping entirely after testing, felt too empowering for the vibe I want
Fixed animation issues
A parry, I’m still not sure about this but I feel like if i make sure it's not op and the reward for parrying isn't too high it’ll be nice, like a last resort that you don't want to use unless you have to since it's not super reliable when your about to be attacked
Weapon System
I was worried about this since this is one of the more important parts of a survival horror game but so far I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out:
Created a weapon class with different types (Melee, Gun, Punch)
Added weapon properties like damage, durability/ammo, and cooldown
Added the ability to swap current weapon with items on floor or drop weapons
Combat Feel
Related to weapons, it was important to make this work well, so far I think it's good, it could be a case of game dev glasses though, since I'm the one making it I may have gotten used to anything that isn't great so lemme know if anything looks bad:
Created attack animations with variations (so you're not seeing the same punch over and over)
Added animation canceling code
Built a move queue system for those moments when you press attack 0.1 seconds too early but want the game to remember it
Added placeholder sound effects to make it feel less empty
Camera Decisions
This was a tough one to figure out:
Started with fixed cameras only
Added 3rd person option to test out, I was worried that combat would turn really hard and tedious with the fixed cam
Current plan: After testing, im not really worried about the fixed cam being annoying, the 3rd person cam does seem to give a very different vibe as well for what I want to do so I think I’ll abandon it, just keeping it as a dev option if you hit a specific code or something, it’ll be nice for debugging though so it wasn't a waste to implement
Enemy Development
Just started on this toward the end of the week:
Refactored player code so enemies can share the same base
This makes interactions between them way cleaner
Beginning to implement enemy behaviors and AI
Concept Art
Nothing to show off since they're so sketchy right now but heres what I’ve drawn:
The player, tried to go for a tacticool look
A brawler like enemy
The map for the first mission of the game, little be a compact, almost suffocating
warehouse, at least that's the vibe im going for
The first love interest, she’ll be a hard ass, and your commander, telling you your missions and stuff
What's Next
For next week I'm planning to:
Implement the health/damage system fully
Create at least one proper enemy with attack patterns
Start designing the first mission area
Begin work on the inventory system
Honestly, making a game with this vibe is pretty challenging but fun, there were some parts where I had doubts, the weapon system and animations were a massive headache but I’m happy with the progress I got in a week, I hope I can keep this momentum.
Everything is still using placeholder models and the environments aren't ready yet. But I promise it’ll eventually come together, I went outside on a walk yesterday taking a bunch of pictures for inspirations on environments since I live next to a place I always found sorta creepy, so I’ve been using that as inspiration and also took some screenshots of some places on google earth too so I hope the environments will have a nice vibe.
Week 2 (5/17/2025) The First Level:
Shorter update this week. I've been grinding away on a few key systems and spent a ton of time on level design, which doesn't translate to a big changelog but was still a mountain of work.
Inventory System
After much deliberation, I went with a radial menu for the inventory system. The player will only be able to hold 8 items at a time, which is intentionally restrictive:
The limited inventory forces players to make tough choices about what to carry
You'll be able to store excess items in chests located in safe areas
This creates a nice tension between exploration and resource management
I might adjust the size depending on playtesting and how many resource types end up in the final game
It took a surprising amount of time to implement this seemingly simple system. Had to refactor a bunch of code to make it work properly:
Created a proper item class that's more flexible
Remade the weapon class to extend from the item class (much cleaner)
Revamped how items are loaded to work with the new inventory system
Level Design
This ate up most of my week but doesn't look impressive in a changelog:
Completely finished the concept for the mall map
Labeled all important locations, locked doors, key placements, etc.
Started blocking out the actual 3D space for the mall
Working out enemy placement and resource distribution
The mall is going to be the first major area of the game. Think of it as a twisted, liminal space version of a shopping mall. It's familiar enough to be recognizable but warped in ways that make it unsettling. I'm going for that backrooms vibe where everything is just slightly wrong.
Camera System
Finally implemented proper camera switching for the fixed cameras
Still need to tweak the transitions to feel smoother
Next Week's Goals
I feel like I might have jumped the gun a bit on level design. The core gameplay systems still need refinement, so next week I'm planning to:
Clean up the player controls to feel more responsive
Actually add enemies you can battle (right now I've got the systems but no actual enemies to fight)
Work on the overall game feel and polish the combat
Add proper hit detection and feedback
I need to make sure the moment-to-moment gameplay feels good before I get too deep into environment building. No point having a cool mall if moving around in it feels like crap.
Until next week,
Week 3 (5/23/2025) Working on Enemies:
Posting this on Friday instead of Saturday since I'll be on a short family trip this weekend. Also, I realized I forgot to post a video showing off the weapon swapping last week, so there's a video at the bottom for you all to check out.
This week was all about combat and enemy AI, working more on the core gameplay to actually work instead of just having systems sitting there doing nothing.
Animation & Input Improvements
Started the week by cleaning up some fundamental stuff that was bugging me:
Refactored the input buffer to be way more responsive to user input
Completely overhauled the animation system to be more streamlined and future-proof
These aren't sexy changes but they make everything feel so much better. The old animation system was a pain to scale up if I wanted to add more situational animations in the future, so this was necessary before adding more complex behaviors.
Enemy AI & Patrol System
This was the big focus this week and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out:
Made it so enemies can follow set paths for patrol patterns (think security guard walking the perimeter of a building)
Implemented player detection using simple raycast - monsters can't see you through walls
Once spotted, enemies will chase you down
If you break line of sight (hide around a corner), they'll investigate your last known position
If they completely lose you, they go back to their patrol route
The AI feels pretty good for how simple the implementation is, I'm pretty happy with it right now.
Combat System Overhaul
Finally got actual combat working instead of just having the pieces sitting there:
Implemented damage mechanics - you can hurt and kill enemies now
Added attack sound effects to make hits feel more impactful
Modified the combat system to be more satisfying overall
Stagger Mechanics
This one's important but invisible:
Added stagger mechanics for both player and enemies to prevent button mashing
Basically, if you get hit too much you'll get staggered briefly
You probably won't consciously notice it happening, but you'd definitely feel its absence
Prevents combat from turning into a mindless clicking contest
Still needs some work, it feels less spammy then before but not fantastic or anything
Enemy Attacks & Balance Issues
Enemies can finally fight back, but it's... a work in progress:
Implemented basic enemy attacks
The combat looks pretty goofy right now, it's funny but definitely not the horror vibe I'm going for
Made player hurtboxes slightly more forgiving to prevent stalemates
Still not sure if forgiving hitboxes are right for a horror game, but without them you get button-mashing standoffs when both player and enemy have similar attack types
The combat balance is still wonky. Right now it feels more like a comedy than horror, which could be remidied with atmostphere and making models more intimidating and making stronger monsters. It's definitly a WIP.
Next Week's Focus
Going to keep iterating on combat feel and enemy behavior. The foundation is there but it needs serious refinement to hit the right tone. Also want to add more enemy variety and maybe start working on environmental hazards. I'm also thinking about adding weapon throwing, it would give the player quite a bit of range and do bigger damage and stun the enemy, but your giving up your weapon, and the controls may make it difficult to pick it up in a tense situation.
Here are the vids:
Week 4 (5/30/2025) Throwables:
Shorter update this week since I got completely absorbed by implementing one particular mechanic that ended up being way more complex than I anticipated.
Weapon Throwing System
This was the big focus and honestly ate up most of my week:
Made it so you can throw weapons at enemies
Thrown weapons staggers enemies for longer than regular attacks
Creates a risk/reward dynamic: you can throw your weapon to stagger a pursuer and gain distance, but you sacrifice your weapon to do it
Sounds simple, right? Wrong. This one mechanic turned into a coding nightmare:
Created a projectile object that items transform into when thrown
Items need to turn back into interactable objects when they land
The first version of this cuased the player to completly spaz out (I still don't understand why) flying all over the map when trying to throw an item
Had to completely refactor the item class multiple times to make this work
Also had to tweak the interactor class to handle the state changes properly
I probably spent 80% of my week just getting this one feature to work without breaking everything else. But I think it was worth it, it adds a tactical element to combat and resource management that fits the survival horror vibe well.
Enemy AI Improvements
Made a small but important tweak to enemy behavior:
When enemies lose track of you, they now look around a bit before returning to their patrol route
Makes them feel more alive and less robotic
It's a tiny change but it makes the AI feel more believable. Instead of immediately going "welp, guess they're gone" and walking away, they actually search the area. I think I can push this further in the future though maybye circeling the area it last saw the player or something.
Environment Work
Started getting my hands dirty with actual level creation:
Began practicing modeling the mall map in Blender
Working on getting more comfortable with UV mapping (which is still a pain in the ass, but it's compunding even more with a big map compared to a smaller player)
Getting more familiar with Blender's workflow in general
Until next week!
Week 5 (6/07/2025) A Dry Week:
Real quick update this week since finals are kicking my ass and I've got a bunch of other projects due.
Texture Work
Started working on a texture atlas for the game models:
Going for realistic textures but sized down in resolution
Taking inspiration what the actual developers of from N64 games did, the chunky, low-res texture look
Think it fits the retro vibe I'm going for
The in game camera's lower res and noise filter should help make the textures look a bit better
Environment Assets
Made some progress on actual 3D content:
Started making low poly props for the mall
Began building out a tiny section of the mall's first floor
Nothing too exciting visually yet at all, I'm still trying to get my footing with blender but I've been looking at tutorials of how to make game environments on Youtube in my free time to learn the process so I'll get better.
Real Life Getting in the Way
I really couldn't get much done this week because of finals and a mountain of college projects. On top of that, there's a big family holiday coming up, so I was swamped with other stuff. Next week will probably be similar since finals aren't over yet.
But after that it's the second session of the college semester which is shorter, and then summer break. So development should pick up significantly once I'm not juggling schoolwork.
Looking Ahead
Once I get through this busy period, I want to focus on:
Finishing more of the mall layout
Maybe get started on clean art for the character in game
Getting more enemy types implemented
Sorry for the short update. The game is still moving forward, just at a slower pace while I deal with academic stuff.
Back to cramming for finals,
Week 6 (6/14/2025) - The Mall:
Yo, so I have to be honest about something. I ended up restarting last weeks 3D scene from scratch, which unfortunately makes last week's progress kind of moot.
Learning from Mistakes
So here's what happened, I was so swamped with last week that instead of properly studying Blender tutorials, I rushed to make something just so I'd have content for the dev blog. That was a mistake, and the work I did was very sloppy.
This week I took the time to actually study more Blender tutorials properly, and because of that knowledge, I decided it was better to restart from scratch rather than try to fix the rushed work. In hindsight, I should have just studied last week and been okay with having a lighter dev blog entry. I've learnt my lesson, I won't be rushing myself just to have something to write about. That being said, while the roll back is unfortunate, I made a decent amount of progress this week with modeling since I now know how to work faster in Blender and I ended up going alot further than last weeks half baked scene.
Mall Environment Progress
Started properly making the mall entrance
Started white boxing the first level with much better technique (White boxing I learned is when you first focus on making the "silhouette" of the area before going into detailed modeling, if the area looks decent with rudimentary lighting, a lack of detail and no textures, then it'll look really good once you refine it)
Testing out the lighting setup I want for the level
Lighting Experiments
Started experimenting a bit with the lighting:
Using blue light for the main sun lighting to make everything feel cold and kinda sad, like morning on a rainy day or something
Adding green/yellow lights from lamps to create a sickly feeling that something's wrong
The contrast between the two colors when they meet is pretty nice too
Level Design Work
Made solid progress on the layout:
Redrew the original dungeon map for the first level (much cleaner now)
Continued white boxing several areas
Finished blocking out these sections (note: they're just blocked out with basic silhouettes, not final):
Main room
East, north and west halls
North hall save room
East, north and west plazas
Character Art
Finished making the player bust sprite for dialogue
Here is the protagonist, now I personally am very proud of how he looks, however, I am obviously biased, since this he both a solider and a incubus I tried incorporating both of those into his design. I used a the "tacticool" aesthetic for the main inspiration of his design, and made his femboy-ish since he is an incubus and from my research those guys are depicted as either sexy androgynous people or really weird ugly penis creatures, and I really didn't want to go for the ladder.
You'll also notice it's using pixel art, I probably mentioned this before but when it comes to digital art I'm far better at pixel art, the smaller resolution lets be tweak small details easily to get to what I'm going for. I have an I-Pad to draw on but I'm still struggling with it, and while making a game, I don't want to feel like I'm fighting the process. I'll of course continue practicing, weather it be for this game or a game in the future, I do eventually want to have drawn art in my game, but for now it'll be pixel art, I think it fits the retro vibe of the game anyways.
I also got started on the first female love interest, its just a sketch now but you'll see her next week.
Moving Forward
Now that I've got better Blender skills and a clearer vision for the lighting, I should be able to make much faster progress on the environment.
VIDEOs:
Week 7 (6/20/2025) Mapping:
This week I decided to pump the brakes on blocking out the mall and focus on making absolutely sure I have the layout nailed down. Better to spend time planning now than having to rework everything later.
Mall Map Planning
I've been working on detailed maps for all three levels of the mall:
Ground level
1st floor
2nd floor
I've got the maps laid out with all the important locations, key placements, and connections between areas with each pixel translating vaguely to 1 foot (3 pixels ~= 1meter). It's been alot harder than I expected since I need to think about how a fresh player would walk around the mall and think about how I can invisibly guide them to places and make sure they don't get lost but definitely don't want to hold the players hand. I won't go into too much detail here since it would spoil things, and honestly by the time the demo comes out you'll probably forget the specifics anyway. But having this comprehensive blueprint means I can block out areas with confidence instead of second-guessing myself or changing my mind and re doing a past area from scratch.
Taking this step back to plan properly feels like the right call. I learned my lesson from a few weeks ago about rushing ahead without proper foundation work.
Commander Character Art
Finished the pixel art for the commander character and I'm really happy with how she turned out. The blacks kind of bleed into each other but the curves are suggested with just a few lighter pixels - it gives her this brooding, tough appearance that fits perfectly with what I had in mind. She is generally not on the but more of a strategist. That being said, she could absolutely hold her own if ever needed in a fight.
She very married to her work and the mission. Don't have a name for her yet, but she's going to be your commanding officer, the one sending you on missions, briefing you on what's happening, acting as a sort of mentor figure.
The relationship starts as purely professional, cold and de-attached, but it slowly develops into an actual connection as the story progresses.
Next Week's Focus
I'm going to finalize the map layout in the first half of the week and after that I can get back to blocking out areas with confidence. I want to finish the white boxing for the remaining sections and start adding some proper geometry to the entrance area.
