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.
