The Witch of Xangdebaar (Unreal Prototype)

Genesis & Initial game concept:

After the projects 'Dune AAA' (hitman-like game concept set in the universe of Dune) and 'Project Changeling' (30min game demo), I continued iterating on concepts of social infiltration from the perspective of witches.

Main game mechanics include:

• Shadow-warp: The witch (main character) is invisible while in shadows, and can leap from shadow to shadow to spy on conversations and learn secrets. The aim of this mechanic is to transform the usually clunky 'seen or not seen' traditional infiltration mechanics, transforming it into more of a light platform-puzzle.

• Burrowing: After learning a few of an NPC's secrets, the witch is able to transfer its consciousness into the NPC's body, gaining access to new dialog options and access to previously restricted areas, slowly solving the social puzzle of each level.

• Energy vision: A toggle-on double-sight capable of giving information to the player about the energy / spirit world, and different interactions.

• Multiple Consciousness: Each time the witch burrows into an NPC, that NPC leaves a trace of their consciousness in the witch. The witch's mind becomes a conglomerate of many archetypal voices sharing their expertise and talents, but also their fears and triggers (something like the voices in the main character's head in Disco Elysium).

Link to full pitch document.

OVERVIEW

TWOX was born from an inspiration to create an RPG focused on non-violent gameplay, social infiltration and witchcraft. It's a high concept game within a high-concept universe.

Objectives:

- Prototype on Unreal Engine 5 blueprints systems focused on non-violent gameplay, social infiltration, witchcraft.

- Design a narrative treating subjects of shamanism, spirituality, conscious sexuality

- Work completely on my own to increase my horizontal skills and prototyping ability (scripting, UI...)

ACHIEVEMENTS & LEARNING

- Deep learning of Unreal blueprints, how to optimize performance & prototype detailed behaviours.

- Integrate metahumans into a project & tweak 3C values.

- Prototype a complex interaction system

- Switch between character pawns with the 'borrow' mechanic

- Trigger mechanisms

- Learn character secrets to unlock them for borrowing

- Social gates check pawn tags to give or deny entry

- Practicing UX, UI design & UI animations in Unreal. Testing new ways of displaying interactions, feedbacks, and making them satisfying through animation.

- Richly animated interfaces

- Tested a format for the pitch document that wanted to be targeted to technical people, but instead made the document messier. I learned to separate high-concept and technical documentation.