Overview / Usage

We Went Back is a time-looping horror game in which you find clues and experience a dynamically changing space station to escape the terror lurking within. The small, circular space we developed for our players pushed us to develop systems to support that goal. For example, although the player may stroll through our Hydroponics Room during their first walk through of the space station and notice nothing out of the ordinary, when they circle back they’ll find an altered environment – the plants don’t look the same as they were before and the items are not where they were originally placed. The player’s attention to these detailed changes are rewarded through gameplay as they find clues that help them escape.

Additionally, whereas most horror games rely on mechanics such as stealth, running away, or combat, our game’s design sought to find a new way to compel players to embrace the genre. An example of this is seen midway through the game as the player approaches the Recreation environment. From a distance the player will spot a long, menacing figure lurking in the doorway. The first impulse players have is to panic and attempt to hide, find a weapon, or run away. However, all three of these behaviors fail to advance the game. Ultimately, the player must choose to walk towards the lurking figure and embrace their fears.

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Team:

Arash Tadjiki - Audio Engineer, Gameplay Engineer

Branden Craghead - Character Artist, Tech Artist

Cameron Brotzman - Concept Artist

Caughey Zachery - Producer

Danny Diaz - Technical Animation, Rigging

Emilee Choate - Designer

Jacob Nielsen - Product Manager, Designer

John Davies - Environment Artist

Lis Moberly - Designer

Mit Doshi - Gameplay, Systems Engineer

Pinak Jalan - Gameplay Engineer

Rohan Patel - Gameplay Engineer

Ryan Milford - Audio Producer, Composer

Sourabh Hamigi - Lighting Artist, Tech Artist

Victor Lopez - 3D Artist, Prop Artist

Zach Gainer - Visual Designer

Methodology / Approach

Our methodology relied on using the best of the tools we had in order to take advantage of our team’s skills. Our producers used Confluence and Jira in order to keep track of tasks, develop sprint schedules, and keep lines of communication open between team members, especially as COVID-19 required the team to work remotely. Our artists relied on Maya, Substance Designer, 3ds Max, ZBrush, Houdini, and many other programs to concept, make, and produce all the assets seen in the game. The engineers and technical artists heavily relied on Unreal Engine 4, Perforce, and C++ to mold everything the team made into a functioning game.

We also relied heavily on our team’s inherent skills to create the game’s experience. For example, our engineer, Rohan Patel, coded an object rotation mechanic from scratch in order to insert that functionality into We Went Back. Our environment artist, John, was able to design modular rotunda pieces in order to make the circular environment for the space station. Our sound designer, Arash Tadjiki, relied on Wwise in order to implement sound within each portion of our game. From our designers to our engineers, artists, and producers – each member of the team relied on blending their talents with the technology they were provided. The result of our team’s effort combined with the technology we were provided was a rewarding development experience and game that we are proud to have worked on.

Technologies Used

3DS Max

Adobe After Effects

Adobe Premiere

Confluence

GitLab

Handbrake

Houdini

Illustrator

Irfanview

Jira

Maya

Perforce

Photoshop

Quixel

Speedtree

Substance Designer

Substance Painter

Unreal Engine

Visual Studio

Wwise

Z Brush

Other links

• Twitter
• Website
• Youtube Channel
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Steam Page