Welcome to the Spook Asylum

Meet Chris! He and instructor Cameron work together as part of Game-U’s Accelerate program. Chris loves level composition and clearly knows how to roll with a vibe, because with Halloween coming up, he’s created an asylum so spooky that it should only be visited in daylight hours.

Once upon a time, maybe Chris’ asylum helped take care of the sick.  Maybe it looked respectable and friendly. But now, everyone’s gone – we hope – and it looks very, very different. Creepy. Abandoned. Tumbledown. Dark. Foggy. It’s an asylum fit only for spooks, and the spooks, it seems, have made themselves at home. With help from Cameron, Chris uses Unreal, a professional-level gaming engine, to create staggeringly detailed gaming environments. His knack for level composition is evident!  Chris isn’t just building a game – he’s building a story. He takes care to add details that make sense. For instance, when he included a rotted, broken-down wall in the asylum’s exterior, he placed a rubble pile at its base and exposed properly placed metal pipes, just as one might find in a real abandoned building. Even if the asylum’s past doesn’t play a significant role in the finished game, giving the asylum a story makes the gaming environment more believable. This is an important principle in game design. Chris obviously took that principle to heart! He also gave his game a first-person perspective, and provided the player with a flashlight to play over the asylum’s ruins. Combined with all his detail work, the effect is creepy awesome! Just right for a spook asylum game on Halloween.

Chris, it’s a pleasure to meet you. You’ve got a game designer’s eye for detail and story. Keep up the good work on this project! We’re looking forward to seeing the (no doubt equally spooky) asylum interior you’ve got in the works.