Short Background

From my earliest memories, I was captivated by the allure of video games, often pleading with my sister to allow me a turn on our game systems like the NES. Throughout my 32 years of existence, gaming became an integral part of my life, an ever-present passion that fueled my imagination. I had always dreamt of creating my own game, but somehow, it remained an unrealized ambition even after completing my education.

Then, a game called Dark and Darker emerged onto the scene, introducing a gripping combination of extraction mechanics and soul-like combat. Its immersive experience ignited a spark within me, inspiring me to embark on my long-awaited game development journey.

Lets Design The World

With newfound determination, I delved into the world of game design, starting with the crucial aspects of level design and assets. After extensive research and contemplation, I decided to embrace a low-poly art style, seeking a visually distinct approach for my game that was also, in my opinion, managable for a single developer. However, my initial attempts at map designs proved to be impractical and not properly laid out for the design of the game, lacking the congested corridors and atmospheric caves that in part makes Dark and Darker so captivating.

Handling Weapon Swings

Undeterred, I ventured into modular map design, but the lack of inspiration left me disheartened. It was during this period that I diverted my attention to another critical aspect: procedural animations. I wanted to incorporate swinging mechanics, allowing for diverse weapon collisions and different damage multipliers depending on the impact point. To overcome the challenge of time-consuming manual animations, I familiarized myself with Unity's animation rigging and IK package. Yet, I still needed a way to control the swinging motion precisely. This led me to develop my own Catmull spline solution, an endeavor that proved fruitful, even after days of trial and error, leaving me with a firm grasp on IK and an rig for an animation I would put into a game, even despite Unity introducing the spline tool in the 2022lts. After some thought, lifting the burden of maintaining more code to a team more vast than I sounds like a win.

Props and Destructable Objects

As the journey progressed, I ventured into prop creation for the world of Danger Atlas. Drawing inspiration from the breakable elements in Dark and Darker, I embraced the Unity physics system and spent time in Blender to split chest models, ensuring the beak looks satisfactory.


Fun note, all these chest can be mimics (Also a really great feature from dark and darker)

Running Start Two for World Design

Returning to world design, I chose a slower, more meticulous approach. I designed two layers of a 3x3 square, allowing some zones to overlap 2 zones, to create a manageable world. Over time, I developed a design that truly resonated with me, allowing me to breathe life into the game. Unity's spline instantiate tools proved invaluable, empowering me to effortlessly place walls and construct intricate environment walls with ease.

Here We Are

And now, here I stand, with a considerable portion of the beach zone and the shipping zone meticulously crafted, and all the classes I currently want to add completed and while other zones still require work, I am filled with a sense of accomplishment and anticipation for what lies ahead. Danger Atlas is gradually taking shape, step by step, as I pour my heart and soul into this unforgiving world.

Stay tuned for more updates as I continue to shape the remaining zones and bring Danger Atlas closer to reality. Together, let's conquer the challenges that lie ahead in this treacherous, yet alluring realm.

ZK ( Dajeki )

Just an extra dump for anyone still interested. Here are some of the warlock spells and my idea on how the wizard works.Goblin Loincoth Physics