Phantom
Play on Itch.io: here
Role: Level Designer, Programmer, Writer
Team Size: 2 (See co-designer and artist Temitope Olujobi's work here.)
Tech: Unreal Engine 4, Maya
Process: Devlog here
Genre: Single-player, 3D Exploration Puzzle Game
I developed the possession mechanic and implemented the puzzles. I brought puzzles from conception to completion using Blueprints. I wrote the NPC lines and the world backstory.
Phantom is a sinister and comedic, single-player, 3D exploration puzzle game for PC and console. You play as the ghost of a former actor haunting the theatre you died in. As a ghost, you have no physical form to get around with. Instead, you must exact your revenge on the cast and crew responsible for your death by possessing props and objects backstage. Wield the items you inhabit to kill your targets in unique puzzles. Decipher the true cause of your mysterious death by overhearing saucy conversations, spooking the cast, and discovering discarded evidence.
Phantom’s core experience goal is “clever discovery,” or exploration through interaction with the environment. So, our possession system had to allow for precise object selection at long distances, which players found difficult on controllers. Conventional aim assist modes that automatically snap the player’s reticle to a target took away the players’ ability precisely chose and explore. I designed and implemented an aim assist using a cloud of raycast points to preserve this precision while helping the player select faster and from further away. I also realized that players needed more information on when they had successfully selected an item, so I had the reticle turn dark blue on a successful select.
