Building out Echo alpha

This week we’ve added new unique collectables objectives such as the flashlight, backpack and cellphone to guide players through a more linear storyline revolving around looking for lost equipment in a cave in order to call for help. This will provide a more engaging narrative of searching for lost items as well as allow players to interact more with the monster with these new items. The terrain has also been expanded more to include new areas but also narrowed to help players avoid wandering around aimlessly in the dark or into dead ends, but also now includes dynamic events such as cave-ins so players won’t have to relive the frustrations of accidentally wandering all the way back to the beginning. 

However, not all the upgrades have gone solely to the players. The monster now has both roaming and chasing capabilities so keep an ear out for its cry or it’ll sneak up behind you. Finally, we’ve added some optional player tracking analytics so we can track player movement and see where people are getting stuck on the terrain or are lost in general. With this information we can make adjustments to the terrain and level so players can have the best horror experience possible without getting snagged on some nasty terrain outcropping or lost in some open area.

Next week we’ll be continuing to upgrade the monster AI and terrain for a smoother experience as well as add in one final area to draw our narrative to a close. We will be adding in more customizability to the game rendering and input experience.  We’ll also be ironing out any bugs concerning the sonar device and flashlight. Finally, our monster will be getting another upgrade so keep your eyes and ears peeled.