BURGLAR
Burglar is a VR stealth and robbery game with overlaying horror elements and underlying puzzle elements made for Playstation VR2.
This project was done in collaboration with Sony, making us one of the first game developers in the world to create a game for Playstation VR2.
In Burglar, you will travel to different residencies to steal valuable items for the mafia. Ordered around by the mafia, you have no choice but to complete these missions, or face the consequences of disobedience.
Sneak past security systems, avoid residents, and don't get caught as you retrieve items of value from different homes.
PROJECT LENGTH - 9 WEEKS
Unreal Engine
BURGLAR TRAILER
Responsibilities
Enemy AI Design
Design how the AI for the game will act and how it will challenge the player in the game.
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Systems Design
Design the different system elements.
Project Retrospect
This project was a fun and challenging experience from which I learned and grew a lot, both as a designer and a regular person.
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It has helped me find ways to stay focused while I am working and methods that sustain that focus.
It was a great opportunity to see how different design choices would affect the game in areas
that I might not have thought it would affect.
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It also taught me more on how to cooperate with others and, importantly, that asking for help does not mean that I am a failure, and that it also can bring more perspective on the matter at hand.
Enemy AI Design
I had the honor of being the one to design the AI behavior for the enemy residents in Burglar.
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Being a core part of the gameplay experience, I aimed very high in the beginning of the project. I set up a few "Key Points" that I hoped to fulfill with the design of the AI in order to stay on track with my thought process and the end goal of it.
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An important part of the design when I began designing the area was that my other designers agreed with the design choices and that the programmers felt as if it was possible to create it.
Sneak Mode
One of the elements of the AI that I really liked on paper but didn't enjoy as much in game was the AI State which we called Sneak.
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It was a state that would sometimes activated if the AI had recently seen us, lost sight of us, then heard a noise. Normally they'd go to the sound instantly to investigate, but sneak mode was supposed to be a way for them to be more unpredictable and harder to anticipate.
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When it activated, they would still move towards the sound, but they would not do it as linearly. They would quietly take a different route that isn't as efficent towards the point of the sound and sneak, reducing the footstep sound volume.
I wanted the AI to be advanced, scary, difficult to read, and more. But I realised quickly into it that this was only a 9 week project. So I narrowed it down, keeping only a few of the original keypoints in consideration.
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We hoped that this would act as somewhat of a jumpscare mechanic, that they aren't where you might expect them to be and scare you as you're trying to escape from them.
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Instead it ended up sometimes with them just running off and losing track of the player, which in some cases did add to the suspense, as you had no idea where they were.
But I wish I had made it more consistent in finding the player rather than just losing them. It was a good example of something sounding a certain way on paper can feel a different way when it's happening in the game.