Welcome!
Last time in the Dev Journals, we discussed how I Hate This Place’s story originated from a comic book series of the same name created by Kyle Starks and Artyom Topilin. However, the game is much more than just the plot!
Today, we want to take you a little deeper into sound design - how we’re using it as more than just atmosphere. In I Hate This Place, silence isn’t simply golden — it can mean the difference between life and death.
The world of I Hate This Place is filled with a lot of nightmarish, otherworldly creatures from a rather eerie and distorted world.
But what might not be so clear is that many of these hulking monstrosities can barely see. Instead, they stalk their prey (you) by sound, so all your actions and movements need to be thought out. Every footstep, every gunshot, every clang of metal can give off your location. 
So whether you’re creeping through overgrown woods or navigating decrepit facilities, the surface beneath your sneakers matters. A slow, crouched shuffle across grass will likely be ignored. A careless stomp on broken glass, not so much.
Just as sound can get you killed, it can also be used to your advantage and become your most useful weapon. With a bit of strategy and planning, you can lure monsters away from key areas or into your cleverly laid traps. Tossing an empty can down a hallway or into the underbrush might attract a nearby creature, giving you the opening you need to escape. Or you can herd enemies into one spot and proceed to throw a molotov right in the middle.
Choose your battles wisely - many of the creatures you’ll encounter are brutal, and even more so when night falls. Going in guns blazing is doable, but maybe not always the right move.
To take the noise system in I Hate This Place further and make it more clever to players, we also made sound into a visual language, where noise is color-coded. It’s a unique visual system inspired to tie in with the game’s comic book art style.
For example:
Green footsteps mean you’re quiet, crouched, moving slowly, minimizing risk
Yellow signals you’re walking at a normal pace and making moderate noise
Red means you’re running or being loud, and you’re a beacon for danger
This color-coded feedback system doesn’t just apply to footsteps, though. Gunfire, thrown objects, even the howls and attacks of enemies all follow the same noise-visibility rules, helping you judge just how much noise all of your actions are creating.
That’s all for now. Let us know if you would like us to continue sharing our journey with you through the Developer Journals! We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments 🙂
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Thank you for all your continuous outpouring of support and love - you give us motivation each day to keep improving the game further. You are awesome! 🖤
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