Hello ghouls and investigators!
Welcome to my first official Devlog!
Before I begin, huge thanks to everyone who jumped into Prop Haunt’s very first playtest and gave feedback. I couldn’t (and wouldn’t want to) do this without your help!
While I parse through feedback, bugs and features in preparation for the upcoming demo, here’s a brief intro to what Prop Haunt is and what’s in the works. Enjoy!
Prop Haunt’s early beginnings.
Now, if you’ve played ‘I’m on Observation Duty’ and ‘Prop Hunt’, you might have noticed some similarities between those and Prop Haunt. You’d be right, the idea was born while playing with friends when one of them said, “Why hasn’t anyone made a game combining this and Prop Hunt yet!?”.
In the middle of Udemy UE4 courses and a desire to make a multiplayer game, I said: “Why don’t we?”.
Prop Haunt was born!
Before I could make my own ghosts, yeah..it started like that. Thanks marketplace!
Development began in earnest in April 2024. It started as a family affair, my wife joining me to make the very first house level. Eventually, I’d be working alone again due to time constraints, but with help from the marketplace place I’d make due.
Being one person, sometimes you have to just work with what you have to get anything done at all.
Prop Haunt’s Growth
As with most early stages of anything, learning was the biggest challenge. I was determined to learn how to do the rigging and animation on my own. Meanwhile, knowing art is not my strongest suit, I outsourced concept and technical art like shaders and 3D models to companies and friends, then rigged/animated them myself. No more Pac-Man ghost!
Not a bad upgrade from the marketplace ghost, huh?
And of course, there is the challenge of gameplay. This is something ongoing and not just changing with my input, but players as well. Recently, the first playtest ended, during which I was lucky enough to receive vital and well-thought-out feedback about gameplay.
From cursor suggestions, balance issues for both ghosts and investigators, messaging clarity and more, I’ll be working on in preparation for the upcoming demo on April 18th.
Prop Haunt Now
Which brings us to the current state of Prop Haunt. Still in the early stages of development, there are bound to be many changes, especially with player feedback. Something I’m constantly looking for and gathering. As a labor of love, this game just isn’t possible without you!
Based on feedback from the playtest, I’ll be busy making changes for the demo, including:
- Rebalancing powers for Ghosts and the Investigator.
- Re-visiting the Level length.
- Better tutorial and clarity for game mechanics, such as what ultimate's do, the Investigator's job, and more.
- General polishing before the demo for a better experience and more feedback before early access.
The future also holds several improvements and additions as well. Later this month, you can expect these updates for starters.
- Hunter trap system
- “Trap” props so that when the Ghosts try to haunt it, it stuns them.
- Balancing and bug improvements from demo reports. To give feedback, please join our community on Discord.
- Second map created, lobby updated to change floor based on selected map.
- Steam achievements.
Thank you for checking out Prop Haunt! I’m very excited to be working, improving and building it with you. Join the community on Discord and keep your eyes open for more updates and news on the demo, coming April 17th.
Happy hauntings and I’ll see you in-game soon.
