Hare House Development Update #1
Development on Hare House is continuing, and I want to begin sharing regular updates directly through Steam—not only through YouTube, TikTok, and X.
This first update covers the foundation currently being built for the player character, interaction systems, animations, objectives, and opening environment.
Please remember that everything shown and discussed is still a work in progress and may change during development.
Player Movement
Integrated a full-body first-person character system.
Improved the transition between walking, jogging, and sprinting.
Added gradual acceleration instead of immediately jumping to maximum sprint speed.
Added a full-jogging phase before sprinting begins.
Added an adjustable delay at full jogging speed before the player enters a sprint.
Removed the excessive forward lean from the sprint animation.
Improved movement blending to make speed changes feel more natural.
Continued improving the custom pivot system used when rapidly changing direction.
Stair Movement
Added a new system that automatically detects tagged staircases.
The player now slows down while moving on stairs.
Walking speed on stairs is currently limited to 100 cm/s.
Holding the run button increases stair movement to 200 cm/s.
Full sprinting is disabled while the player is on stairs. Added separate, adjustable acceleration and deceleration settings for stair movement.
Added detection grace time to prevent the system from switching off between individual steps. Normal movement smoothly returns after leaving a staircase.
Created developer debugging tools for checking stair detection and movement speed.
Dedicated stair animations and additional foot-placement improvements may be added during a later animation pass. The underlying movement system is now functional. (Will need player Feedback on this)
Physics Interaction
Added a physics-based object pickup system inspired by games such as Half-Life and Amnesia.
Objects can be marked as interactable using a tag.
Added object detection and highlighting while the player looks at a valid physics object.
Added the ability to hold physics objects in front of the player.
Added adjustable holding distance using the mouse wheel.
Objects are automatically dropped if pushed beyond the allowed holding distance.
Added regular object dropping and physics-based throwing.
Added charged throws, allowing heavier throwing force by holding the throw input. Created adjustable settings for pickup distance, maximum object mass, holding distance, highlight values, and throwing strength.
This system currently works without dedicated pickup animations. Hand and body animations may be added later as a visual improvement without replacing the underlying physics code.
Animation Improvements
Resolved animation jitter that appeared after editing animations.
Improved the animation editing and export workflow.
Adjusted the sprint animation to better fit the player character.
Improved the blend between lower movement speeds and full sprinting.
Continued preparing the character system for sliding, vaulting, climbing, crawling, and fall-impact animations.
Player Character
Redesigned the player model with a more original appearance.
Continued adapting the model to work with the existing character skeleton and movement system. Refined the prisoner outfit and overall proportions.
Continued developing the full-body first-person presentation.
Environment and Level Design
Expanded the playable map and continued building the opening facility.
Developed more of the freezer and industrial areas.
Added and refined environmental machinery, conveyor systems, hanging objects, pipes, and facility props.
Continued building moisture, dripping-water, fog, and cold-environment effects.
Created additional PSX-inspired materials and environmental assets. Continued designing environmental storytelling connected to the facility, its prisoners, and Project Zion.
Objectives
Designed a new generator connected to the facility’s conveyor machinery.
Continued developing an objective involving removable power cells and rerouting electricity. Planned a multi-stage generator objective involving fuses, fuel, wiring, breakers, and a manual starter.
Continued laying out the portion of the map intended for the first private playtest.
What’s Next?
The current focus is establishing a reliable gameplay foundation before adding the game’s more complicated enemies and combat encounters.
Planned development work includes:
Sliding.
Vaulting at different movement speeds.
Improved climbing and ledge interactions.
Fall-impact and landing reactions. Health and stamina systems.
Additional objective programming.
Basic inventory functionality. Further development of the playable map. Preparation for the first private playtest.
Weapons, enemies, dedicated stair animations, crawling, and additional character actions will be introduced in later development stages.
Thank You
There is still a great deal of work ahead, but the core systems are steadily coming together. Posting these updates directly to Steam will make it easier to follow the project as it develops.
Thank you to everyone following and supporting Hare House. More development updates will be posted as new systems, environments, and playable content are completed.
More information on our website here: gabagoogames.comHareHouse