Devlog #06 - Designing Linda's Enemies Pt.1: Kuntilanak

Welcome back, fellow keepers! How’s it going?

Our country was just celebrating the independence day recently, but the best thing about that is: it’s a public holiday! So we all had a nice little break (again) to wind down. It was nice since some people at our office were taking turns catching cold :( BUT we hope every one of you has been doing okie!

Well, now you read the title, we’re gonna talk ghostiessss~~ But before we talk about it, let’s see the bigger picture on what kind of ghosts we’d like to put on your screen in DreadOut 3?

In DreadOut 3, besides our intention to create ghosts as Linda’s enemies, we also want it to somehow become an embodiment of the culture we coexist with. That’s why we feel like going back to the Indonesian folklores, urban legends, and local beliefs. And if there’s one figure inextricably intertwined with Indonesian supernatural entities, it’s undoubtedly Kuntilanak, a.k.a Miss K, a.k.a The Flying Lady.

It’s a ghost that appears in almost every horror form in Indonesia, and that’s including our game. Since the first DreadOut, Kuntilanak has been one of the most recognizable ghost in the DreadOut universe. Consequently, when we began developing Kuntilanak for DreadOut 3, the challenge went beyond simply recreating the existing design. We had to consider how she would behave, how she would appear before Linda, as well as ensuring that the encounter should still feel scary, one way or another.

Let’s revisit a bit how Kuntilanak evolved within Indonesian ghost stories and culture. Almost every region around the globe has its own way of recounting supernatural figures, and each one closely defined to the culture in a certain country or even area. Kuntilanak has similar characteristics that can be found in ghost stories in other Asian countries. Japan has Ubume (that’s classified as a Yurei), Thailand has Nang Nak, while Indonesia has the Kuntilanak. The stories between the three and its contexts may naturally and/or culturaally differ, but they meet at certain points of being a female ghost with white clothing and long black hair, and their deaths are closely correlated to pregnancy or giving birth.

In indonesia itself, Kuntilanak has been known for as old as time. It has been in urban legends, word-of-mouth tales, and even the mysterious photos that’s used to circulate widely online (read: primbon.com).

One of the most famous Kuntilanak image circulating in Indonesia circa mid 2000s

In Indonesia, there's a city in Borneo, or West Kalimantan specifically, called Pontianak. According to Wikipedia and other several sources, Pontianak is also known as Khuntien or 坤甸 in Teochew and Hakka, is the capital of the province. Founded first as a trading port on the island of Borneo, occupying an area of 118.21 km2 in the delta of Kapuas River at a point where it is joined by its major tributary, the Landak River.

It turns out there is a fascinating story behind the name Pontianak. Although its veracity cannot be confirmed, one of the most popular legends links the name to the Kuntilanak, that is also known as Pontianak in Malay folklore. Legend has it that when Sultan Syarif Abdurrahman Alkadrie first arrived in the area in 1771, his party was frequently haunted by the female ghost. To drive it away, the Sultan fired a cannon toward the source of the disturbance; and later the spot where the cannonball landed is believed to be the site where the Kadriah Palace was later built. This is the story from which the name Pontianak is believed to originate. A tale that, apart from whether it was true or not, gives the city's history a slightly creepier edge.

Fast forward to the next century, a Dutch Colonial Officer did a research and wrote a literature out of it, De Javaansche Geestenwereld (The Javanese Spirit World), a work that’s published in 1896. The book documents various beliefs and supernatural entities within the context of Javanese society at the time, and Kuntilanak also in it. Documented everywhere from folklore to modern pop culture, the Kuntilanak has left such a long, enduring mark on the history of Indonesian horror. Her figure remains recognized across generations to this day. That's why, for us, she is one of the essential representations of Indonesian horror that simply had to be included in the game.

And of course, we drew heavily from them exact elements that are close to our own environment and culture while designing one for DreadOut 3. 

Though we did not use the references as a rigid set of rules dictating how the Kuntilanak must look or act. Instead, after examining the variations, we returned to how this version would behave if it were to exist in the world of DreadOut 3.

A Familiar Face with A Twist

Regarding the visual design, we wanted the DreadOut 3 Kuntilanak to build upon the form already familiar in Indonesia: a semi-transparent veil, a long white dress, knee-length hair, corpse-like pale skin, and a posture that no longer feels human. We also incorporated details, such as a raised left shoulder, a head permanently tilted to the left, and elongated neck and fingers. All of this to ensure her silhouette feels unsettlingly "wrong" the moment she is seen.

However, we also recognized that not everyone playing *DreadOut 3* grew up with the same image of the Kuntilanak. Consequently, we added details that might resonate more universally with players unfamiliar with Indonesian folklore: hollow, maggot-filled eyes; blackened, weeping eye sockets; an unnaturally wide, blood-smeared grin with yellowing teeth; disheveled hair; and clothing stained with blood and dirt. So, even if you have never heard the Kuntilanak legend before, one thing should remain immediately apparent: something is very wrong with this woman.

On the technical side, we separated specific body parts like the hair, veil, and lower body. So they could react independently using the physics engine. This might seem like a minor detail, but for a figure like the Kuntilanak, the movement of her hair, garments, and body is crucial to making her feel truly "alive" within the game.

Looking back, the Kuntilanak’s design has evolved across the series. From the original DreadOut and DreadOut 2 to the latest iteration in DreadOut 3, we have continuously adjusted its form and details to align with the game's visual evolution and the narrative we wanted to tell.

The Behaviour

As you know, DreadOut 3 will have two worlds separated by a thin veil, and Linda will need to go back and forth between them to solve mysteries. And it gives us space to explore more possible behavior for the ghosts.

We think there are so many compelling ways to make ghosts feel threatening, especially in the real world, since Kunti doesn't necessarily have to appear too aggressive to be threatening. We design Kuntilanak’s behavior to be more restrained. It has a relatively small detection radius and isn’t overly persistent chasing Linda. That said, if Linda manages to get far enough away, she might stop searching after a short while. It also won’t attack Linda as soon as she’s within her range. So, the player would have a (little) moment to assess the situation.

We feel like maintaining this behavior because we wanted the encounter to feel somewhat unpredictable. Players might spot Kuntilanak and know it’s there, but they won't necessarily know what it would do next. Would it disappear, approach them, staying still. But this approach shifts once Linda enters the dark world. Kuntilanak becomes far more aggressive. It’d immediately attack upon coming within range and also pursue more tenaciously. This change ensures that the transition between worlds isn’t merely a change in atmosphere; it fundamentally alters how players must deal with Kuntilanak.

One of the behaviors we explored occurs when Kunti takes damage. Instead of standing and getting ready to take the next hit from Linda, it’d retreat and try to put as much distance as possible between itself and Linda before it slowly fades away.

Within one battle with Kuntilanak, there will be phases. After taking a certain amount of damage, player will enter the next phase where its offense becomes more powerful. She will gain the ability to dodge some of Linda's attacks. Upon taking damage, she will retreat to create distance before taking a pause and proceed hunting Linda. This way, we aren’t simply ramping up the difficulty by inflating the numbers. We want the way she confronts Linda to evolve throughout the encounter. And we want players to start recognizing her pattern without feeling like they can fully predict her next move. But this was also one of the challenges we faced in bringing Kuntilanak to the game. We wanted to preserve the familiarity of the character while creating enough room for fresh behaviors when players actually face her.

We actually could go an extra 5000 words explaining the design and behavior (lol), but for now, we’d just leave it to you later when you are experiencing the battle against her yourself! And for now, we’d like to know one thing from you: 

What kind of behavior of an entity like Kuntilanak would you find the most disturbing? Is it when it chases you with an unsettling laugh sound, when it disappears and reappears? Or when it stands still?

P.S. We want to hear from you too! 

We know by heart that the DreadOut series is not coming to life only through what we create, but also from what you share with us and the community itself!

So, if you have:

• Questions crossing inside your head

• Any theories of the lores

• Your very own fanart or cosplay

Feel free to drop it in the comment section or Community Hub. We will happily feature what you sent in the next blogs as a part of this journey. And as always, if you haven't, don’t forget to wishlist DreadOut 3 and hit that follow button on our Steam page! 

All the love,

:DH

Anywaayyy

Thank you for reading the previous dev log and sharing your thoughts! We love hearing your thoughts. With that said, let’s get through it!

Halo Tantintun! Emang saisfying banget yah! Hahaha

Kalau buat mekanik di IrisPhone di DreadOut 3 sendiri kita udah sempet bahas di devlog #03. Tapi lebih jauh dari itu, sekarang kita belum mau kasih spoiler atau janji-janji dulu hehehe. Soalnya masih lumayan banyak yang lagi kita utak-atik xixixi

Tapi feedback soal Iris Phone-nya udah kita catet! Nanti kalau development-nya udah lebih jauh dan ada yang bisa kita bagiin, mungkin bakal kita bahas di devlog mendatang. Stay tuned yaaa, makasih juga udah share feedback-nyaa!

Youre so real for this. Because Linda and Ira still living rent-free in our mind too😔 We love seeing you guys still get attached to them after all this time🥹❤️

We knew someone was gonna ask this after seeing that picture from previous devlog LOL

Thanks for the suggestion! We appreciate you letting us know what you’d like to see!

Ooo, side quests for Linda helping out with other ghost cases would be fun!

And about the outfitsss, Linda will have a few different looks along the way, yes!

Mmmm, that nice little black dress we all love! Haha. Don't worry, Linda’s gonna have quite a few different looks this time around. Some of them are tied to the different things she’ll be doing throughout the game too that we hope you guys love as much!

And thank youuu for the love for all the jumpscares and gimmicks from the previous games!Always happy to hear that you guys enjoyed those little details hehehe<3

Thanks guys, for raising this! We understand how valuable diverse localizations would be to the you, and we appreciate everyone sharing their requests. While we can’t confirm any plans or timeline at this stage, we’ll keep the feedback in consideration as we evaluate future localization needs! Again thank you so much for reading and sharing you feedbacks!

If you guys still want to have other discussions regarding the previous episode, feel free to drop it in the Devlog #05 comment section. See you next log!