As an indie game developer with a passion for filmmaking, I’ve always sought to blend the cinematic with the interactive. My latest project, NightGhast, is a testament to this fusion. NightGhast is a first-person horror game that delves into the eerie world of wicked witches and sinister widows. Developed using Unreal Engine 5, this game stands out not just for its chilling narrative but also for the innovative techniques we employed during its creation. A significant part of this process involved working with real-life theatre actors, filming them on green screen, and integrating their performances into the game. This approach not only enhanced the game’s realism but also opened new doors for future projects.

The Vision Behind NightGhast

My background in filmmaking has always driven me to create visually compelling and narratively rich experiences. Even though I have self-developed and self-published many indie games, NightGhast is special because it allowed me to merge my two passions: filmmaking and game development. The game’s story required a level of emotional depth and authenticity that could only be achieved through the nuanced performances of real actors. This led us to explore the use of real-time theatre actor shooting on green screen as a core part of our development process.

The Role of ID@Xbox

The journey of NightGhast was significantly supported by the ID@Xbox program, which assists indie developers in bringing their games to Xbox platforms. The ID@Xbox team was instrumental during the certification process, providing invaluable support and resources. Their assistance ensured that NightGhast met all technical and quality standards, allowing us to focus on the creative aspects of the game.

Integrating Real Actors into the Game

The use of Unreal Engine 5’s virtual production and cinematic tools allowed us to push the boundaries of traditional game development. We collaborated with talented theatre actors, filming their performances against a green screen. This process involved capturing a wide range of emotions and actions that were essential to the game’s narrative. The actors’ performances as image sequences were then imported into Unreal Engine 5, where we utilized advanced virtual production techniques to seamlessly integrate them into the game world. Although our budget was limited, for an indie game, I’m happy how their performance enhanced the narrative. Naturally, for future reference, if we ever have a chance to shoot real-time actors over a sophisticated virtual set, the results would be much more compelling.

Technical and Creative Highlights

Realism and Authenticity

The inclusion of real actors brought a level of realism to NightGhast that would have been difficult to achieve with purely digital characters. The subtle nuances of human performance added depth to the characters, making the horror elements more impactful and the story more engaging.

1. Enhanced Player Immersion

Using real actors helped create more believable interactions and heightened the emotional connection between the player and the game. The actors’ performances were not just visual; they conveyed the underlying tension and fear essential to a horror game, drawing players deeper into the experience. For example, one of the main adversaries in the game is inspired from Alpen folklore, a mystical character named “Schnabelperchten”. We experimented with great detail for her costume and make up, which would be nearly impossible if we wanted to develop that character as a 3D model, within our very limited budget.

2. Innovation in Game Development

This project demonstrated the potential of combining traditional filmmaking techniques with modern game development tools. By using green screen and virtual production, we were able to create complex scenes and character interactions more efficiently and with greater creative freedom.

Obstacles We Crushed

While the process was incredibly rewarding, it was not without its challenges. Filming on a green screen requires precise lighting and camera work to ensure that the actors’ performances are captured accurately. Additionally, integrating these performances into a real-time engine like Unreal Engine 5 involved overcoming some problems like “video codes”. Initially, we had certain problems with video and audio codecs on different platforms, and in the end, we had to develop new workflows and pipelines to manage the data and ensure that the final product was seamless.

What’s Next?

The success of NightGhast has opened up new possibilities for future projects. The technique of using real actors filmed on green screen can be applied to various genres and game types, offering a way to bring more lifelike characters and performances into the gaming world. This approach not only enhances the storytelling potential of games but also provides opportunities for actors to explore new forms of performance art.NightGhast is a pioneering blend of traditional filmmaking and cutting-edge game development, creating a unique and immersive horror experience. This innovative approach sets NightGhast apart and paves the way for future projects that will continue to push the boundaries of interactive storytelling. As an indie developer, this journey has been incredibly fulfilling, and I hope you, too, will soon be immersed in a strange and eerie world as you jump in to NightGhast, out now on Xbox.

Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) have revolutionized the way players interact with games by breaking the fourth wall, blending fiction with reality, and creating immersive experiences that extend beyond traditional gaming boundaries. Trust No One epitomizes this innovative approach, engaging you on a deeper level by integrating real-world elements into its narrative.

Breaking the Fourth Wall

In traditional media, breaking the fourth wall refers to characters acknowledging the audience’s existence, thereby disrupting the imaginary “wall” separating them from the viewer. Trust No One pushes this further by dissolving the boundary between the game and the real world. Players are not just passive consumers of a story; they become active participants, influencing the narrative and engaging with real-world elements to advance the plot.

Immersion Through Real-World Interaction

Trust No One, developed by Triomatica Games, is a prime example enhancing player engagement by breaking the fourth wall. Set in Kyiv, you take on the role of a journalist investigating a mysterious AI company. You must use external resources such as internet searches and real-world clues to solve puzzles, creating a seamless blend of digital and physical realities.

This immersive approach to gameplay makes you feel like you are part of the game’s world. By stepping outside the confines of the game itself, you engage more deeply with the narrative, experiencing a sense of involvement and urgency that traditional games often lack. The real-world interaction fosters a connection to the game’s story, making the experience more personal and impactful.

Community and Collaboration

ARGs often rely on community collaboration to solve complex puzzles and uncover hidden narratives. Trust No One encourages players to share discoveries and work together to piece together the story. This collaborative aspect builds a sense of community among players. Online forums, social media groups, and dedicated websites become integral parts of the gaming experience, where players can exchange information, theories, and solutions.

The social dimension of Trust No One transforms the gaming experience into a collective journey, where you feel part of a larger effort.  But what if your cooperative mate is one of the game’s characters? You are going to communicate with one of the game characters via real email in order to progress in Trust No One.

Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills

By breaking the fourth wall, Trust No One also enhances critical thinking and problem-solving skills. You must think creatively, analyze real-world information, and connect disparate clues to progress.  You are going to analyze in-game clues and connect them to real-world information, like addresses of real places in Kyiv. By the way, all game locations have their real-world prototypes and even have their real addresses, so you can check them all on Bing Maps.

In Trust No One, the puzzles are designed to be challenging and require you to engage with various external sources. This level of complexity and the need for real-world research encourages you to develop a more analytical and resourceful mindset, benefiting your problem-solving abilities both within and outside the game.

Would you Like to Try It?

Breaking the fourth wall in Trust No One significantly enhances your engagement by merging the fictional world with reality, fostering community collaboration, and encouraging critical thinking. This unique and immersive experience will captivate you and keeps you invested in the narrative long after you’ve put down you controller. By continuing to innovate and blur the lines between game and reality, Trust No One is at the forefront of interactive storytelling, offering you new ways to engage with and influence the worlds you explore.

Only you decide what your next step will be. Trust No One has a completely open world with more than 300 locations to explore. Try it and see where it leads you.

Feel like a journalist in the real Kyiv, unravelling a mysterious web of clues that lead you to an unexpected finale.

Available on Xbox Series and Xbox One Today.
And remember: Trust No One.

Armed with a bouncy grapple hook and an arsenal of guns, swing your way through desolate landscapes in Rusted Moss, an action-packed metroidvania with complex and powerful movement, where the only limit is your creativity and skill. 

In this bittersweet tale, humans are at war with the cold and capricious fairies who have invaded their rusting world. You play as Fern, a changeling determined to put an end to the war. Uncover forgotten tales and pick a side – fae or human? The world of Rusted Moss is inspired by our love of English folktales, which portray fairies as malevolent tricksters rather than gentle beings.

Traversal is physics-based and designed to be mastered. Aside from the grappling hook, players can use juicy gun recoil to boost their momentum (think classic FPS action – rocket jumping and bunny hopping). 

Gameplay might seem diabolical due to its complexity – players will juggle a physics-based grappling hook with a variety of guns – but Rusted Moss has one of the most powerful traversal mechanics in any metroidvania. A player can break our game so long as they have the skill, determination, and creativity to do so.

Developed by my friend (Emlise), my sister (Sunnydaze), and me (Happysquared), we wanted to create an uncompromising game that prizes player skill and exploration. Rusted Moss is truly nonlinear. Unlocking new regions does not depend on discovering a “key” or getting a new ability. Instead, progression in Rusted Moss is determined by a player’s creativity and capability. 

In one platforming challenge, five players each found a different solution! 

Did we design that challenge to be solved in five different ways? Not at all. We didn’t design our puzzles to have an “intended” solution. We wanted to encourage players to “break” our game and show us moves we didn’t even consider during Rusted Moss’ development. The open level design, combined with the physics-based movement and momentum, is the perfect playground for players to express their creativity and skill.

We also didn’t want to limit our game to just our vision of how it should be played. Before Rusted Moss’ release, the QA team found a bug that gave players an unintentional movement ability we found hilarious. We decided to keep it in. We hope that perceptive players who discover it get as much joy out of it as we did; it’s a feature, not a bug! 

We’ve also included highly customisable accessibility options so players can make the game easier (or harder!). Though we developed Rusted Moss’ default settings to match our own tastes, we really didn’t want to stifle the way some players might prefer to experience our game. 

Along with the Xbox release, Rusted Moss is getting 7-8 hours(!) of additional content. Much harder content. It is funny to think about because Emlise had no plans to develop Rusted Moss into a game because she felt its grappling hook would be too difficult for players to grasp (we ended up having to peer pressure her into actually making Rusted Moss). In fact, during the development of Rusted Moss’ base content she had made an extremely difficult challenge course that was cut as it was extremely difficult. However, our playerbase has exceeded all expectations: due to popular demand, this area will be an optional challenge in our major update. 

So if there’s anybody raging at that content, please blame our players and not us. 

The Xbox release and update will also include a boss rush mode, two new areas of more reasonable difficulty (for the not insane players), and an unlockable playable character! All of this adds seven to eight more hours of additional gameplay.

We worked hard on this update and hope you enjoy it!

Rusted Moss

PLAYISM

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$19.99

Get it now

[Metroidvania with a Physics-Based Grapple]
This metroidvania utilizes your grapple and weapons with a full 360° aiming system. The freedom created by these controls creates a smooth experience for users to feel in complete control of their character. Find creative solutions to flexible traversal challenges, and blast away witches and machinery with precise aiming.

[Now for the Hook…]
The grappling hook is hard to learn yet rewarding to master. This unique physics-based elastic grappling hook uses your kinetic momentum to propel your character forward. Similar to rock climbing, there’s no set path through this melancholic abandoned wasteland. Latch onto any moss covered structure and swing your way through this rugged terrain.

[Shotgun blasts, Precision shots, Rocket jumps!]
No more aiming in just 8 directions. As a twin-stick shooter, Rusted Moss emphasizes tight and precise gunplay. Quickly switch between your arsenal of weapons to best suit your playstyle and situation. Get up close and personal with a shotgun before grappling away and pulling out a sniper for the killing blow!

[Boss fights!]

Push your gunplay and grappling hook skills to their limits! From powerful witches to machine monstrosities, each boss fight throws its own unique challenge at you. Dodge swords, avoid energy fields, and blast away at conjured spiders.

[Story]
Journey across desolate landscapes drenched in melancholy; witness the remnants of humanity and their rusting iron inventions… Humanity is on the brink of collapse and will soon be invaded by faeries. In a desperate bid to survive, humans have empowered their own witches with stolen fae magic.

But all is not lost, as the humans were deceived – for one of their own is not what she seems. The fae have stolen a human baby, and replaced it with something else…

Raised by unsuspecting human parents, Fern is a changeling whose true loyalties have emerged. Alongside a mysterious shadow named Puck, she sets off on a journey to return fae to the world and end the Age of Men.

Whose side will you choose – human or fae?