Picnic (2022)
PC
Picnic is a first-person horror game developed as my final year honours project at Abertay University. The project applied principles of psychoanalysis to the design of an antagonist AI, exploring how behaviour systems can evoke fear and discomfort in players.
The project earned a First Class Honours degree and received 4J Studios’ Creativity Award at the 2022 Abertay Graduate Show.
Platform: PC
Engine: Unity
Development Duration: 2021–2022
Team Size: Solo project
Role: Designer / Programmer
Summary
- Built an objective system that randomly spawns goals at preset locations, inspired by Slender.
- Designed and implemented an AI aggression system that scales with player location and progress.
- Created six unique enemy behaviours including mimicking, taunting, and chasing.
- Recorded, mixed, and implemented 3D audio barks for both monster and player.
- Tuned behavioural parameters to maximize player tension and unease.
