Michael Denhart
Game Designer. Lighting Artist. Storyteller.
The House on Ash Street
The House on Ash Street is an original game idea that stems from my love of Horror film and experiences. I have always been intrigued with the idea of a haunted house were the spirits inside were not the evil force but the house itself.
The third build of the introduction of Ash Street was completed over a period of 14 weeks using Unreal Engine, ZBrush, Maya, and Photoshop. The level layout, design, scripting, and story were all created by me. This game build was enhanced using Quixel Megascans, audio clips from Freesound.org, and additional assets from the Unreal marketplace.
The Idea
The idea for Ash Street blossomed from a level design class at Academy of Art University. The focus was to create a level that heavily uses light and shadow as a design component. The level flow and story quickly evolved into the existing project which is a prologue to a much larger story.
The original idea was imagines based on the question, "What if you couldn't see the evil and it was always around you?" This first pass was created in a few weeks using only BSP block outs and basic sequencer animations to capture the feeling of the game.
Designing the Level
Breaking away from the idea of a traditional linear level I wanted to path the player through a Victorian mansion and surrounding gardens.
When designing levels, especially ones rooted in real environments, I look to ensure the player will be fully immersed in the created world.
Designing the Mechanics
Unlike other horror games with a predictable enemy, I wanted to create a threat that could be any object in the world. This led to a unique approach of scripting the blueprints and interactions within the game.
Blueprints were created for the door systems to determine if they were locked or unlocked allowing dynamic changing of accessible areas. The puzzle pieces and solution areas were all coded with visual script and tested to make sure they worked properly.
