Jaydn's exquisite key art, featuring a simulated ocean!
Overview
Hellish Voyage is a first-person point-and-click adventure game about a demon trapped on an unbelievably cursed cruise ship.
I was responsible for programming the game and designing its systems. I also contributed to its design and writing.
Its vertical slice was built alongside Luca Walker, Sylvie Freeman and Jaydn Jones from February to May 2024, and was based on an original concept by Vince Ljubimova. Check it out on itch.io!
Join Furfur, a demon summoned to the SS Elysium under nefarious circumstances, as he unravels a devilish conspiracy.
Designing the systems
My biggest responsibility on the project was creating a framework to efficiently link between the dozens of scenes that constituted the SS Elysium while minimising repetition, tedium, and potential errors. I relied heavily on Godot's exported variables and reusable scripts to curtail the amount of bespoke coding required by a scene.
We used multiple rounds of playtesting to support our design: it was essential for ironing out gaps in the puzzles and polishing the UI.
Building a distinct style
Aside from my personal enthusiasm for Myst, the choice to use pre-rendered visuals instead of real-time rendering was initially made to guarantee visual fidelity while keeping our workflows simple. This additional visual polish also had the effect of giving the hallways of the SS Elysium an uncanny atmosphere, suitable for the game's demonic theme.
The level design and visual presentation went through multiple iterations as we refined our systems, narrative, and puzzle design. We simplified the layouts for better readability from fixed perspectives, cut down on unnecessary detail, and streamlined navigation.
Designing for an event
The game was going to be exhibited at university events and played by members of the public, so we had to design it to be satisfying to complete within ten minutes. We took great care when building the narrative and tinkering with the puzzle difficulty to ensure we kept the player's attention and provided an engaging challenge.
This lead us to structuring the game linearly, with one action unlocking another in sequence, but we allowed the player to deviate from their objective at any point to explore and talk to other characters. Players responded well to this, and enjoyed clicking on everything to find unique dialogue.
Some prototype renders used for debugging and initial playtesting. The ship changed a lot during development!
Reflection
Looking back on the project now, I'm most proud of my work on the game's invisible "manager" systems that control its logic and continuity. The game appears technically simple, so I was surprised by the number of problems I had to solve to ensure its basic systems could scale to support the full experience. I found designing elegant solutions to streamline development to be a fun challenge that deepened my understanding of the Godot engine.
I really enjoyed building Hellish Voyage and am proud of the silly little game we made. I hope you enjoy it too.