CHARLIE HA

Desert Town

Project type:

Third Person Character Murder Mystery Game in Unreal Engine.

Game description:

Step into the boots of a lone sheriff in a sun-scorched western town...

A brutal murder has rocked the heart of a once-quiet desert outpost. With only 10 minutes before the killer escapes, you must search the dusty streets, follow the trail of clues, and avoid deadly traps set to keep you off the case. TNT, accomplices, and ticking time bombs stand in your way โ€” but justice waits for no one.

๐Ÿ’ฐ Collect coins to bribe for secrets.

๐Ÿ” Gather evidence to unlock the truth.

๐Ÿงจ Avoid traps โ€” or die trying.

๐Ÿš‚ Use minecarts to reach hidden areas.

Date:

April 1 - May 18, 2025

Role:

Game Designer and Game Developer.

desertTownGameThumbnail

Project highlight:

Game Flow:

Developed win condition and full game completion.

These are timestamps for each milestone in the game:

Game Mechanics:

TNT traps that is triggered and explodes when the player walks near them. The trap has 1 second delay with sound cue to let player know and escape.

A hit indicator that flashes the screen red when the player takes damage.

Minecarts that move on rails when player jumps into the cart.

Door that requires a key for the player to open. The door also has a red light that turns green when the player has the Jerry Can.

A pressure plate where the player can pay $14 to buy a Jerry Can.

Timer that counts down from 6 minutes to 0, and when it reaches 0, the game ends.

When your health reaches 0, the game ends.

A bell that rings when time is 3 minutes left.

NPC free roam.

Reflection:

This project helped me learn how to use a reference image to model, the importance of modeling the correct size, and time management for time to render the project.

This town asset was premade by Befour studio so I use them for my game, the buildings do not have interior so I wanted to encourage the players to explore the outside as much as they can. I had some challenges with making the pressure plate to make the Jerry Can appear. Apparently I plugged the component begin overlap collider from other component to BPthirdpersoncharacter to object instead of other actor. Another challenge I had was making the key visible