Panic Game

A VR escape room stealth game for UNSW COMP3421 project.

Panic bar states

Calm (0-25)

• Normal UI, Environment and NPC behaviour

Stressed (25-50)

• Objectives are not longer highlighted on map
• Rises slowly when not looking at the ground

Paranoid (50-75)

• Passive NPCs start to look hostile (?)
• Visual colour filter applied
• NPC increases in size/detection radius
• Visual impairment (blur effect)
• Rises significantly faster when not looking at the ground
• Player movement slowed if not looking down

Panic attack (75-100)

• player cannot move
• visual blur and shake effect filter
• breathing minigame to continue (mash a button/rhythm based button presses)
• game over if within hostile NPC proximity
• panic bar disappears but could still be rising or lowering

VR - demo 2

Safe Zone

• Reduces panic value

Crouching/sneaking

• Remove player hearing perception stimuli

AI

• reduce sight perception awareness
• sniffer dog AI + model + animation
• hearing perception

Tutorial Level / Demo level

• Creating tutorial route
• Create UI instructions as you progress
• Including mechanics 1 by one
  • Panic states
  • NPCs
    • Police
    • Line of sight
    • Chasing player
    • Raising panic bar
  • Dogs
• Packaging
  • Plastic
  • Paper
  • Metal
  • Breathing minigame

Breathing minigame

• refine what success and failing means
• connect with panic value/panic state
• deep breathe when success (reduce heavy breathing volume)

Checking points

• Npc location
• Items
• Items that's picked up replaced on map
• Doors and keys
• Reset panic state to calm

VR-ifying the game

• convert the game to vr

Leaderboard

• saving high score locally

Level design

Level 1: Escape from prison

• Finding paperclip
• Finding key
• Dodge police

Level 2: On the street

• Dodge cars
• Escape chasing NPCs

Win condition

• Find and transport drugs to the end
• The less drugs used to lower panic bar the higher the score at the end

MVP (demo 1)

UI

• Panic bar
• Inventory screen
• Objective label
• Game lose screen (Quit / Go back to checkpoint)

Level

• Small section of airport map that's playable
• Single checkpoint to demonstrate this system

NPCs

• 2 passive NPCs
• 1 hostile security NPC
• 1 hostile sniffer dog NPC

Items

• beta blockers item for decreasing panic
• key item for clearing objective

Panic bar

• Calm
• Normal UI, Environment and NPC behaviour
• Stressed
  • Security and passive NPC becomes indistinguishable
  • Objectives are not longer highlighted on map
  • Rises slowly when not looking at the ground
• Paranoid
• Visual colour filter applied
• NPC increases in size/detection radius
• Visual impairment (blur effect)
• Rises significantly faster when not looking at the ground
• Player movement slowed if not looking down
• Panic attack
  • player cannot move
  • visual blur and shake effect filter
  • breathing minigame to continue (mash a button/rhythm based button presses)
  • game over if within hostile NPC proximity
  • panic bar disappears but could still be rising or lowering

Panic bar interaction

• Increase:

  • Close proximity of any hostile NPCs
  • Eye contact with human hostile NPCs (only in stressed state+)
  • If sniffer dog is in stage/room
  • Level design (unavoidable moments where it increases)

• Decrease:

  • beta-blockers
  • passing a checkpoint
  • locating safe-zones (toilet, secluded area, once per checkpoint)
  • interacting with NPCs/Making a phone call

Breathing Mini-game

• Appears at "Panic attack" state
• Rhythm based game when succeeding lowers panic bar