The Early Train

Each carriage holds its own sinister secrets, and survival depends on your ability to follow a mysterious set of rules. From avoiding eye contact with shadowy figures to staying perfectly silent as something monstrous passes by, every step you take could be your last if you're not careful. The rules aren’t just suggestions—they are your lifeline.
Information:
Type: First-Person Horror
Genre: Survival Horror, Psychological, Puzzle Adventure
Platform: PC
Solo Project
This vertical slice was developed as part of a university module, allowing me to showcase my concept through a single level of the game.
Image Gallery
The Early Train is a chilling first-person horror experience that takes you on a nightmarish journey into the unknown. As you board a seemingly ordinary train, you soon realize that this is no ordinary ride—this train is a gateway to another world, one where the rules of reality no longer apply. As you progress through the train, the atmosphere becomes increasingly tense, with every carriage offering new challenges and horrors. The haunting sounds of distant whispers, the flickering of dim lights, and the unsettling feeling of being watched will keep you on edge as you desperately try to find a way back to the real world.
Development
The game combines intuitive mechanics with a progressively unsettling environment, keeping players on edge while they unravel vague rules and face escalating challenges.
Mechanics
The mechanics of the game were designed to fit a bigger game idea, implemented into one level as an example of its potential. In the first carriage, the player is introduced to the story of the game. A businesswoman is on her way home from work and is awaiting her train. Suddenly, an early train catches her eye and she decides to embark it to arrive home sooner. Little did she know that this train was anything but ordinary. She passes out and awakes in her sleeping carriage and finds a crumpled note on her bed. Game Key Points: -The note includes a set of rules to follow throughout the game. -Each carriage has its own specific rules the player must respect to survive the night. -The game’s rules are intentionally vague, requiring players to trust their intuition. Starting Carriage Gameplay: -The first boss is the Queen of Spiders, whose rule is "Do not open Room Number 5; the dark is your friend." -The lights must be turned off for the player to roam the carriage. -If the player fails to turn off the lights, they die and must restart. This teaches the player to quickly find the light switch before exploring. -The player can roam the train, decode a code to unlock a room, where they retrieve an offering. -Bringing the offering to the Queen of Spiders allows her to grant mercy and lets the player progress to the next carriage.
Design
The level design of the game was crafted to complement the narrative and mechanics, immersing the player in a mysterious and unsettling environment. The train setting is designed to convey a mix of vintage elegance and growing unease, reflecting the player’s journey deeper into the unknown. Each carriage tells its own subtle story, contributing to the eerie atmosphere and reinforcing the gameplay objectives. Key Level Design Features: -The train’s design captures an old-world charm, with rich textures and intricate details that evoke an air of sophistication. This vintage style is gradually disrupted as the player progresses, symbolizing the descent into chaos -Each room within the carriages appears similar at first glance but features subtle differences to hint at growing disarray. As the player moves through the train, the rooms become increasingly distorted, with overturned furniture, ripped curtains, and unsettling environmental changes -Ambient lighting ensures the environment is bright enough for players to navigate while maintaining the tension of exploring in near-darkness. Strategically placed light sources, such as faint moonlight through windows or glowing objects, subtly guide players without breaking immersion -Objects left behind by previous passengers hint at their fates, encouraging players to piece together the train’s dark history -Players meet only one other living person, who appears to have gone insane, adding to the psychological tension. This contrast between isolation and brief human interaction heightens the unsettling atmosphere.

Material Setup for Glowing Numbers: Explored how blueprint-driven effects interact with material parameters, adjusting values to refine the glow intensity and achieve a precise visual effect.



Blueprints for turning the light on and off, and the consequence of roaming around with the lights on:


If the player fails to turn off the lights, they are offered a second chance to turn them off though audio cues. If they fail, they die and have to restart the level. This teaches the player to quickly find the light switch before exploring.

Blueprints for opening/closing doors, using a single timeline played in reverse

Blueprints for pick-ups: this is a simple item pickup which hides the visibility of the item upon being interacted with.


Designed a widget-based minigame where players must locate and match number order to corresponding room numbers.
Entering the correct sequence unlocks the door, while an incorrect attempt triggers an audio cue as feedback.