BOWLING.
Developed over the course of one week for the 2020 HackUTD Game Jam, bowling. is a psychological horror game that progresses further into madness as the game continues. The game is set in a run-down bowling alley where the player's only goal is to bowl. With each frame the player finishes, subtle psychological tricks are employed to increase the tension and anxiety of the situation.
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For this project, my role was primarily in defining the game's visual identity. My main focuses were in surfacing all materials in the game, creating custom shaders, placing decals, and managing lighting and post processing for the scene.
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You can find the full release here.
CRT Monitor
The CRT monitor shader generates white noise, vertically panning distortion, thin bright streaks, and a bit of chromatic aberration to sell the outdated technology. The CRT is a prominent part of the game, acting as the main menu, scoreboard, and live feed of the ball as it approaches the pins. The monitor is set up to use render texture input, where we can easily swap between video feeds.
Bowling Balls
The bowling balls also utilize a custom shader to progressively grow more unsettling over time. At first the bowling balls look fairly average and unassuming, though each completed bowling frame increases their noise intensity a bit more. By the end of the game, the player can clearly see how unnatural and strange the balls are acting.