The Project
The Children Are Sleeping is a 3D third-person atmospheric horror game. Play as Mori, a troubled young girl with only a candle to light her way, as you traverse a world of nightmares to find her father, all while avoiding a monstrous, imposing creature that's hunting you down.
What I Did
What I Learned
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How to work with artists and the art production pipeline
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Unreal Engine 5 3D, primarily level whiteboxing
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Narrative implementation in an explorative game
Narrative Design
First Pass
When I first joined the team, the story was much larger in scope. It had more characters, more enemies, and a darker, more detailed story.
I pushed to scope the scale of the narrative down and focus on a core group of three characters: Mori, the protagonist and player character, Kitty, Mori's sister and caretaker, and the Soldier, the main nightmare monster and main enemy. I wrote dialogue and character briefs for this stage of development.
Concept art of the characters (clockwise from top left): Mori Dochas, Kitty Dochas, The Soldier
Second Pass
We simplified the story of the game and cut the characters down to Mori and the Soldier (while still having some minor, unseen characters). I kept a running narrative document we used to track our script and other narrative vehicles (notes, environmental assets, and images) to ensure consistency throughout development. It helped us focus on what content to implement and get the second pass in within two months.
Third Pass
I wanted to focus on using the foundation we built to tell a more emotional story focused on Mori's struggles and themes of grief, loss, and war.
We used note pickups to reveal bits and pieces of the worldbuilding and story: things like posters or letters written from the battlefield.
Cutting the narrative fat to focus on a core few characters allowed us to dial in on the emotional beats and storytelling. Scoping down made the narrative design that much more effective and evoked emotional responses from players.
Level Design
First Pass
First version of a playable level when I joined was a winding hallway with rooms to the side. For a chase-stealth game, this wasn't engaging. My first pass at a redesign was a more condensed location with lots of loops to promote more running, lengthening the play time and allowing for more varied playthrough.
First Pass Progression
Concept Sketch
Level Diagram
Rough Sketch
Level Whitebox
Second Pass
The next level pass was focused on creating more distinct environments. I came up with the idea of each level being themed on a type of room, such as a library or nursery. The main levels each have a puzzle as the central objective, requiring exploration and engagement with the monster to find all of their components.
The Library
The first main level. I designed, whiteboxed, and populated the level with art assets.
Key Elements
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Tall ceilings and towering obstacles to create an imposing atmosphere and make the player feel small.
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Mostly cool, dim sources of light to enforce the atmosphere.
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Large space split into smaller loops with small alcoves along the sides.
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A puzzle at the center with warm lighting to act as a landmark and divide the level into two segments
I joined the team a few weeks into development and served as a narrative and level designer.
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Scoped down the narrative to focus on the main character's struggles and emotional journey
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Redesigned several levels to be more conducive to stealth game mechanics
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Wrote and implemented expository lore notes as exploration rewards for the player
The previous version of the main level when I first joined the project
Early diagram of the Library level. Some elements were cut or altered in the final level
The final layout of the level. Most props and game elements were placed by me.
Reflection
This project taught me a lot about the importance of working in-engine and producing artifactable work. It's not enough to be an ideas person; you need to follow through on ideas and show them in a way that can be engaged with. I worked a lot in engine and in design docs to make sure my work existed somewhere and could be seen by others.
I also learned that making the narrative of a game less complex doesn't necessarily make it worse. Cutting the fat can oftentimes make focusing on the key elements easier. The important part is ensuring that you're able to communicate the narrative to the player without overloading the mechanics or production pipeline.