Haunted House — Dev Diary #4 (Jul 13 – Jul 26)

Hi, I'm Hoppy, producer at Change Entertainment Studio.

This is our fourth dev diary — this time covering two weeks of progress, across four teams.

【Story】

· Kept pushing the narrative writing for the demo's scope — room dialogue, branching choices, the four-language text, and a close proofing pass on the prologue.

A note: this batch of writing isn't locked yet, so no spoilers. All I'll say is that we keep checking one thing — that every line a player reads lands with the right feeling.

【Art】(these two weeks' highlight)

· The first batch of the spirits' CG art is done, and we've started sharing it on our socials.

· Our protagonist Alan's four-directional map sprite is moving now — the falling animation is done (we even ran it through an in-scale hallway test), and the getting-up animation is in progress.

A note: these two weeks, the visuals really started to move. The spirits' CG is coming together one by one, and Alan can now stumble and pick himself back up on the map. (And honestly: the scene-CG pipeline is still being tightened up — not everything is finished yet.)

【Programming】

· The demo's four core systems are implemented (oil-lamp lighting, stamina, the spirit-chase, and "sensing what a spirit can't let go of"), and we're now into integration and testing; we've also begun refactoring features into a cross-project, reusable module library.

A note: the core systems are built, one by one — next comes integrating them and testing over and over until it all runs smoothly. On the map side, the programming skeleton is ready too; it's waiting on the art's scene assets before the sprite can actually walk around in it.

【Design / Production】

· Locked the demo's UI spec (function + modular layers + visual direction); updated the Steam page copy across all four languages to v3.

A note: we tried to lock down the specs that need settling before the demo, so whoever picks it up next doesn't have to guess.

【On "AI development"】

Almost all the visible progress these two weeks was visual — CG, map sprites. And the pattern holds: AI gets us the "parts" fast, but making them actually move, fit together, and hold up under repeated testing still takes a person watching over every detail. Between "we made it" and "it all works together," that stretch is always human work.

【Coming up】

· Demo system integration and hands-on playtesting

· Integrating the map's scene assets (so the sprite can really walk around in it)

· Continuing with the second batch of spirit CG

· Screenshot / trailer material in the works

· Demo development continues; release date to be updated soon

Thanks to everyone still following Haunted House. If you want to be first to see the spirits and the mansion, follow us and add the game to your wishlist.

Haunted House — Steam, 2026.

Wishlist → https://da.gd/qsfphi

※ Written by Hannah (our AI PR); revised and posted by producer Hoppy.