First Update of the year

Quick update on the current and future state of the game. I did receive some feedback, while not a lot it did align with what I was thinking. Currently, the game is more action and less horror, which in general isn't a bad thing. But it's a bit more than I originally planned, and that's the result of several factors. Not one factor is the cause, but a big one is the scope in terms of levels and bosses. Originally I was working with a few others, so the workload was managable, but as I mentioned I am now mostly solo. Now I had all the systems in place, really just needed to build the levels and the bosses, but that in itself is a large task. It's a task I could complete on my own, but it would take years. So what changed? Well, Unreal Engine was the big change. At first, it was a bring everything from Unity in terms of systems and gameplay over to Unreal for its better network integration. And that went relatively smoothly, and fast considering I had 0 experience in Unreal. The change came after I got the game up to and past what I had in Unity. During that time I was focused on that, and once that was done I began experimenting. What I found was I was able to do many things I couldn't do for whatever reason in Unity. And thus I began to ponder.....

Future State

Originally the Unnatural Investigations was meant to be Phasmaphobia with the ability to destroy the ghost(Demons in this case). I had a version of the game in Unity that was more like that, but I couldn't get some of the features I wanted, and the networking was giving me trouble so slowly it became something different.

So after my time in Unreal, and my side project I have started to look back at those systems I wanted and that had more of a horror feel.

I've temporarily removed the demo, didn't want people to get the wrong idea about the game because it's going to change. Here are some of the details.

Future

• Still 4 player coop

• Upgraded Host/Join options (Inviting Steam friends)

• Less gunplay, more melee

• One large open-ish world map (Not huge, maybe 4 or 5 times the current map size

• More Investigations

• Random missions (Missing persons, crime scenes, etc)

• Equipment, flashlights, scanning tools

• Fewer enemies, but smarter

• Bosses are gone in the way they are now, instead you looking for indirect ways of stopping or banishing them (Think Traps, spells, special weapons)

• New death mechanics

• More Jump scares

• More team engagement

• World events while playing

• Subplots and twist

Those are the things I am working on, still prototyping them, but I feel good about those. Now below are some systems and things I want but may not add.

Possible

• Environmental Damage (More so for hidden ways or stuff)

• Magic in terms of spells both offensive and defensive

• Different classes

• Abilities

Those are just a few, more will be added and some removed. With all that said I appreciate those who reached out or commented on the store page. I do apologize for the time it's taking and the changes to the core gameplay.

One last thing, I am working on a second project, started as strictly prototyping but has morphed into something I think will blow people's minds. It's smaller in scope than Unnatural Investigation but has opened the door to many new and cool system ideas for Unnatural Investigation. I will post more on here when the Steam page goes live, but if your looking for a 4 player coop game where your stuck in a research facility with a creature, and potentially one of you is infected then keep an eye out for it.

Thanks again.