This week I am proud to announce that the ghost has arrived! He floats around, he "poltergeists" objects around, he haunts doors and lights, he tracks player progress, and chooses between these options all by himself. Again, I have also made tweaks to the restaurant manager and level myself in order to implement these features.

The issues now rise as how to build on top of these things the ghost can do to better flesh out the end user experience. Another topic worth mentioning is the numbers behind these events, particularly the rapid speed the doors currently move while haunted. I will need to add much more to the ghost in terms of how it interacts with the player before I am satisfied with the outcome. I will also have to make compromises with my team to make sure everyone thinks the ghost is doing what it needs to.

When brainstorming things the ghost wants to do I had many ideas. Now reconsidering these ideas, they likely will need more assets and integrations in order to be fully realized. I wanted to have a variety of "scare" events that would attempt to jump scare the player in creative ways. Now I am concerned with how I would do that as it would require entangle code that need things like specific objects, managers, the ghost, and the player to work. The scares would not only need to only occur when the player is close to a potential event but also when the player is facing the ideal direction (i.e., out the window, into a mirror, etc.). This feature is proving intimidating for me to try to map out in my head.

The other issue is communication with my team. I have already had a misunderstanding where I did not understand the rational as to why we would need a physical ghost object floating through space in the level when the ghost would be invisible during normal gameplay. I have implemented this feature, but I still am having trouble seeing the value of this mechanic. The team has mentioned when the player intersects with the ghost their fear meter would fill, a meter that when full kills the player and ends the shift in failure. I feel this will feel unpredictable to players and not be fun but I'm having trouble articulating this to my team from my point of view.

I am proud of my work on this project. I only hope an employer will recognize my work in the future so that I might find success for myself. With my graduation only a few months away I am feeling more and more anxious about what happens next.