Posted August 02, 2025 by Nimavoha Interactive
#Side Alley #horror #devlog
Welcome to this second blog post for Side Alley, a psychological horror game with demons in an office environment. They haunt and hunt you, but also get into conversations with you.
This time, I want to talk about something that’s been essential for me as a dev on Side Alley: how movement and navigation work when you're not using 3D models or full free-roam environments.
If you’ve played classic visual novels, you know they usually ditch spatial navigation altogether. You’re rooted in a scene, clicking through text.That's it. No walking around, no exploring. On the other hand, full 3D games let you roam and interact freely, but sometimes sacrifice the emotional/psychological depth that can make VNs so rich (if you have the mindset to get into them, that many do not).
With Side Alley, I’m aiming for something in between. Not quite a visual novel, not quite a traditional 3D game.
Instead of one consistent style of movement, I’ve built multiple “modes” of navigation that shift depending on context. I mean, not like it's something original or anything, but here’s the breakdown:
Dialogue Mode: No physical movement. You're rooted in conversation, navigating only through choices and branching dialogue.
Point-and-Click Mode: In the style of classic adventure games. Click on objects in the environment to interact and uncover stuff.
Map Mode: Navigate using a node-based map (think Long Live the Queen or old-school strategy menus). This mode differs from point-and-click mode; I'd say, because a map is a symbolic/abstract representation, not striving for visual fidelity with the object(s) represented.
Mock-3D Mode: Like in a grid-based dungeon crawler where you can move forward and turn, one step at a time. The environment is made entirely of 2D assets, but it kinda feels like you're moving through a 3D-ish space.
The idea is that switching between these modes creates a layered, somewhat surreal experience. So it's not about realistic movement at all; it's about immersing the player in the internal logic of the world. As a player you should ask "What are my options in this moment?", and not care if it's feasible or not.
That mix of navigation styles is meant as a kind of patchwork gameplay that reinforces the tone and themes of Side Alley. It’s a bit unconventional, and all the VN purists (they are real, and many) may disagree, but I’m hoping it hits a chord with players who enjoy both narrative depth and a bit of interaction.
More soon! Thanks for following the journey so far.