Witch Hunted Devlog 01

Hi, thanks for reading! In the following devlogs, I’ll be documenting the process of developing my game, Witch Hunted, which I plan to release at the end of April. This is my first bigger project, and I’m really hoping it turns out as cool as I’ve imagined. There’s a lot I want to do with this game, and if I can pull it off, I think it’s going to be something worth playing.

General Overview

Witch Hunted is a survival horror RPG that follows a young witch named Thalia (the name might change later). Set in 16th-century Poland, the story begins in a secluded village hidden deep in the forest. Thalia’s people live by the old ways, relying on rituals and their connection to gods and spirits. As a young witch chosen by one of the forest’s ancient entities, Thalia has spent her life learning sacred practices, crafting remedies, and invoking spirits.

Things take a turn for the worse when invaders attack the village, driven by fear and hatred of her people’s beliefs. Homes are destroyed, sacred sites desecrated, and survivors scatter. Thalia escapes into the forest, left with her bond to her patron spirit and the knowledge of her people. Now she must navigate the aftermath of destruction, relying on her rituals and magic for survival. Her choices will shape her future—whether to rebuild her shattered traditions, adapt to a hostile world, retreat into isolation, or give in to vengeance.

Mechanics

Exploration in Witch Hunted is immersive and deliberate. Players guide Thalia through lush 2D environments, such as procedurally generated forests, sacred groves, and settlements. Using WASD or arrow keys, players uncover hidden paths, gather resources, and interact with NPCs by pressing E or Enter. Interactive elements, such as foraging spots and ritual altars, are critical for progression.

• Foraging: Resource collection plays a big role. Players interact with trees, bushes, shorelines, and barrels to gather supplies. Foraging spots are dynamically placed through the procedural forest generation system, ensuring that each playthrough feels fresh.
• Crafting: Potions, tools, and sacred objects can be crafted using recipes unlocked through exploration. Recipes are often discovered by picking up scrolls or exploring sacred areas. Crafting stations scattered throughout the game world allow players to create items that enhance survival, clear obstacles, or provide buffs.
• Combat: Combat is turn-based and tactical.
• Rituals: Sacred rituals can be performed at altars to summon minor gods, craft rare items, or strengthen Thalia’s connection to her patron spirit. Rituals require specific materials and symbolic actions, making them a strategic aspect of gameplay.
• Choice-driven Gameplay: Player decisions affect Thalia’s story, relationships, and the game world. NPCs react dynamically to choices, and the game’s narrative branches into one of four major endings.

Art Direction

The art style for Witch Hunted combines a vibrant medieval folk aesthetic with surreal horror. Bright, saturated colors like glowing greens and deep reds mix with earthy textures to create a world that feels both alive and unsettling. The visual style takes inspiration from films like The Love Witch, Midsommar, and The Color of Pomegranates (visually stunning, even if it’s not the best movie). For creature and environment design, I’m drawing inspiration from Plastiboo and Miro Haveranian to achieve a surreal and eerie vibe. The goal is to make the game feel like a vivid, haunting folklore dream come to life.

Progress Update

Weeks 1 & 2:

I spent the first two weeks laying the groundwork for the project. This included finalizing the engine, deciding on mechanics, and drafting a production plan. I also conducted research to ground the story in historical context. Here’s what I explored:

• The Northern Crusades: These were a series of religious campaigns from the 12th to 14th centuries where Catholic forces aimed to Christianize the pagan tribes of the Baltic region. This historical backdrop inspired the hostility Thalia’s people face in the game, mirroring real-world persecution.
• Pagan Religions in the Balkans: Pagan practices of the era centered around nature worship, divination, and herbalism. These elements are directly tied to Thalia’s abilities, such as crafting remedies, invoking spirits, and performing rituals.
• Specific Rituals: I studied practices like herbalism (creating remedies from natural ingredients), divination (seeking guidance from gods or spirits), and affinity with nature (believing that everything in the natural world is interconnected). These rituals heavily influence the game’s crafting and supernatural mechanics.

Procedural Forest Generator:

Over the second week, I started work on the procedural forest generator and a basic player movement script. The movement script allows the player to move while preventing them from walking into walls. This is achieved using a 2D collider check via an overlap box. Before moving the character, the script checks the intended position for collisions—if none are found, the player moves forward; otherwise, they stay in place.

The forest generator has been a fun challenge. Even though this is my first attempt at a procedural system, I’ve made solid progress. Currently, I have a basic setup where the forest layout regenerates randomly every time I press a specific key. Here’s a breakdown of the key components:

• Dungeon Manager: This script holds data for prefabs (like floor and wall tiles) and tracks the dungeon boundaries dynamically using variables like minX, maxX, minY, and maxY. These variables adjust as tiles are added to ensure the layout stays consistent.
• Tile Spawner: This script handles the placement of tiles during runtime. It uses Unity’s Gizmos to visually represent tile placement during editing, which helps with debugging. The script also runs nested loops to check for empty spaces around floor tiles, allowing walls to be placed dynamically.

Together, these scripts create the foundation for procedural dungeon generation. I’ve also implemented a Random Walker system, where a virtual entity moves randomly across a grid, leaving a trail of floor tiles behind. This ensures that all generated tiles are interconnected, forming a cohesive, navigable layout.

Next, I’ll be focusing on adding an exit doorway system to transition between dungeon levels. This will tie the procedural system more closely to the game’s narrative. There’s still a lot to refine, but so far, I’m pretty happy with the progress I’ve made.