top of page
InVein
Development: August 2025 - December 2025
Project Type: Team Project (SlowDrip Studios ~ 40 people)
Description: A horror game created in Unreal Engine 5. Explore the depths of a Hospital that evolves as the days go on while you try to escape the Nurse.
Tools Used: Unreal Engine 5, Photoshop, PureRef
Project Overview
InVein is a horror game set in a 1950's hospital that deteriorates as the days progress. The player must manage their IV to make it through each day, while simultaneously avoiding the Nurse to learn how to escape the hospital.
Gameplay Overview:
- The player is tethered to an IV stand that they must maintain in order to make it through the day by finding replacement IV bags throughout the hospital
- Explore the hospital as it evolves over the course of 5 days (Levels), uncovering story elements as they go
Research and Planning
During this stage, I was primarily focused on getting down the major points of interest and how the player would interact with them based on the narrative outline we were building off of. At this stage, we hadn't yet worked out whether the Hospital would have multiple floors that were actually playable which ended up being the most drastic change from the initial papermap, completely changing basically everything from the original idea. Additionally, we were designing with a "lost and found" feature in mind that ultimately had to get cut for a multitude of reasons. Finally, the rough papermap below was an initial pass from when we originally planned on a small, tight space similar to something akin to Silent Hill PT.
.png)
Whitebox Pass
After the research and planning stage, I moved on to creating the whitebox version of the main hospital layout. Many parts of this blockout accomplished exactly what was needed, but the main iterations needed were the elevator placement, the main lobby layout and the treatment theater.
The Evolution(s)
For this project, a major focus of the Level Design was to have the Hospital evolve/deteriorate across the playable "days" to accompany the narrative of a crumbling reality. This concept allowed me to manipulate the Hospital layout and utilize Lighting and Framing techniques in interesting ways to guide the player.
Path Progressions
Since the game takes place entirely within the Hospital, it was very important to maintain player intrigue and investment by modifying the critical path each day.
Progressions Breakdown:
- Introduce a new path each day by allowing the player to unlock paths, or breaking open and blocking paths in relation to the deterioration of the environment
- Utilize the changing environment to create unique opportunities to use lighting and framing techniques to effectively guide the player through unique and familiar spaces
- Allude to upcoming areas by allowing the player to see them early, driving the player to progress to reach these areas (either later in that level or in a future level)
- Add new elements/challenges into recurring areas to keep the gameplay fresh, usually in the form of puzzles or Nurse encounters
Designing for Player Economy
From the tutorial, it is well established that the player heavily relies on the IV to get around. To maintain the IV, the player must find blood bags around the Hospital to replenish the time they have before they pass out. This system affords 2 resources to be utilized in Level Design; Time and the Bag replacements.
Economy Overview:
- Replacement IV bags are strategically placed around the hospital to create tension with the IV timer, not too close together to be too easy while not too far to be too challenging
- Locations for the replacement bags change with each day to encourage exploration and to help reinforce the new paths
- The player can only disconnect from the IV for brief moments; this is utilized by the use of crawlspaces, where the player must find a new IV on the other side (bottom left video)
Level Pacing and Flow
On top of IV management and an evolving environment, the player is presented with a few other elements to keep the gameplay fresh and engaging.
Pacing Breakdown:
- The pacing of each level commonly revolves around narrative beats blended with gameplay
E.g., (Day 1 - Reaching Hallway first time, Acquiring Breakroom Key, Entering Breakroom)
- Nurse encounters that force the player to hide, really effective at creating tension while also making more interesting pacing for the levels (top right video)
- Short interactive puzzle sections gating progression; engages the player beyond the intrigue of the environment (bottom right video)
- Late game chase sequences; faster paced sections that dramatically increase tension and always progress the narrative (bottom)
Flow Breakdown:
- The flow of each level usually follows a smoother path to fit the real world architecture of a Hospital, though sharper moments are frequently utilized to create tension at important times
- Designing the flow in this way also lends itself nicely to the pacing of each level, as the elements used to break up the pacing commonly break up the flow as a result which creates a more engaging experience
Final Pass
After multiple iterations and test cycles, this is the final design of the major areas of the level.
Reflection
Overall I think this project went very well, especially considering the many challenges we faced during development. I was able to contribute a significant amount of work to the team to create levels that accentuated and sometimes elevated other team members' work. This project taught me so many things regarding teamwork, iterations, and general design elements that I simply could not have learned on my own.
Level Design Reflection:
- This project was my first attempt at creating a single major layout that would change throughout the course of the game's progression. I believe there are some really cool designs and ideas here, but I do think there are still a few more iterations that could be made to further push these ideas along
- Being able to work alongside other designers (and the rest of the team) was truly a blessing, as I truly believe the levels would not have progressed as well as they ultimately did had I worked alone
- Even with all of the positive things that came out of this project, there will always be something that could be improved. In this case, I think some of the design decisions and level pathing limited the ability to utilize some common horror game elements that could have pushed the game even further
Other Projects
From Before
2025
An environmental puzzle level designed in Unreal Engine 5, with an emphasis on interconnected puzzle sections all linked to a central location.
bottom of page