Early Friday update
Development Update: What’s Next for Harborage Street
Development on Harborage Street is continuing, and I wanted to give everyone an update on what I'm currently working on, what's coming next, and how I plan to handle development builds going forward.
Right now, my main focus is the first enemy AI.
There's still quite a bit of work to do, but I'm getting closer to having the enemy behave the way I want it to. Once I'm happy with the AI, my next major focus will be creating some simple custom assets from scratch and implementing them into the existing levels.
The goal isn't necessarily to start building everything from scratch immediately. Instead, I want to use these assets to help fill out the environments and give the levels more personality and detail before moving on to the next stages of development.
Building the Enemy
One of the more interesting parts of development right now is the enemy itself.
For Harborage Street, I'm using the older free version of Horror Engine SE as the framework for many of the game's underlying systems. The framework provides a number of useful horror-game systems that I can build on, including interaction, puzzles, inventory, cameras, and other gameplay features.
I'm heavily modifying and building on top of that framework to create the experience I actually want for Harborage Street.
One of the biggest examples of that is the enemy.
The goal is to create an enemy that doesn't simply chase the player and attack them. I want it to be something that can follow the player, interact with them, and talk to them, making it a more active part of the game's atmosphere and story.
I'm essentially taking the systems provided by the framework and using them as a starting point for something much more specific to this game.
The Camera Becomes a Tool
One of the mechanics I'm currently working on is tied directly to the enemy.
The player has a camera, and I'm working on making that camera much more than just an atmospheric prop.
The current idea is that taking a picture of the enemy can make it disappear.
That means when one of these creatures is following you, the camera can become a way of dealing with the threat.
Instead of simply running away, the player can potentially turn around, pull out the camera, and take a picture of the creature to make it disappear.
I'm still working on exactly how this mechanic will function, including its limitations and how it will fit into the overall gameplay. I don't want the camera to make the enemies feel completely harmless, so there will still be plenty of experimenting and balancing to do.
But I really like the idea of turning something that would normally just be a horror-game prop into an actual gameplay tool.
It's one of those mechanics that I'm still figuring out, but I'm excited to see where it goes.
What's Coming Next?
Once I get the enemy AI into a place I'm happy with, I'll be moving into another important part of development: building out the environments.
I'll be creating some simple assets myself and using them to add more detail to the existing levels. This will include environmental objects and smaller details that can help make the locations feel less empty and more like actual places.
After that, I'll continue expanding the levels, adding mechanics, improving the visuals, fixing bugs, and generally pushing the game closer to the experience I have in mind.
The Alpha Will Stay Free
I also want to make something clear about how Harborage Street will be released.
The current alpha will always be free.
I want people to be able to download it, play it, see what I'm working on, and provide feedback while the game is still being developed.
As development progresses, I plan to create a more complete demo that will include additional levels and more content than the current alpha.
I'm still working out exactly how the demo will be handled, but the goal is to keep it inexpensive and accessible.
Even once the full game is finished, I want to keep the price reasonable. This is an indie game being developed by a very small studio, and I want the final price to reflect that.
I'm not committing to an exact price just yet because the scope of the finished game is still evolving. I'll have more information on that once development gets further along.
New Builds Every Friday
I'm also going to start making development more consistent and transparent.
My current plan is to release a new working build every Friday.
Each Friday build will give players an opportunity to see what's changed and try out the latest version of Harborage Street.
Alongside each build, I'll publish a new development blog post talking about what I worked on that week, what changed, what I'm currently working on, and what I plan to tackle next.
Some weeks might bring major new features.
Other weeks might be mostly bug fixes, AI improvements, environmental work, or small changes that aren't immediately obvious.
That's just how game development works.
But the goal is simple:
Keep building. Keep improving. Keep sharing.
Thanks for Following Along
Harborage Street is still being actively developed, and there's a lot left to do.
I'm building this game as part of Roach Clip Games, and one of the things I want to do with the studio is be open about the development process rather than disappearing for months and suddenly showing everyone a finished product.
So if you're interested in seeing how the game develops, check back each Friday.
There will be a new build.
There will be a new development update.
And hopefully, there will be something new trying to scare you.
Thanks to everyone who has already downloaded the alpha, played the game, tested it, or sent me feedback.
It genuinely helps.
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