First up - initial setup. Whatever I make, I'm using Unity. There's some required setup I'm going to to do make parts of my life easier.

• Post Processing Stack
  • Unity's way of doing making things pretty.
• Default shaders
  • I don't want to be mucking about with URP, LRP or others on this timescale. Whilst shader graph would be nice, it's just not worth it.
• Default input system
  • I know how it works. Unity recommends the Input System Package - that's a no, for now.

Next up - the idea

The first thing that comes to mind with Unstable is nuclear reactors. So we're going to do something with that.

I want to make a horror game - I think they're super interesting. I saw a reddit post about a while back about a low budget horror film called Crawl or Die a while ago. They kept their budget low by being crammed into tight tunnels.

Being stuck in a tunnel, using clunky tools to try and get your way through, sounds ace to me (in that "unpleasant but satisfying if you win" way) - also easy to make the graphics for >.>

For gameplay - I really like the Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes chunky way of interacting with the world. I also like the computer in Quadrilateral Cowboy - your permanent companion through your adventures.

You're then trying to get to and save the reactor before it goes boom.

I threw a moodboard together - thinking industrial pipework, and we'll work on making it more interesting if there's time.

The goals

• Feel claustrophic
• Exploring places not designed for humans - the intermediate spaces
• Disempower the player through awkward controls
• Make the time pressure of the reactor feel ever present.