Game Screenshots

Homeowner (2024)

Concept Artist & Character Designer & Game Designer & 3D Modeler

Homeowner is a 3D multiplayer online game available for download through the Steam platform.

Players will choose to play as either Homeowners or Intruders, and different roles will have different objects.

Homeowner's story is hidden throughout the game, allowing players to explore and learn about the character's backstory as they play. As a homeowner, you can catch intruders and then confine them in closets to restrict their movement. As an intruder, you can utilize household items to attack homeowners and continually search for ways to ultimately escape from the house.

During game development, I was primarily responsible for carrying out the concept and character design for the game, I also helped with some of the 3d modeling on top of my main job.. In the early stages I worked on a series of concepts and atmosphere designs ——house, the main area of the game that the player enters. In the later stages, I worked on detailed character designs for the characters in the game and helped the character modeler tweak the clothing designs for the characters.

In my design process, the biggest challenge was that our storyline was not determined at the beginning, so it led to the fact that I needed to constantly incorporate what the group had discussed and design it on my own, but I solved this difficulty by utilizing the design experience I had gained in my day-to-day life, which I think is a very important takeaway.

Keyboard Recommended

6 Players Max

Steam Platform

Process

Pre-production

This is the initial proposal I presented to my team. Based on my previous experience, I identified three game types that I believed would be most suitable for us to develop. These choices were made considering our team's strengths, the project scope, and feasibility within our timeframe.

Art Process

At the beginning, I quickly designed Dr. Smith, a doctor and university professor. For his design, I focused on incorporating lab attire, a badge hanging from his chest, and a notebook in his hand, reinforcing his scholarly and professional persona.

I drew the players hands where in first-person perspective

Our team member Max then took my 2D character illustration and attempted to integrate it into the game engine using a 3D setup. However, during our discussions, we realized that if the player moved behind the character, the illusion would break, making it visually inconsistent. As a result, we decided not to proceed with this method and explored alternative approaches for character implementation.

Next, I designed a laboratory based on our team's initial gameplay concept—where players need to find the central lab inside a house.

Since our game is a multiplayer experience, I designed the lab with multiple entrances, ensuring that players could approach it from different paths, enhancing exploration and strategic movement.

To make the environment feel interactive and immersive, I also incorporated common laboratory equipment as interactable objects, allowing players to engage with the setting while progressing through the game.

Metal Box Mechanic:

Players need to collect four metal boxes and bring them to the central laboratory, where they must be placed on the pole to unlock the final door.

Design Considerations:

One side of the metal box is magnetized, aligning with the console’s auto-attachment mechanic, ensuring a smooth placement interaction.
Each corner of the box has protective guards, reinforcing the scientific and industrial aesthetic while making it visually distinct.

This design helps to make the interaction intuitive and satisfying, aligning with the game's puzzle-solving mechanics.

Pole Design:
During the design process, I explored various pole shapes, ensuring they were visually distinct and functionally suitable for the game’s mechanics.

To enhance interactivity, I incorporated magnetic attachment zones on the pole, designed to correspond with the metal box's magnetized areas. This ensures a seamless connection between the two objects, reinforcing the game’s puzzle mechanics while maintaining a consistent sci-fi aesthetic.

I also designed the cardboard boxes, incorporating feedback from team member Tamara. Unlike the main metal boxes, these cardboard boxes serve as common throwable objects, adding an extra layer of interaction for players.

Design Considerations:

To enhance the game's eerie atmosphere, I added bloodstains or unusual markings on the boxes, hinting at mystery and danger within the environment.
The damage level of the cardboard boxes is visually represented through wear, tear, and missing sections, along with numbers indicating their durability.

These details make the boxes both functional and immersive, reinforcing the horror elements while providing a useful gameplay mechanic.

In our game environment, we needed various sci-fi door designs, so I explored and created different futuristic door concepts to provide options for the team.

Design Considerations:

Variety in Functionality: Some doors could be automatic sliding doors, while others might require keycard access or puzzle-solving mechanics to open.
Aesthetic Consistency: I designed the doors to match our sci-fi horror theme, incorporating metallic textures, glowing elements, and mechanical details.
Interactive Elements: Some doors feature magnetic locks, biometric scanners, or warning lights, visually indicating their status (locked, unlocked, malfunctioning).

Attacking Robots – Disguised as Biological Specimens

These robots are stationed throughout Dr. Smith’s house, appearing harmless at first but transforming into lethal threats when intruders are detected.

Design Concept:

Camouflage as Specimens: Since Dr. Smith conducts biological experiments, I designed the robots to appear as preserved biological specimens when idle. They might be displayed in glass cases, mounted on walls, or positioned like taxidermy.
Transformation Mechanic: When the house is breached, the robots undergo a shape-shifting process, unfolding into mechanical horrors equipped with sharp limbs, energy-based weapons, or high-speed movement capabilities.
Uncanny Aesthetic: Their organic-mechanical hybrid appearance creates an unsettling effect, reinforcing the game's horror atmosphere.

Environment Design:

For the scene design, we established that the story takes place in a remote city, where Dr. Smith is a scientist known for experimenting with human modifications. Given this, I envisioned his house as a large, old wooden mansion, creating a contrast between traditional architecture and futuristic horror elements to enhance the eerie atmosphere.

Key Design Elements:

Aging Wooden Mansion: The house has creaking wooden floors, dim lighting, and a deteriorating structure, evoking a sense of mystery and unease.
Security Robots: Inside the mansion, Dr. Smith's robotic inventions roam the halls, designed to automatically attack intruders. Their cold, mechanical nature adds to the sense of danger and unpredictability.
Hidden Bio-Containment Chambers: In one section of the house, there are sealed biological containment pods, suggesting dark experiments hidden beneath the surface. These pods are partially covered, hinting at something sinister lurking within.

Based on the previous discussion, the player needs to complete objectives inside some tubes and then get the “key box” to unlock the final gun, so I made an in-depth concept for the tubes

Design Considerations:

Compact Layout: The small lab chambers create a sense of claustrophobia and urgency, reinforcing the horror atmosphere.
Scattered Placement: Labs are distributed throughout the house, requiring players to explore and navigate past threats to access them.
Minimalist Sci-Fi Equipment: Each lab contains essential scientific tools, dim lighting, and eerie experiment remnants, making them functional yet unsettling.
Interaction Points: Players must search storage units, interact with terminals, or solve puzzles to retrieve the Metal Boxes.

PVP Gameplay Update: Intruders vs. Homeowner

With the gameplay update introducing PVP mechanics, one group of players takes on the role of Intruders, while another plays as the Homeowner, creating a tense and dynamic asymmetrical experience.

Intruders

For the Intruders, I designed diverse character styles, ensuring that each had a unique appearance and personality.

As players explore the house, they gradually uncover their backgrounds, adding a narrative layer to their roles.
Their designs reflect their reasons for breaking in, whether driven by curiosity, revenge, or survival, subtly hinting at their motives through clothing, expressions, and small details.

Homeowner

After the first version, I updated the Homeowner's design to better align with our horror narrative.

Since he needs to hide within the house, we wanted him to initially appear friendly and unassuming, similar to the antagonist in Hello Neighbor—someone who seems ordinary at first glance but is actually terrifying.
His true nature is revealed gradually, showing him as a brutal, unhinged scientist.
Since he experiments on himself, his arms bear visible cybernetic modifications, hinting at his obsession with self-enhancement and making his appearance eerily unsettling upon closer inspection.