CAVE Overview

Well folks, it's time for the first update to the CAVE dev blog.  Of course, since this is the first entry, and seeing how CAVE hasn't really been publicly advertised as yet, it would behoove me to tell you a bit about the project.

The man in black fled across the desert,
and the gunslinger followed.

CAVE started out of the desire to bring a game to the public based on the works of Stephen King.  Say the name, "Stephen King," and likely you'll conjure imagery of child-eating clowns, world-ending plagues, and creepy-crawlies galore.  King is known chiefly as a horror author, but perhaps his finest work -- certainly his magnum opus -- has been the Dark Tower series: eight books spanning thirty years of an illustrious career.

Sai King, if you're reading this: Hile, talespinner.

King often licenses his short stories to independent filmmakers and creative minds in other media, for the paltry sum of $1.  The projects, which he calls his "Dollar Babies," adorn a special shelf in his home.  I began the CAVE journey sifting through his various short story collections, hoping to find the next Dollar Baby.

Sadly, while Sai King's stories are masterfully written, very few seem to lend themselves to the video game medium.  So it was with great reluctance that I put aside the works of King and took up the works of another master of American horror -- indeed, the premiere horror author of the 20th century -- H. P. Lovecraft.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft wrote nothing but short stories his entire career; there were no novels, no novellas, no scripts for stage or screen.  What's more, though I had some initial trepidation about venturing from the Dollar Babies (licensing a libretto from another creative mind can be a very expensive proposition!), I was relieved to discover that Lovecraft's entire collected works are considered public domain, given their age.

Our studios (which consist of our living rooms and home offices) can be found in central Kentucky, which posed another problem: Were we to cast voice actors from local talent to produce a game based on Lovecraft's work, we'd find an incongruity in the regional dialect.  In plain English, the accents would be dead-wrong.  The overwhelming majority of Lovecraft's works were staged in New England, an area of the country he knew quite well, having spent most of his life in Providence, Rhode Island.

Scouring his collected works, I quickly realized we'd either have to localize one of his New England stories (which is challenging to say the least, given their often-oceanic subject matter), or find another author.  I was not about to spend the next indeterminate amount of time working toward an unsatisfying adaptation (like the film, Dagon, which isn't even based on the short story of the same name, and was changed to take place off the coast of Spain for no discernible reason).

It was then that I discovered a smaller, forgotten tale of his titled, The Beast in the Cave (SPOILER ALERT).  I was so excited to uncover this gem, which takes place in Mammoth Cave National Park in western Kentucky.  Perfect, I thought.  This means casting and localization won't be a problem!  Further, the story takes place almost entirely underground, through complex tunnels and massive caverns.

It was from this story that CAVE was born.

You are Paul Carter, a young professional and recent college grad living a quiet life in central Kentucky.  It's Memorial Day weekend, and to celebrate the long holiday, you've decided to visit Mammoth Cave with a couple of friends from school.  On arrival, you join your friends and enter the Cave's historic entrance as part of a large and diverse tour group.  At some point during the dull, overly-rehearsed tour, you become separated from the group, wandering off into the dark recesses of the cave.  You find yourself lost in the labyrinthine maze of tunnels and sarcophagal chambers.  As you venture deeper into the mire of twisting limestone catacombs you come to realize you're hopelessly lost, losing what little light you brought with you and with it, any hope of rescue.  One other thing... you are not alone.

The Mammoth Cave

CAVE will be a great project to work on, over the coming year or so, and we're very excited at the prospect of releasing a game of such magnitude.  We're also looking forward to showcasing some of the technologies we're using to breathe life into Mammoth Cave, our wayward adventurer, and all those around him.  Some of the topics we'll be featuring in upcoming posts:

• The software: Getting the job done with GIMP GNU Image Manipulation Program and Adobe Photoshop, and Autodesk 3D Studio MAX
• The engine: Unity's powerful tool set and compatibility with virtually every file type and asset editor out there.
• The action: Full-body and facial scanning, as well as marker-less motion capture, all using Microsoft Kinect Sensors
• The people: Developer and actor bios - Get a look at the people behind the scenes of CAVE.

Stay tuned for more information on the CAVE project.  Hopefully we'll have our landing page up soon.

Have a great week!

Dan Purdy

Project Lead