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Late Night Manifest

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Late Night Manifest

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As Marco, you wake up to a reality where the world shrouded in darkness, forcing you to fight for survival while seeking answers in abandoned darkness.

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Basic Pocket System

7 Mar

Hello everyone!

It’s been about a month since my last devlog. During this time I’ve made significant progress on the core gameplay mechanics of the game.

First of all, thank you very much to everyone who has taken the time to read these updates and added the game to their wishlist. Your support really means a lot and helps motivate me to keep pushing the project forward. We've reached 5,000 wishlists so far. With your support, I believe we can go much further.

In this devlog, I’d like to walk you through the latest mechanics that were added to the game.

Recently, I implemented three basic mechanics:

Aim Mode
Basic Pocket (Inventory) UI
Collecting Items in the World

Item Discovery & Inspection

Items can now appear throughout the game world. You might find them:

on the ground
inside cabinets, storages or fridges etc.
or hidden in various locations across the map.

When the player approaches an item, an action prompt appears (in the video it’s the E key). When you press the action button, the character can inspect the item.

During the inspection screen you will see options like Collect and Back.

You may notice that these options display controller buttons. Don’t worry too much about that for now, I’m currently testing controller support as well, since the game will be fully playable with a gamepad.

When you choose Collect, the item is added to your pocket inventory.

Pocket Inventory System

Players can open the inventory by pressing TAB(for Desktop).

The character can carry up to 6 items at a time, so inventory management will be an important part of the gameplay.

These items can be:

objects the player can equip and use
or important items that must be carried for progression

Items that can be equipped will appear in the top-right equipment slot area of the inventory UI.

However, the player can only equip one item at a time.

Aim Mode

Another mechanic added is Aim Mode.

When the player presses Q, the character enters aiming mode. However, if the player is not holding a weapon, the character will not enter this mode.

While aiming:

the player cannot walk
the player can aim around and shoot

Weapons won’t be the only items the player can hold in their hands. The game will also feature various electronic and mechanical devices/tools.

These devices will be used dynamically throughout the game to solve puzzles and interact with the environment.

Development Plans & Playtesting

My current plan for development is the following:

Once the demo reaches a stable and %80 completed state, I will begin playtesting. I will make a separate announcement when the playtest phase begins.

After the playtesting phase, the demo version of the game will be released.

Thank you again for your support and for following the development of the game. More updates coming soon!
By the way, the music you hear in the video was composed by my sister, who recently completed her Master's degree in Digital Music in Texas. She will be creating the soundtracks for the game.

Here the full video of devlog mechanics:

Late Night Manifest

The First "Morning"

4 Feb

Hey everyone! First of all, thank you for adding my game into your wishlist. I'm doing my best to create a game worthy of everyone who adds it to their wishlist. Every day, during my morning walks, in my mind, I do pre-feasibility studies on the game's story and the mechanics I'll add.

At the moment, development is on the interior of the house. I’ve started building small, subtle interactions inside this space, nothing flashy, but elements meant to ground the player and slowly introduce the tone of the world. These early moments are important to me, because they set expectations before anything is fully revealed. From a narrative standpoint, the overall structure of the story is mostly in place. Without going into spoilers, the game follows Marco; an ordinary lumberjack living a quiet life in a trailer park. One "morning" he wakes up to find the world profoundly changed. What exactly happened, and why, is something I want players to uncover gradually rather than be told outright.

As the game opens up, Marco will be able to travel between different locations by car. Movement between areas is intentional and grounded, with travel playing an important role in how the world is experienced. The first chapter will allow players to visit several distinct locations, including his home, a deserted gas station, a forest, a mine, an abandoned mansion, and underground sewer areas.
Regarding the style of the game, PSX-style games (some insist it should be PS1, but the term PSX is now clearly established) – those low-poly, low-tier-looking graphics and mechanics – are concepts that truly hold a place in our lives. I discovered that many of my close friends and I, including myself, prefer playing retro games, as they evoke some of the joy we felt in our childhood. So I wondered why there shouldn't be games of this type. Today, there are still very few games like this. But by joining communities and developing such games, I aimed to preserve this culture, even if only a little.

Also, the game is built entirely around fixed camera angles. The camera does not follow, rotate, or adapt to the player. Every shot is composed deliberately, and the world never adjusts itself to you including during travel, where movement is tied to the car rather than free camera control.

I will be sharing a short video showcasing some of the small interactions inside the house, as these moments represent the foundation of the game’s pacing and atmosphere.

Another point I want to mention is that I want the game to be a bit more community-driven. There will be other characters in the game as well. I'd like to add the names of the players who are following the game now (if they want, of course; many of my friends have already wanted to add their names and faces to the game). Of course, it might be a little early for that, but I wanted to say it now.

More updates soon and thank you for following the project!

Late Night Manifest

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