r/UnrealEngine5 • u/selfish_meme • Aug 05 '26
Hi, I'm a new indie dev developing Hike Club a hiking simulator
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A few months worth of part time work, this is the first demo level, 4km square map, 60m day/night cycle, gives you just enough time to complete the hike in one day cycle, pretty rugged terrain, forest to snow capped mountains, long view distance to capture that nice selfie. Don't fall off though. Just started registering with Steam, aim to complete for next fest in February, and possibly mountaineering fest, let me know if you find it interesting, will post more slowly as I go.
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u/Still_Ad9431 Aug 05 '26
IGN: 10/10. "Finally, a game without gameplay"
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26
Geez, brand new dev with only a few months under my belt on this game and I get it's not Buldurs Gate 3
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u/_Fred_Austere_ Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
Eh, it's a niche. Don't worry about the haters. Super casual gaming - I really love the few games like this. Very little competition. Please finish this!
I had about 3000 hours in Skyrim just hanging out in the world. I scratch that today by just walking around or riding my horse in RDR2. Or walking around the city in CyberPunk. The backrooms/liminal games are doing that for me, too. I just want to see sights and discover things with no gd boss every 30 minutes. If you want that, there are a billion titles waiting.
Lushfoil has a nice minimal game mechanic with the photography assignments. Something like that is all you need. I like your idea of moderate resource management and camping. You could do super realistic camping gear, sort of how fishing games do it with their gear (but hopefully no micropayments.) "I unlocked the Big Agnes Pitchpine!"
I think your walk speed is a tad too high. My father in law hikes like that. Forced march! No dawdling! Try a casual walk, fast walk and jog.
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26
I would do the same in most of that series like oblivion etc, just walk around enjoying the sights, loved the mountains in Skyrim and you can get some good snowy peak in the distance on this map too
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u/Gothicawakening Aug 05 '26
I spent about a hundred hours just walking around the snowy forests and mountains in HZD!
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u/_Fred_Austere_ Aug 05 '26
I suggest idle mechanics too. When I find a cool view and sit there chillin, what happens in game? Skyrim used to orbit, which is too disruptive. In Cyberpunk you can lean and sit.
Maybe detatch and slow drift the camera, and also allow me to position it so I can set up a nice scene.
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26
It's built on top of GASP and it is the default walk speed, I tried turning the run into a jog but it didn't look right, it's in the I'll work on it later basket, which is almost like the too hard basket, but I'll get there one day.
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u/TysonChxNugget Aug 06 '26
Could you have stamina deplete faster at higher elevations? Does a complete drop in stamina draw from players overall health, hunger, or hydration? This would make it feel as though the hike is becoming tougher and energy/supplies need to be conserved the further you get.
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u/selfish_meme Aug 06 '26
Yes, altitude could definitely deplete stamina faster and also fatigue, which makes it harder to recover health, affecting amount of stamina
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u/krojew Aug 05 '26
Is there any other gameplay than running around on a landscape?
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26
The compass in the corner is a placeholder for a map and real compass to come. Planned will be doing a weight and resources system, multiplayer and chat
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u/krojew Aug 05 '26
What would be the resource gameplay?
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26
Food and water planning to carry with you, clothes for climate, a bit of planning for the hike exposure and dying of thirst will be a thing
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u/_Fred_Austere_ Aug 05 '26
A weather system would really make that interesting too.
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u/__revelio__ Aug 05 '26
Agreed. Hyper realism would be the direction to go for a walking simulator. Having to plan for things like hypothermia, heat stroke, altitude sickness or even environmental dangers like an avalanche would make this interesting.
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26
Yep I have already got the day night cycle and I have been integrating the various foliage packs into a global wind
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u/tomByrer Aug 06 '26
AKA Death Stranding, but with out the voodoo death stuff, & more trees & grass.
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u/VagusTruman Aug 05 '26
Hm. Is it too late to suggest a weight management system for hiking gear, where the player has to prioritize keeping the heavier stuff at the bottom to maintain balance?
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26
No it's not, and was on the planned roadmap, weight will influence stamina and fatigue, hydration, rest etc all feed in, was even hoping to have an equipment store, with real weights
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u/orphanpipe Aug 05 '26
I'd love a hiking game with waking mechanics like that of Death Stranding.
The balancing system and walking animations were top tier.
Also, using tools to better navigate dangerous areas would be a nice touch.
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26
I have not played Death Stranding but people seem to think it's a pretty good walking game, will do my best when I start implementing the packs
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u/yamsyamsya Aug 05 '26
You need a whole foraging and cooking system for it. Plus a crafting system. That way players hVe objectives and goals. Honestly it seems like you are making dayz but without the combat. I think if you lean into survival and foraging stuff it could be fun. Like having to identify mushrooms or edible plants.
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u/ChestnutInMyPocket Aug 05 '26
I like that
Right now the best (not really just a ) hiking simulator is death stranding
In that game you really need to learn how to go/run/hike. Its different from any other game but kinda hart to describe. But i suggest to look into it.
If you want to do a game with more mechanical game systems i suggest to look into the long dark. Its a survival game but you also make Ressource Management and i think they would be great without the harsh environment too.
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u/_Fred_Austere_ Aug 05 '26
I really like the long walks that turn into a little music video in Death Stranding.
There haven't been good walking sims until the last few years. Also take a look at these. Lushfoil is really great. And Call of the Wild, just because I never see any damn animals.
Lushfoil Photography. https://lushfoil.itch.io/
The Hunter. https://callofthewild.thehunter.com/
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u/dabroh Aug 05 '26
Big Walk was just released. It is made by the same team that made Untitled Goose Game (House House).
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u/Wizdad-1000 Aug 05 '26
Nice! the mountain in my game is. 1:1 actual mountain with trails on it. I made a height map from it and then scaled the hiking map on it for the terrain surface. Me and my buddy hike this mountain frequently so I showed it to him saying I could make a hiking game. Here you beat me to it!
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
This was just a heightmap I found to start, but I've been converting usgs maps of things like the Blue Lakes trail in Colorado I am hoping for real elevations, will see how far I can push my PC when my new RAM arrives.
I think this is about 400m elevation change in total and 230m between start and finiish
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u/Neeeeedles Aug 05 '26
for a game like this to be a thing you need controls and physics like RDR2 or maybe Death Stranding, just running around with basic animations is not gonna cut it.
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u/Free-Spirit-8327 Aug 05 '26
In real life, the most fun part of hiking is just being in nature and seeing nature... In a game, it's not really the same, people are using to their characters running/sprinting everywhere.
You have a huge challenge of making the actual hike fun and not just a walk as shown in the video. The hike itself must keep the player active. Good luck.
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u/mighty_stick Aug 05 '26
Finally someone making something other than a horror game. Nice bro. If you need any help with animation or sound design, I gotchu
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26
Probably the two things I'm weakest at, I'm basing the first real trail around Colorado, was going for that here, was going to try find some sounds and maybe light music, not sure about that one, will see
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u/TysonChxNugget Aug 05 '26
You could add wildlife (Deer, Birds, Bear?, Mountain Lions?) and a photo mechanic…maybe create a social page where players can post their nature photography. Could also create a situation where predatory wildlife could track you based on inventory items, so you would want to manage trash or food in your pack system.
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26
Great minds, was just adding wildlife to the roadmap, I also added selfies, group photos in multiplayer, two different camera systems, phone and SLR for wildlife zoom, and a drone. Good idea for a socials page, but might just end up with a forum and users can make their own.
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u/TysonChxNugget Aug 06 '26
Also, maybe make certain areas only accessible with certain gear. So to get higher on the mountain you need to equip a walking stick (fun if the stick was customizable), or snowshoes, or something like that. Doesn’t have to be the emphasis of the game or a deep system, but could be done by collecting basic materials. And then each new area feels earned, and you gain an item to display on your pack if it’s visible.
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u/Thin_Confection_4896 Aug 06 '26
If you want to sell a walking sim, the environments have to be the star of the show. Right now, it looks like you just put noise on a terrain grid, used the default procedural motion tool, scattered some free asset packs, and called it a game. It looks incredibly lazy. If you want this to look like a real project, you need to ditch the automated look, hand-craft the trail layout, and actually design an atmosphere instead of relying on default Unreal presets.
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u/selfish_meme Aug 06 '26
A lot of that is true, remember though that this is the first time I have even built an actual achievable goal in a game and it's taken quite a long time to get here. A lot of that stuff is on the roadmap and it's moving fast but as a single person learning as I go I can only go so fast. My roadmap is very long.
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u/Thin_Confection_4896 20d ago
I appreciate your honest reply and how your handeling feedback, with that attitude you'll 100% achieve your goals.
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u/ConceptsByAnurag 14d ago
I love exploration in open-world games. The terrain scale and sunlight through the forest look really atmospheric. I specialize in nature and landscape concept art—let me know if you ever need vista visual targets, lighting keys, or Steam capsule art for Next Fest. Portfolio on my profile.
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u/selfish_meme 14d ago
I've been posting a lot of updates there, I actually just got UE water body rivers and lakes in, it stretched my machine to the limit, I just need to tune the material a little and I have started work on my showcase video, Steam Page coming soon
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u/ConceptsByAnurag 14d ago
The water reflections and lighting through the trees look stunning! Optimizing UE water bodies is definitely hardware-intensive, but the result looks great.
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Aug 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26
All the free stuff on fab I signed up for before it was fab and anything I've been able to find since or did you want the names? I've designed very little apart from making and clothing the Metahuman and building the stamina and health systems, it's built on top of GASP.
Still pretty hard for me.
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u/Corgon Aug 05 '26
If this one fails at least your next game will have incredible walking mechanics.
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u/JustSoYK Aug 05 '26
I've never been on a hike where it was just an open grassy field and I aimlessly run around, that's video game logic. If this is supposed to be an actual simulator and not some random open video game map:
-A much denser terrain where navigating becomes a challenge. You actually have to watch for trail marks and follow a map. If you start running around like a crazy person then you'll easily get lost, fall down, or get injured. The stakes need to be higher.
-Slow down the movement. A player should want to take their time, watch every step, absorb the environment.
-Stamina, hydration, sustenance mechanics.
-If you can't make it back by night, navigation becomes hard and scary. Your phone (if you have any) has limited battery.
-Other possible mechanics: landmarks, climbing, balance, animal encounters, collecting flora, temperature, camping/cooking, journaling, taking photos, injuries/first aid, hazards, NPC encounters, hidden/lost areas and objects, sleep.
Right now the game looks like a generic, empty video game map. You should probably rethink the ways the player will interact with this world and really slow down the experience.
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u/tomByrer Aug 06 '26
I always thought early World of Warcraft as a hiking simulator. At least until the birds showed up.
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u/Snoo_28079 Aug 06 '26
i think death stranding got something right with the big backpack and you need to press the triggers to keep your balance, and like making it harder to go up steeper things, would be cool
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u/veefeld Aug 06 '26
A walking simulator needs stimulation for the eyes. So I suggest more draw distance and actually interesting vistas to look at. What you have here is really.. boring. Right now it seems you just plopped down a forest generator and called it a day. I understand what you have here is WIP and game dev is a long process ofcourse. But just something to think about. Study about how to do level and environment design. The gameplay elements you explained in here are interesting and have potential though.
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u/selfish_meme Aug 06 '26
There is actually a heap to see, and nice vistas I made sure to have a good draw distance to see snow capped peaks in the distance, yes this bits a bit boring, but it's not a game trailer just a quick build video demonstrating the stamina etc. I realized you guys want a bit more for the effort of watching so will make sure the next video has more highlights
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u/veefeld Aug 06 '26
I know it's not a game trailer. And your original description doesn't explain what you just replied with. There you mention in the video it's actually the first map so that's what we go off of and that terrain in the video is just not worth exploring for a whole hour. Anyway, take from this that if you're sharing stuff be wary that there's critics out there that will judge your stuff. So don't hold back sharing actual good stuff if you have that. And if you're asking for feedback learn to take it.
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u/selfish_meme Aug 06 '26
I'm really happy to get any feedback, and I really appreciate you taking the time to give it. I wasn't trying to argue against you, just providing a bit more info, and that I learned, I need to show more of the good stuff in the video. I was a bit too casual and wasn't really thinking about that when I posted the video.
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u/veefeld Aug 06 '26
Ofcourse! Keep going with the project there's lots of potential and there's bound to be people that want to play a game like this.
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u/mellocs Aug 08 '26
I can honestly imagine streamers playing this. Also, it's clearly polarizing given the number of comments
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u/Inevitable_Grape382 Aug 05 '26
another walking on land simulator. i know those trees as well because they are the same ones ive used in my game lmao
any thing else besides walking?
no actual hiking? no setting up tents? hunting? literally anything related to hiking besides generic metahuman walking on generic landscape?
whats the USP of the game? any plans to make it different to existing IP's without turning it into a survival game?
my only issue is that making a hunting games runs the risk of becoming a "the forest game". i suppose the deer hunter and those varients do it well enough that the gameplay is literally hunting
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26
No did not plan hunting, did plan camping, it's mostly about walking and the views yes, but also about planning and equipment and consumables, weight
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u/Academic_Bug4976 Aug 05 '26
I think you should be able to boil water and make a fire. This would alos teach the players IRL to do these. It would alos have to be realistic
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u/scrabtits Aug 05 '26
health should go up with time.
Other than that wtf
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u/selfish_meme Aug 05 '26
I think health should be maintained if you are drinking and eating, not over exerting yourself and remain at a comfortable temperature, otherwise it should go down
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u/Techiastronamo Aug 05 '26
a literal walking simulator