Wronged Us is an upcoming indie horror experience featuring a twisted story that unwinds in a dark open world full of exploration, monsters, and shady characters. All of this was made possible with the capabilities of Unreal Engine and its approachability for devs—both new and experienced. This upcoming Silent Hills and Dark Souls-inspired survival horror game by Delusional Studio doesn't have a release date at this time, but it's expected to release in the future on both PC and consoles.
Game ZXC spoke with Wronged Us' solo dev Sohail Khan about his experience designing his first game using Unreal Engine and why he would recommend other solo devs and small teams use it, too, when setting out to make their own games.
How Open-World Survival Horror Game Wronged Us Takes Advantage of UE5
First developed by Epic Games 25 years ago in 1998, Unreal Engine has since become one of the most ubiquitous game engines on the market. One of the most enticing features of Unreal Engine is that it is a free tool that is available for anyone to use to make a game. Not only is the program itself free, but it also offers a myriad of free assets and free classes on how to use their engine all on their website making it a powerful tool for all game developers of any level.
The accessibility of Unreal is no joke. Its reliability has made it a great go-to for many AAA studios, boasting titles like Fortnite and Kingdom Hearts 2 which have used Unreal Engine to bring the games to life in the past. The tool has been fundamental for independent projects as well, including games like Stray and Hellblade 2, with a UE5 tech demo of the latter making quite a splash at GDC 2023. While being a great tool for those with plenty of design experience under their belts, its streamlining of certain features has made it a great entry point for new devs into game design and allowed them to make some impressive games right from the get-go.
"Unreal Engine's accessibility and user-friendly interface made it easy for me to achieve my goal. The blueprint visual scripting is my favorite feature because of how intuitive it is."
Delusional Studio is an example of one of these indie game studios using Unreal to bring their creations to life. Even though it's the studio's first game, it already looks quite impressive. Khan credits Unreal Engine with having a lot of features that make designing simpler for devs who are starting out. One capability he noted was the engine's blueprint feature which allows for pre-scripted actions to be put directly into the game without the need for additional coding—a huge benefit for those who are maybe less strong in programming.
Khan also mentions that Unreal's marketplace was huge in the design of Wronged Us, and it stands out as another one of his favorite features of the game engine. Unreal's marketplace offers an impressive catalog of free game assets that can be dropped right into one's own game as is, or they can be further modified to fit the exact design that one is looking to achieve—perfect for helping Khan achieve that Silent Hill-inspired atmosphere of Wronged Us.
"My favorite feature is the monthly free asset releases, and I also appreciate that developers continuously update their assets to ensure they remain relevant and useful."
Khan is not the only developer to share their love of Unreal Engine, either. Previously, Game ZXC spoke with several indie devs who have shared their experience working in Unreal Engine, echoing the sentiment that the software allows developers to save time, be more efficient, and create impressive games regardless of one's previous background (or lack thereof). Dan DeEntrement of viral hit Squirrel with a Gun is one such dev who shares these feelings about Unreal, mentioning the same features as Khan, as well as others like character remapping which allows for taking character animations from anywhere and applying them to models in Unreal Engine without needing to mocap or animate from scratch.
Unreal Engine continues to be a great tool for developers, whether they have years of experience in the field or are just starting out. The range of tools the engine has to offer makes game design efficient and accessible for those who wish to make games. Additionally, because it's a free tool with plenty of community tutorials, the barrier to entry is quite low, allowing almost anyone to begin learning how to design games whenever they wish.