My First Game Dev Journey: Week 6

After spending last week working on my script, fleshing out ideas, and developing the story and characters for my game, I decided it was time to dig deeper into the world I’m creating. To make the setting feel more believable and immersive, I wanted to research similar environments so I could really emulate the atmosphere I’m aiming for. 

If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you’ll know I’ve already started building my first level in Unreal Engine, an underground, historic, fantasy-inspired cave. So, to get into the right headspace and spark some inspiration, I thought: why not visit an actual cave? 

I originally planned to go to Cheddar Gorge, but during my research I stumbled across a smaller cave in the Forest of Dean called King Arthur’s Cave, which was much closer. And that was the deciding factor! 

But, since I promised to share the highs and the lows of this journey, this little adventure turned out to be a bit chaotic. 

My other half came with me, and I brought my MixPre-3 along, fully intending to record some natural cave ambience for my sound library. We arrived… and immediately walked in the wrong direction. For quite a while. With no cave in sight. 

So while trying to stay productive (and pretending to know where we were going), I decided to start recording some foley. Except… someone (yes, me) forgot to check whether there was an SD card in the MixPre-3. 

As you can imagine, I was quietly raging at myself. Lesson learned: ALWAYS double-check your equipment before driving an hour into the forest. 

But just as I was about to lose the will to live, my husband remembered that I’d left my camera in the car, with an SD card inside it. Honestly, I knew I married him for a reason. 

So, we trekked back to the car, retrieved the card, reset, breathed, and resumed the hunt for the cave. After a bit more wandering… we finally found it. 

Once I had the field recorder running, everything felt back on track. The cave itself was small, but it served its purpose, being in the space helped me think about how to add more naturalistic details and atmosphere to my game level to make it feel more authentic. 

While exploring the cave, we also stumbled across a tiny bat tucked up in

one of the corners. It completely lifted my mood after all the earlier chaos, and I even managed to capture some of its movement. It was such a small moment, but honestly one of the highlights of the day. 

Depending on how time goes, I might plan a trip to a larger cave to collect more sounds. But for now, I’ve got plenty to get on with. 

It wasn’t the smoothest week, but I’m learning as I go, and every step is helping shape the project.