Elkwood

VR horror game with a stalking creature in a forest. Made at CMU National High School Game Academy, summer 2026.

Engine: Unity + VR hardware
Made at: Carnegie Mellon University, National High School Game Academy, summer 2026
My role: Gameplay programmer; later producer

Overview

Elkwood is a first-person VR horror game set in a forest. A creature stalks the player — you hear it before you see it. Most of the design problem was pacing dread in VR: what makes a player genuinely tense in a headset, and what just makes them disoriented or motion-sick.

Trailer

Elkwood scene

Elkwood forest

Elkwood creature

Elkwood encounter

Screens from the VR horror build. Made at CMU National High School Game Academy, summer 2026.

My contributions

VR interaction and camera handling in Unity: tuning head-tracking responsiveness so the creature could feel behind you without inducing nausea.
Audio-driven tension: the creature announces itself through directional footsteps and breathing before it enters your sight.
Scene design and lighting choices to control what the player sees at any given moment. Most of the fear-work is what you can’t see.

Final presentation deck

Slides from the CMU National High School Game Academy final presentation. Click any slide to zoom.

Elkwood deck slide 1

Elkwood deck slide 2

Elkwood deck slide 3

Elkwood deck slide 4

Elkwood deck slide 5

Elkwood deck slide 6

Elkwood deck slide 7

Elkwood deck slide 8

Elkwood deck slide 9

Elkwood deck slide 10

Elkwood deck slide 11

Elkwood deck slide 12

Elkwood deck slide 13

Elkwood deck slide 14

Elkwood deck slide 15

Elkwood deck slide 16

Elkwood deck slide 17

Elkwood deck slide 18

Elkwood deck slide 19

Elkwood deck slide 20

Elkwood deck slide 21

Elkwood deck slide 22

Elkwood deck slide 23

Elkwood deck slide 24

Elkwood deck slide 25