'Ang Ospital' is a Pinoy-made horror game about anxiety, insanity, and human evil

Turn off the lights, put your headphones on, and pray you've got nerves of steel. 

"Ang Ospital" is a first-person survival horror game set in a dilapidated psychiatric institution. It's got blood and gore. It's got long hallways shrouded in darkness, and shadowy figures on the prowl. It's even got a dude running around with no pants.

The game was developed by Underdog Games, a team of students from the Computer Studies Department of the University of Caloocan City. It's their thesis project, one of the final requirements for their Bachelor of Science in Entertainment and Multimedia Computing – Major in Game Development and Design course.

While "Ang Ospital" is still in its beta form, its creepy atmosphere and solid scares are already winning over fans. It currently has its own Reddit thread and has even been featured by streamers.

In the mouth of madness

"Ang Ospital" takes us to a mental institution in Baguio. Built in 1920, the hospital was shut down in 1979 after reports surfaced that its staff performed experiments and other acts of horrific abuse on patients.

Fast-forward to the present. Kate is a young woman suffering from anxiety disorders and Nyctophobia (extreme, irrational fear of the dark) due to years of abuse at the hands of her now-deceased father. One day, her friends invite her to a ghost hunting trip in Baguio, which takes them to the aforementioned mental hospital.

The good news? The hospital isn't haunted.

The bad news? The hospital is now populated by murderous psychopaths.

You'll be playing the character Kate and one of your main objectives is to find out what happened to your friends. Your ultimate goal, however, is to survive and escape the hospital.

As you're an ordinary human being, you'll have to rely on stealth to ensure you don't end up getting disemboweled by a bloodthirsty killer. That means hiding behind or under objects, using the shadows to conceal your movements, and sneaking past enemies. The enemy will chase you as soon as they spot you, so get ready for intense, cat and mouse moments.

Because of Kate's poor mental health, anxiety plays a role in the game.

"The anxiety mechanic is your indicator of whether or not you're in danger," said Underdog Games team leader and lead programmer, Roland John Serrano Pilar.

"For example, if you see the enemy, or you're in the shadows, the anxiety mechanic will trigger." This will cause the screen to blur, distorting your vision. It can also make Kate hallucinate sounds.

You therefore have to (1) make sure not to stay in the dark for too long, and (2) lose your pursuer as quickly as possible. Because the greater your anxiety, the more drawn the insane killers are to you.

"Ang Ospital" currently boasts the following main antagonists: Elmer Sigua, a.k.a. The Patient; Silvia Barredo, or The Nurse; and Pedro Cruz the Maintenance Guy.

Creating "Ang Ospital"

The seeds of "Ang Ospital" were planted when Roland realized the horror genre wasn't represented too well in the case studies and thesis exhibits at his school.

"I wondered why all I kept seeing at the exhibits were shooters and adventure games," he said.

This was when Roland first considered creating a horror game for a thesis project. He researched on various topics the game could revolve around, eventually settling on the abandoned psychiatric hospital theme. Then, he looked for fellow students with whom he could work. And Underdog Games was born.

Underdog Games agreed to set their game in Baguio, "because that's where most ghost hunting trips take place," explained Roland. They opted to make stealth the game's chief mechanic, as it "adds tension to the player." They also decided to name all the game's characters after themselves.

Developing "Ang Ospital" required considerable effort.

"It takes many hours to program," said Roland. "I can be on the PC for 12 hours straight each day just to achieve the perfect tuning of codes and the A.I.'s movements." As lead programmer, Roland is the team's expert on Unity – a game engine many developers use to create games.

Of course, developing a video game also entails level design, wireframing, scriptwriting, character modeling, animation, user interface design, and more. Everybody in Underdog Games had a lot of work to do.

Underdog Games was given only eight months to finish the beta version of "Ang Ospital." But finish it they did.

Underdogs rising

Roland explained the story behind the name "Underdog Games."

"Our course is the black sheep," he said. "(Other people in our school) look down on the course because it's new; they say it can't keep up with Information Technology, Computer Science, Information System." Thus a word Roland feels describes their group was chosen: underdog.

But these underdogs proved themselves. They not only finished the game's beta version and passed their thesis, they've also begun to amass a following of gamers and netizens who've been impressed by their work.

Underdog Games is happy with how "Ang Ospital" turned out. Roland is particularly thrilled with the anxiety animation, describing it as "really beautiful and smooth."

He's also proud of the fluid A.I. "It's smart, it can detect you when your anxiety is at full blast, it patrols, it can look for you in random places, it can open lockers," said Roland, adding that it took him four months to finish the coding for the A.I.

The team believes they couldn't have accomplished so much without the support of the heads of their thesis group: UCC's Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dr. Bernadette B. Enriquez; and Department Chair of the Computer Studies Department, Dr. Teodoro A. Macaraeg Jr.

For now, the game is only available to a select few. After graduation, however, Underdog Games will develop "Ang Ospital" into a full game that everyone can play. The plan is to create a new hospital complete with redesigned levels, introduce new game mechanics, add six new chapters, and polish various elements such as the story.

"I'm actually keen on pursuing game development," said Roland. "I love making games. Even if I end up spending half a day working nonstop on the PC. As long as I can get the game to run, I'm happy."

Underdog Games is Roland John Serrano Pilar, John Roque Cabrera Albaniel, Katelyn Diane Ybañez Ayop, Kenneth Bien Imperial Mamaril, John Froilan Soriano Defuntorum, and Carlo Maristela. — LA, GMA News

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