Exhausted Man Crawls on PS5 and PS4 July 25 – Full Details on Movement Mechanics – PlayStation.Blog
Hi! I’m one of the developers behind Exhausted Man, an absurdist comedy about living in exhaustion that’s coming out on PS5 and PS4 on July 25. In the game, the main character can only crawl and do everything while lying down. You can see it in the trailer below.
Today, I want to tell you how I design such strange characters.
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It all started with one sentence: out of energy, became the subject of a game jam. I love participating in such events, because creating a game from scratch in 48 hours is a great way to relax.
Based on this theme, I came up with the idea of “people running out of energy” and built a simple character slumped on a couch. I posted a screenshot and got a lot of likes – not because of my modeling skills, but because of the resonance of exhaustion the character exuded.
I decided to make a game with this exhausted character – he couldn’t just lie on the couch, he needed to move. We’re all familiar with the feeling of our bodies when we’re extremely tired, standing up isn’t an option, so I made him crawl on the floor.
This crawling animation got even more likes. I tried crawling on the ground in real life and it hurt all over. But since people liked it, I kept it.
Crawl like a bug
To crawl, especially on walls, humans need to learn from bugs. First, we created a ladybug that can crawl on any surface in a 3D environment.
The character’s head can mimic the way a ladybug moves, but there’s still a long body behind the head to account for. What bug is like that? Caterpillars. So we implemented a feature called caterpillar bones, which anchors the body to the environment based on the position of the head. So when you see a person crawling in the game, it’s actually based on the inner workings of a crawling caterpillar.
Soft as noodles
For a long time, this character’s body looked like a normal human, with crooked arms and legs split in half. Although he could only crawl, he was at least somewhat human. Until our artist drew some promotional artwork.
We liked the artwork so much that we thought it was okay even if it didn’t look very human – after all, he was exhausted, right? So we broke each bone into little pieces, giving the character’s limbs the flexibility of noodles.
Energy state change
The main character needs to complete various events to achieve the night’s goal, and his energy state will change accordingly. For example, eating something will increase energy. After eating, the character’s head will glow yellow and they will gain speed and strength. On the other hand, when the character fixes the game, it will have the opposite effect. The character’s face will become haggard and he will start yawning a lot. The yawn bubble will also make the character fall asleep.
But no matter what the character’s energy level is, they’ll never get up! Exhausted Man launches on July 25 on PS5 and PS4. Can you help the poor sleepy protagonist get through the night?
