UE5 Survival-Horror Game — Looking for an Experienced Unreal Developer
Hi everyone,
I’m a beginner Unreal Engine developer working on a single-player third-person survival-horror game in Unreal Engine 5, and I’m looking for someone with more experience in UE5 who might be interested in helping me develop it.
I’m not looking for someone to simply make the entire game for me. I want to learn and build the game myself, but I currently don’t have enough experience with Unreal to know how to properly set up some of the more complicated systems.
The Game
The game is a grounded, cinematic survival-horror experience inspired by the atmosphere and gameplay philosophy of games like The Last of Us Part II, while having its own story and characters.
The player takes the role of Evan Payne, a soldier sent into an abandoned skyscraper during a storm to find a scientist named Dr. Voss.
The building has 46 floors, with the main playable sections taking place across the lower floors and later upper floors.
The game focuses on:
- Exploration
- Stealth
- Scarce ammunition
- Close encounters with infected
- Environmental storytelling
- Notes, documents and recordings
- Darkness, rain, thunder and lightning
- Tactical but vulnerable movement
- Limited weapons and resources
- Cinematic story moments
- Multiple endings
There are three main infected types:
- Normal infected
- Army infected
- Armoured infected
There are no traditional boss fights. The goal is to create the feeling that anything could happen at any moment.
Opening
The game begins with Evan being dropped off by helicopter during a storm.
He rappels into an alley, enters the abandoned building and begins searching for Dr. Voss.
The first infected encounter is intended to be something the player can approach in different ways rather than simply being a scripted jump scare.
Gameplay
I’m aiming for movement that feels:
- Grounded
- Heavy but responsive
- Natural
- Vulnerable
- Tactical without feeling like a military simulator
- Suitable for stealth and survival horror
The player will eventually have:
- Walking
- Jogging
- Sprinting
- Crouching
- Prone/crawling
- Stealth movement
- Leaning/peeking
- Climbing/vaulting
- Rifle combat
- Pistol combat
- Knife takedowns
- Weapon handling
- Reloading
- Injury reactions
I’m currently looking into professional animation packs and building the character around those rather than trying to create every animation myself.
Where I’m At
I’m using Unreal Engine 5 and currently working with a custom military character.
I’m still learning Unreal, particularly:
- Blueprints
- Animation Blueprints
- Animation retargeting
- Character movement
- AI
- Level design
- Unreal’s overall workflow
I’ve already started working on the project, but I’m reaching the point where I would really benefit from someone who understands UE5 and can help me avoid building things incorrectly.
Who I’m Looking For
Ideally, I’m looking for someone with experience in:
UE5 / Blueprints / Character Animation / Gameplay Systems
Experience with any of the following would be especially useful:
- Animation Blueprints
- Retargeting
- Motion Matching
- Character locomotion
- Third-person combat
- AI
- Zombie/infected AI
- Interaction systems
- Optimisation
You don’t need to be an expert at everything.
I’m primarily looking for one experienced Unreal developer who is willing to work alongside a beginner and help me learn, rather than someone who simply takes over the project.
Paid or Collaboration?
I’m open to discussing both.
If someone is interested in collaborating on the project, I’m happy to discuss how we could structure that.
I’m also willing to pay for specific pieces of work or mentoring where appropriate.
I don’t currently have a huge indie-studio budget, so I’m not looking to hire a full development team.
Long-Term Goal
The eventual goal is to make this into a proper finished indie game, with PC and potentially PS5 as target platforms.
I’m aware that this is a big project for a beginner, which is exactly why I’m looking for someone experienced who can help me approach it properly rather than trying to rush through everything.
If you’re interested, feel free to comment or message me.
I’d be happy to show you what I’ve already built and explain the project in more detail.
Thanks for reading!