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Checklist complete, the player reaches the truck and escapes the outbreak.
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Scavenge the quarantine zone. Glowing pickups mark weapons and CDC emergency supplies on your checklist.
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The extraction truck’s lights cut through the fog. Get all six supplies before you make a run for it.
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A cured zombie stands frozen and tinted green: one vaccine dart takes it out of the horde for good.
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Chokepoints matter: a narrow, lit corridor funnels the horde straight toward you.
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Non-lethal only: cure zombies with vaccine darts and keep moving. Two hits and you’re infected.

Inspiration

The core idea for Spore Protocol was born from wanting to flip traditional survival horror and round-based zombie mechanics completely upside down. Instead of giving the player an arsenal to mow down the horde, we wanted to create a tense, non-lethal loop where the infected are both the threat and the tool. The inspiration was to use a "cure" mechanic—firing the pistol doesn't kill the zombies; it freezes them in place. This transforms enemies into physical roadblocks, allowing players to manipulate the horde's pathing, plug up choke points, and carve out safe traversal routes through the fog to scavenge supplies.

How We Built It

We built Spore Protocol entirely in Unreal Engine 5 using Blueprint visual scripting. The level was designed with spatial readability in mind, utilizing dense terrain and impassable tree clusters to create looping trench pathways. Because the AI relies on constant AI MoveTo logic without complex sight/sound perception, these narrow pathways naturally funnel the horde, maximizing the utility of the freeze mechanic.

The game loop centers on a HUD bound to the player's inventory state, tracking six specific CDC items (Water, Food, First Aid, Radio, Flashlight, Documents) via direct casting for optimal performance. The extraction sequence is governed by a unified boolean logic check acting as an AND gate when the player enters the extraction trigger volume:

$$W = \bigwedge_{i=1}^{6} I_i$$

Where $W$ is the win state and $I$ represents the collection of the six required supplies. Once validated, the blueprint immediately hides the player character and uses a Set View Target with Blend node to snap the perspective to a CineCamera positioned directly behind the Humvee. It then instantly deploys the final Win Screen UI to the viewport to lock in the victory.

Challenges We Faced

The biggest hurdle was engineering the extraction sequence within the strict time limits of the hackathon. Initially, we wanted to build a complex timeline animation with a full cinematic drive-off for the vehicle. However, managing the player controller, camera transitions, and potential mesh clipping proved too costly for our remaining time. To solve this, we had to aggressively scope down the sequence. We realized that a sudden, clean camera cut to a static shot of the Humvee, paired with hiding the player mesh and popping up the Win Screen, delivered the exact same sense of finality without risking game-breaking animation bugs right before submission.

What We Learned

This project reinforced the absolute necessity of scoping and the power of "smoke and mirrors" in rapid game development. We learned that a clean, simple transition is always better than a broken, complex one. We also deepened our understanding of UE5's camera blending systems, specifically how to properly pass Actor references to cleanly hijack the player's screen using CineCameras. Finally, we learned that level design—specifically using negative space and terrain to funnel AI—can be just as effective as programming complex enemy perception behaviors when racing against the clock.

Built With

unreal-engine

Submitted to

Knight Hacks IX

Created by

Level Design Contributions
The Containment Bowl: Sculpted the primary arena using UE5’s landscape tool, utilizing massive, steep ridges to create a natural, hard-boundary perimeter that traps the player and the horde without relying on invisible walls.

Trench Routing & Choke Points: Strategically packed the negative space with dense, impassable tree clusters to carve out distinct, looping dirt pathways. This layout directly exploits the horde's AI MoveTo logic, funneling enemies into predictable choke points to maximize the effectiveness of the player's freeze-shot mechanic.

Point of Interest (POI) Distribution: Spaced out the six CDC collectible items across distinct zones—clustering Triage Tents in the lower sections and utilizing a central structure to break line-of-sight. This forces the player to constantly kite the horde and utilize the entire map.

Atmospheric Wayfinding: Blanketed the arena in a toxic purple/blue volumetric fog, contrasted by the stark white headlights of the extraction Humvee. This created a massive visual magnet that naturally guides the player toward the final extraction zone without needing forced UI waypoints.Code & Blueprint ContributionsMain Menu UI Logic: Engineered the foundational blueprint logic and state management for the Main Menu widget. Wired all button event graphs to handle clean level streaming and application termination, while configuring the player controller to smoothly transition between UI-only and Game-only input modes and manage mouse cursor visibility.Extraction Logic Gate: Engineered the final extraction trigger volume using Blueprint visual scripting. The system casts to the player upon overlap and verifies the collection of all six CDC supplies (Water, Food, First Aid, Radio, Flashlight, Documents) through a unified Boolean AND gate:$$W = \bigwedge_{i=1}^{6} I_i$$Cinematic Camera Hijack: Programmed the cinematic transition for the win state. Once the inventory logic is validated, the blueprint instantly hides the player mesh (Set Actor Hidden In Game) to prevent clipping and utilizes a Set View Target with Blend node to smoothly snap the player's perspective to a static CineCamera component mounted behind the vehicle.Game State Lock: Wired the final execution chain to deploy the "Spore Protocol Complete" UI widget to the viewport and lock the player's controls, successfully wrapping the core gameplay loop without requiring a complex, bug-prone vehicle animation.

bayley hager
CrimsonKnight0926 Gonzalez
Ovidio Juan
Bakawi