The Resistance

Aliens who hate music come to Earth to deal with their noisy neighbors.

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Inspiration

Our latest update for The Resistance was directly inspired by the incredible engagement and valuable feedback from our players since launch. We aimed to deepen the progression experience and create highly shareable moments, all while maintaining the game's signature lighthearted humor.

What it does

Influenced by the desire to deliver a truly impactful narrative moment, we focused on evolving the core loop of item collection into a dramatic, multi-stage Final Quest Unlock.

How we built it

  • Building this update involved leveraging Horizon Worlds' robust tools for custom 3D model integration and scripting.
  • We used Figma to plan out what our custom UIs will look like, and how the final quest unlock will behave. Then with those ideas, we implemented it in Horizon Worlds.
  • This was a collaborative effort, with Natalia's creative direction and custom assets, Tek's environmental and sound design, and Eldon - scripting it all alive.

Challenges we ran into

Art

  • Our biggest challenge was managing the world's capacity, given its richly designed landscape, custom 3D assets (enemies, weapons and environment). This was particularly evident in the Final Quest, where we needed to spawn over 50 drones simultaneously.
  • Our solution to overcome this was by implementing LODs (Levels of Detail) for enemy drones, strategically utilizing dynamic lights only in impactful situations like emergency sirens, and adding visual detail with PNG images for elements like the Radio Tower's wiring, ensuring high fidelity without compromising performance, especially for seamless mobile play.

Programming

  • Developing an intuitive UI from the moment the user enters the game to the end was a key focus. We needed a better way to explain what the items are without requiring a bunch of explanation from SGT StraightHand or forcing players to read a lot of text from the board. We decided to replace the number of items collected with actual images of the items. If an item is collected, its grey image changes to a colored one.
  • Another problem was avoiding UI clutter on the screen. During the final tower unlock, we wanted to add a timer and new text explaining the player's next goal. Instead of adding more text, we faded out the item images and faded in the timer. This made sense because, by that point, the user knows they’ve collected all the items, so we no longer need to show them.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We've poured in tons of updates to make The Resistance even more engaging and to deepen your sense of accomplishment (which we are super proud of!):

  • Revamped all item UIs for clarity, making actions more intuitive for mobile play and see your progression.
  • We've made items easier to spot and added clearer directions with new visual cues like arrows, ensuring accessible progression for all players.
  • New missions and stronger enemies. Get ready for a fresh challenge in Missions 3 and 4!
  • Once you've collected everything, a new quest unlocks with an updated Quest UI, driving your progression forward!
  • There's a new Radio Tower in the center of the level, acting as a clear objective to help you track your item collection. You can then see a satisfying unlock moment when you drop off all your items at the tower. You won't want to miss them for the best video moment
  • 10 new humorous audios added to SGT Straighthand when your XP reaches level 2 or more! Creating even more funny moments
  • Plus, show off your victories on our new media board, a perfect spot to capture and share your memorable moments!

We are super proud of these new updates. We hope you enjoy playing it as much as we enjoyed developing it!

What we learned

  • Community input continues to be our greatest resource. It gave us insight into where progression felt flat and where players craved more emotional payoff.
  • Designing a multi-stage Final Quest taught us how to pace dramatic reveals and player rewards to sustain engagement through a longer arc.
  • Navigating world limits pushed us to refine asset fidelity and lighting techniques, unlocking smoother performance without compromising atmosphere.
  • The fusion of creative direction, environmental storytelling, and tight scripting showed us how essential cross-functional flow is in building compelling experiences. We gained deeper confidence in Horizon Worlds’ capabilities, learning how to stretch its toolset and unlock greater design freedom.

What's next for The Resistance

The next chapter is all about scaling up the stakes while tightening the emotional core the Resistance’s lore will deepen with interwoven character backstories, branching dialogue, and unexpected betrayals. We would like to

  • Start introducing dynamic faction alignments players can earn reputation.
  • Unlock exclusive gear, weapons and alter mission outcomes based on their chosen alliance.
  • Introduce different landscapes/levels based on player actions.
  • Radio Tower sabotage
  • Drone crashes
  • Weather anomalies these won’t just be set pieces, they’ll leave lasting imprints on the world.

We're planning to host a behind-the-scenes session showing how the world was built, with Natalia, Tek, and Eldon sharing workflow secrets and community tips.

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