Navigate a dark labyrinth as a rat using a custom shader-based vision system in this 3D puzzle-platformer.
Result: Top 20 out of 255 teams — StartGate Jam 2025
Made and tested with Unity 2022.3.62f3
You play as a rat in a nearly pitch-black maze. You can see your immediate surroundings passively, but to reveal the rest of the layout you need to use your "sniff" ability — a sonar-like expanding wave that temporarily illuminates the environment. Collect cheese to progress and upgrade your vision capabilities.
Coming soon
- Custom Post-Processing Shader: Three-layered vision system simulating rat sight:
- Passive Proximity: Constant-radius view with falloff around the rat
- Active Pulse (Sniff): Player-triggered expanding sonar wave
- Memory System: Revealed areas stay visible for 2-10 seconds (upgradeable)
- Dual RenderTexture Buffer: Decay shader passes on two RenderTextures for memory visualization
- Edge Detection: Depth and normal sampling to highlight environment boundaries
- Upgrade Progression: Six vision presets (Very Poor → Excellent) — proximity radius, pulse range, and memory duration scale up