"Some places remember things better left forgotten."
Dagon's Call is a planned third-person investigative horror ARPG set in a fictionalized version of Eastern North Carolina during the mid-2000s.
The project combines:
- Southern Gothic atmosphere
- Investigative gameplay
- Survival horror tension
- Cosmic horror themes
- Psychological horror systems
- Grounded realism
- Environmental storytelling
The game is heavily inspired by:
- Call of Cthulhu
- Silent Hill
- Resident Evil
- Alan Wake
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
- Southern Gothic literature and folklore
Unlike action-focused horror games, Dagon's Call emphasizes:
- mystery
- atmosphere
- exploration
- isolation
- psychological tension
- dangerous combat
- investigative immersion
The horror escalates gradually from believable rural mystery into incomprehensible cosmic dread.
The game takes place in Eastern North Carolina including:
- New Bern
- Beaufort
- Morehead City
- Havelock
- rural coastal communities
- swamp backroads
- decaying industrial areas
- isolated churches
- fishing towns
- storm-damaged landscapes
The intended atmosphere is:
- humid
- oppressive
- melancholic
- eerie
- grounded
- authentic
The setting intentionally avoids caricature or parody of Southern culture.
The game prioritizes:
- immersion
- environmental storytelling
- sound design
- silence
- tension
- uncertainty
over constant combat or cinematic excess.
Players are expected to:
- search environments
- interview NPCs
- interpret clues
- revisit locations
- connect fragmented information
- question unreliable accounts
The player should rarely feel completely certain.
Combat is intended to feel:
- grounded
- desperate
- resource-limited
- brutal
The player is vulnerable.
Enemies should remain threatening throughout the game.
The unknown should stay frightening.
The game avoids:
- overexplaining eldritch entities
- excessive exposition
- generic "evil monster" storytelling
Lore is intended to remain:
- fragmented
- contradictory
- partially hidden
- unreliable
Phase: Pre-Production / Design Foundation
The project is currently focused on:
- worldbuilding
- gameplay architecture
- design documentation
- modular production planning
- vertical slice preparation
A modular project bible structure has been established to document:
- gameplay systems
- narrative
- factions
- NPCs
- combat
- investigation systems
- sanity systems
- world design
- Unreal Engine architecture
- production planning
- Third-person exploration
- Investigative systems
- Dangerous melee and firearm combat
- Resource management
- Environmental storytelling
- Psychological horror mechanics
- Dynamic weather and atmosphere
- Day/night progression
- Semi-open interconnected world design
Planned long-term systems include:
- grounded investigator character creation
- age ranges
- realistic body variation
- selectable backstories
- stat-driven dialogue variation
- profession-based gameplay modifiers
- psychological personalization
Customization is intentionally realism-constrained to preserve immersion and atmosphere.
A planned signature feature is a ring-style radial menu inspired by the project's original RPG Maker XP prototype.
Potential functions:
- inventory
- weapon selection
- tools
- investigation shortcuts
- occult items
- journal access
- Unreal Engine 5.7.1
- Prototype first
- Modular systems
- Vertical slice before expansion
- Placeholder assets early
- Scope control prioritized
- Gameplay feel before content scale
The repository is intended to function as both:
- a game project
- a modular design knowledgebase
Documentation is organized into granular folders covering:
- lore
- gameplay systems
- characters
- locations
- audio
- UI
- AI
- combat
- sanity mechanics
- Unreal architecture
- research references
- production planning
The long-term goal is to create a horror experience that feels:
- authentic
- immersive
- oppressive
- mysterious
- regionally grounded
- psychologically disturbing
rather than purely action-driven.
Dagon's Call is an original fictional project inspired by cosmic horror literature, tabletop roleplaying experiences, Southern Gothic storytelling, and Eastern North Carolina regional culture.
This repository currently represents an active long-term pre-production effort.
This project is currently in active conceptual and systems design phases.
Many systems, names, locations, mechanics, and narrative details remain subject to revision as development progresses.