Meicen Zhou

Ecliptica Town

Ecliptica Town is a third-person narrative-driven detective game where players investigate the theft of the Moonlight Gem. As the Project Lead and Game Designer, I managed cross-functional teams to bring this 3D mystery to life. Players explore diverse town locations to gather clues and interrogate four key suspects. The technical highlight is the integration of Generative AI. NPCs dynamically react to the player, remembering past conversations and altering their responses based on presented evidence, transforming traditional static dialogue trees into a living, highly reactive investigation.

“The idea sparked from a research paper on AI agents simulating human behavior, which I wanted to adapt into a 3D mystery game. We worked under a tight timeline to rapidly polish the environments and visual effects. I discovered that balancing unpredictable AI with a structured detective plot is incredibly challenging, but that is exactly where the game design lies. Leading this project was a growth experience for me as a designer.”