Painting Panic

Game Type: First-Person Adventure

Role: Solo Designer

Painting Panic was a fun project to work on. I definitely enjoyed working with render targets. Looking back, I wish I would have done a few things differently. This project was made in one month, so I had to work quickly to ensure it would be done by the deadline.

The dialogue with the brothers should have run off of a delayed for each loop. I also wish that I would have used a line trace for the interaction rather than player collision. These were valuable learning experiences, though, and I have a better understanding of certain systems within Unreal.

Here is a video that showcases the mechanics of the level:

Within level design, I love making multiple branching pathways. Personally, I am not a fan of the "golden path" approach. I believe that no matter how many paths are in the game, they should all be golden.

I love playing a game multiple times and finding new things after taking a branching path. That is how I approach level design, and this level perfectly showcases that. While the level is small, there is a lot packed in that players may not discover on their first playthrough.

Another element that I love in level design is hidden narrative. If you tell a player exactly what is happening in the world at all moments, then they will not care. Instead, you should focus on letting them discover the important secrets on their own. It will let players feel a sense of accomplishment. That was the approach I took with this level.

Here is a video that showcases the level design:

I made all of the paintings by myself, and I am happy with them. They all have unique pieces of dialogue when read. While it took a lot of time, I think including these added a lot to my design. They also provided good environmental storytelling.