Dev Log 3 - 11/30/2025

Introduction

This is it, the final edit of the game I've been working on all semester. It's crazy to think how far we've come since my very first post, now not only is there a full level, but it's fully skinned, with music and sound effects, lighting and Niagra systems, a main menu screen and more. So let's get into it and see what all has changed since the midterm.

Lighting

Overhead lighting-  I built all of the overhead lighting to be rect lights so when visible they would have a similar rectangular look to modern buildings. The floor being slightly reflective shows off this well as a point light I feel would have made it look a little older like a single lightbulb instead. The rect lights also allowed more control in how much was lit up meaning I could light up the entire level more cleanly and with less overlap. I also lined up all of the lights so they worked in a grid pattern, mimicking real life lights in places like office buildings.

Cover lighting- When deciding what I should create all of the cover to be for the player to hide I ended up going with an asset pack with lighting on all of the different models. I thought that would be a good tell for the player to understand to hide behind those items specifically as they are slightly glowing, standing out even more than they already do for the player.

Materials

Walls- The main walls have a custom material that's meant to be a dark gray to give a clean but not too sterile appearance to the environment. The first room you are in though is from a specific sci-fi materials pack to make the room feel like a broken down service elevator that the player has snuck into the get to the level they're currently entering. There's also a wall with text on it by the first set of doors to help amplify the idea that the steel wall is important somehow, and sells the idea that it's another elevator or waiting room of some sort.

Doors- I made the doors out of a metallic material so they could look more like elevator doors or big metal sliding doors, bringing in more of the sci-fi flavor I wanted the game to have while also keeping them visually distinct so the player knows to go to them to see what they do.

Floor-I used a gray material to keep the floor looking clean like the rest of the environment but also make it visually different from the walls and ceiling so the player can stay oriented and it helps the room from feeling like a small box.

Cover- The cover is a dark metallic black with blue glowing pieces inside. This keeps it very visually distinct from the rest of the level while also allowing them to feel grounded in a sci-fi reality. Keeping them so distinct allows the player to quickly understand that these are things you can hide behind and are important for the stealth aspects of the gameplay.

Audio

Footsteps- The player has a variety of footsteps that plays whenever they move, there's 7 different step variations that will be picked at random every time their foot hits the ground. This plays quietly so if nothing else is going on you can hear it, but it stops when the player crouches, signifying that the player is now sneakier and quieter in this state.

Sliding door- The sliding door has a metallic sound when you hit the hitbox, or when you leave, meaning that both when the door opens and when it closes it plays the sound of something metal sliding across a floor. This adds more immersion to the gameplay and adds more sound throughout the players playthrough.

Bubbling lava- The lava has a low heavy bubbling sound that plays when you get close to it, this plus the bubbles added visually to the lava help sell the fantasy that you're parkouring over dangerously hot lava.

Background music- Throughout the game there is a looping music that plays, the song itself is about a minute and a half long so it should be plenty long for a player to get through the entire game without it needing to loop, but even if they do take their time it still can loop seamlessly and won't be too jarring to the player. There is also background music for the main menu that plays from the moment you load in, adding some more atmosphere to the UI of the game as well.

VFX

Spark- At the very beginning of the level there's a spark that plays when the player starts the game, this spark helps sell the idea that you're in a broken down service elevator and allows for some fun visual addition to the very start of the game.

Bubbling lava- I also added a niagra system of slow growing bubbles that glow orange to help sell the idea of dangerous bubbling lava. I wish it looked a little more real but if I made the effect 3d I feared it would make the player assume that it was also a danger to watch out for when it wasn't.

Post Processing

Exposure settings- I shifted around the exposure settings of the post process to keep the level feeling dark so the player can feel like they're sneaking around with a bit more safety. I didn't change too much else as I feared it would interfere with the clean sci-fi feel the level itself was meant to have but keeping the level a bit darker did add a lot to the stealth game aspect.

UI

Main menu- The UI is one of my proudest achievements when it comes to the game. I was able to build another level to run the idle animations of the player character under a spotlight. I also added an audio cue to bring in some background music (The music is not shown on the video unfortunately but it should run as soon as you launch the game!) and viola a simple but dynamic main menu that shadows out the settings (still hasn't been built) and the load save file if you haven't played the game yet.

Final Thoughts

All in all, I'm rather proud of this product. There are things I wish I could have done better, but I think I've learned quite a bit and at the end of the day, growth comes not from our successes but from our failures. I think through this project I have seen a lot of growth, and I'm proud to look back at where I started from to where I am now and see all of the progress I've made. I think I was successful in a lot of areas of my game and I think I've found some new passions in areas I didn't even know I'd enjoy working in. I'm a bit sad to see this project end, but I'm excited to see what opportunities it opens up for me in the future.