Blog #17
Week in Review
Welcome to blog #17. Another week, another chance to refine our craft. Lately, I’ve been honing the blockout for our haunted house intro area in the VR project, carving out space for those eerie vibes. On top of that, we introduced a new suspension bridge room—an area meant to test and showcase our redirected walking mechanic. Essentially, it’ll (gently) trick players into walking in unexpected patterns without them realizing it, which is both exciting and a bit nerve-wracking to get just right.
We also implemented some beautiful art assets: a metal grate from our animator Nathaniel Litvintchouk for the “hellevator,” plus the hellevator model itself by Ricky Soto Leyva. My week was dominated by a fair bit of production work—coordinating with the programming team on redirected walking, making sure the art and animation teams stay aligned on the visual side, sourcing a ghostly shader for our dancing ballroom characters (thank you, Mishal!), and working with Elon, our ever-resourceful tech designer, to figure out how in the world we get a VR pawn with no physics to play nice with an elevator.
On the left, we have the suspension bridge room. Its purpose is to serve as a testing ground for redirected walking, where subtle shifts in the player’s headset orientation will guide them through the space in non-linear ways. Over on the right is the final blockout of our haunted VR house. The lighting is still in proxy mode, but it’s already giving us a strong foundation. The idea is that players will have a moment to acclimate to VR in a suitably creepy environment before we throw redirected walking and more dramatic interactions—like a shaky hellevator—at them. We’re also planning to add some real-life “haptic” elements for extra immersion.
Above is the clown interactor who will be mocapped. On the left is his topology, and on the right is the skeletal mesh (Artist: Rich Bacallao). Over on the right is the hellevator blockout, which will transport the VR pawn between levels (artist Ricky Soto Leyva). We’re excited to see how the clown’s animation will bring a mix of the bizarre and the playful to our haunted setting, and the hellevator should add a jolt of tension—perfect for unsettling players just enough to keep them on their toes.
Plans for Next Week:
Gamelab VR Prototype
Keep plugging away on the redirected walking mechanic and aim for a smoother player experience. Getting the balance right is crucial; too much reorientation and we’ll leave players feeling dizzy, too little and it’s a wasted opportunity.
Capstone Forts
Bring the first fort (the impoverished Rat Kingdom) up to a playable state and schedule an internal playtest. Level design in a “rat kingdom” is a fun challenge—visual storytelling, pacing, and a cohesive objective flow all have to come together in one ramshackle environment.
Start constructing and iterating on the second fort (the mine-themed one) with clear objectives so players always know their next move.
Level Design Project Cleanup
Keep refining level layouts and objectives to ensure the experience is tight and well-signposted. It’s often the small tweaks—like nudging a spawn point or adding a gentle visual cue—that elevate the design from functional to truly engaging.
I’m looking forward to sharing how our first full playthrough tests go for the Gamelab VR project, as well as diving deeper into “Dillo’s” forts. Nothing beats witnessing a level transform from a jumble of blocks into a living, breathing space where players can get lost (in a good way). Thanks for sticking with me, and see you next week for more behind-the-scenes details!
