HUSK PLANET
Project Info
Genre: Third Person Narrative Puzzle
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Development Time: Work In Progress
Platform: PC
Task
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Visual Target for Vertical Slice
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Redesign Visual Target Level (Version 2) Based on Given Puzzle and Pre-existing Layout
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Blockout
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Set Dress
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Story Overview
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After arriving at the feet of the monolith, a sandstorm suddenly rises and blocks the path behind. From here, the player is forced to move forward. The robot companion guided the player into the entrance of the monolith, a huge structure that resembles a dome. Inside, it looks like what remained of a burned and abandoned grand archive. Curiosity rises when the player continues to explore further into the structure, discovering a huge burned corpse of a humanoid creature. Looking around, unknown Glyphs that look similar to what the player saw before are everywhere. Perhaps the player can find out what happened by deciphering those alien languages. Our robot companion seems to know something?
Core Objective
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Find out what happened and delve deeper into the monolith.
During the project's pre-production phase, I was tasked to set-dress an existing whitebox and make it ready for our team's vertical slice. It was meant to act as the visual target for our project. After conducting a meeting with artists, they have given me a rough concept of what the space might look like.
Visual Target Development Process
(Complete)
By Katie
The space I’m designing serves as the containment area for a major quest item—a book that teaches the player essential Alien Glyphs required to complete the level. Located within an ancient library, this place was once the dwelling of a man-made god known as the Fire Ascendant, a being of flame and forbidden knowledge. The book itself reveals the anatomy of both ordinary humans and the Ascended.
Given its significance, I envisioned this area as a visually striking and sacred space, distinct from the rest of the level. Before starting, I gathered reference images to align with my team’s vision and ensure it matched their expectations.
This is the first version of the visual target I created. At this stage, I wasn’t entirely certain about the desired atmosphere, so I relied on my instincts and my understanding of the Fire Ascendant’s backstory.
Afterward however, I feel this might be too much on the eye. And since we are using filter, it might be better to have something that is more simple.
I am really happy how it turned out. And later the art team finished applying post-process and textures. The environment looks more rough and abandoned. The end result looks really on spot in my opinion.
After the vertical slice, I suggested to my team that the existing whitebox needed a rework for the project. However, I was given specific constraints: the new whitebox had to closely follow the pre-existing layout, and I was also provided with a puzzle design to incorporate.
After reviewing these requirements, I created a new level design document, which included an updated layout.
Fire Library Development Process
(Still In Progress)
I also added an exterior area to let players observe the outside environment—reminding them of their origins and reinforcing that the sandstorm shows no sign of fading.
To help my team visualize it better, I created a rough concept sketch of the environment in Photoshop.
After getting approval, I started making the whitebox while also implement the visual target into the current level.
The whitebox gets approved and is later set-dressed by other level designers. After a round of playtesting, the team gathered new feedback, with a few prominent issues emerging:
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Players struggled with navigation, often unsure of where to go.
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Key items were not obvious enough, leading to players missing them.
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Certain elements obstructed player vision.
To address these problems, I proposed several potential solutions and requested approval to implement them. My proposed fixes include:
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use tones to differentiate between non-objectives and point of interest.
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Using lighting to guide player attention.
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Removing unnecessary assets to improve spatial clarity and prevent visibility issues.
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Adding visual indicators to interactable objects.
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Applying unique designs to key items to emphasize their importance.
And aside from adjusting those, I also add more detail/assets to make the space feel more consistent.
