A FORGOTTEN STAR
GAME & LEVEL DESIGN
Action Adventure Whitebox
Unreal Engine 5.4
Maya
4 weeks
Solo Project
ABOUT THE GAME
MAIN FEATURES
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One-level experience set in an ancient Incan temple designed around exploration and discovery
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Gradual onboarding that introduces mechanics step by step before layering in complexity
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Interactive systems including pressure plates, movable boxes, and rotation-based mechanisms
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Progressive difficulty across puzzles, platforming, and enemy encounters to maintain engagement
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Sightline-driven design and environmental storytelling that guide players naturally through the space
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Optional mirror & light puzzle that rewards observation and curiosity with hidden secrets
Design Voiceover
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Click on the name of a section to jump there!
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Designing and whiteboxing the level, creating a clear and engaging flow that supports both exploration and puzzle progression
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Building encounter spaces and puzzle arenas that balance challenge with readability, giving players intuitive cues for interaction
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GAME DESIGN & DIFFICULTY PROGRESSION
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Developing and balancing mechanics for platforming, puzzles, and environmental interactions
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Designing challenges that increase in difficulty progressively, rewarding observation and experimentation
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Implementing puzzle mechanics, enemy AI, and player interactions in Unreal Engine
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Integrating audio cues and feedback systems to reinforce puzzle solutions and guide player behavior
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Modeling and UV-mapping whitebox meshes in Maya for the temple environment
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DESIGN CHALLENGES
BALANCING OPTIONAL VS. MANDATORY MECHANICS
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Goal: Make the light & mirror puzzle a meaningful part of the level without creating frustrating backtracking if players miss an early step.
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Solution: I introduced the mechanic through a short mandatory sequence early on, then made later uses optional. Sightlines and environmental hints (mirror placement, light beams) remind players of its presence, so observant players are rewarded without blocking progress for others.
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Takeaway: Not every creative mechanic works best as mandatory. Optional systems can add richness and replay value if introduced clearly and framed as discoveries rather than roadblocks.
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CLARITY VS. MYSTERY IN THE TOTEM SEQUENCE PUZZLE
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Goal: Create a memory-based puzzle with colour-coded pressure plates that challenged observation without being too obvious or too confusing.
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Solution: Early versions lacked direction, leaving players unsure whether to read the sequence top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top. I iterated by adding an arrow to show direction, adjusting sightlines, and refining resets until the puzzle felt intuitive while still requiring deduction.
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Takeaway: The best puzzles strike a balance: clear in their clues, mysterious in their solution. Playtesting proved vital in finding that “aha” moment sweet spot.
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DIRECTING ATTENTION WITH LINE OF SIGHT
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Goal: Guide players naturally toward puzzles, paths, and interactable objects without relying on heavy-handed tutorials or UI.
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Solution: I used deliberate sightlines, scale, and environmental contrast to draw the eye. Modeling and UV-mapping in Maya ensure consistent proportions and texture cues, helping players read jumps and spot interactive objects. Iteration focused on balancing visibility with exploration.
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Takeaway: Treating the camera as the player’s eyes reinforced how powerful sightline work is in shaping flow. Subtle visual guidance reduces frustration while preserving a sense of discovery.
Level Design
PLATFORMS & VERTICALITY
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The temple is structured around large platforms connected by bridges, creating a clear sense of progression. Varied elevations and branching paths add player choice while also reinforcing the climb toward the final chamber, making the level feel expansive but navigable.
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LINE OF SIGHT
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Sightlines are carefully designed to guide attention naturally. Bridges and landmarks frame key objectives, while geometry direct players toward interactive objects. The optional mirror & light puzzle relies heavily on this: light beam and especially the mirrors remain visible across areas, subtly reminding players of its presence without requiring direct prompts.
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PACING & FLOW
​The level alternates between calm, exploratory sequences and more demanding encounters. Early sections introduce mechanics in safe spaces, letting players experiment before gradually raising the stakes with enemies, vertical challenges, and puzzle complexity. This ensures difficulty feels fair while maintaining engagement throughout the ascent.
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STEALTH & PLATFORMING
Stealth and traversal are layered in gradually. Platforming challenges start simple before incorporating height and timing, while stealth sequences begin in low-pressure areas before culminating in more demanding patrol-based challenges. These systems reinforce the temple’s theme of discovery, encouraging players to observe, plan, and act with intention.
Game Design & Difficulty Progression
The level introduces mechanics gradually, combining platforming, puzzles, and light enemy encounters to teach the player without overwhelming them.
Early sequences guide players through simple interactions like pushing boxes and using pressure plates, establishing foundational understanding before combining these mechanics into more complex puzzles.
Platforming sections and enemy encounters are designed with forgiving layouts, checkpoints, and clear visual cues, maintaining a balanced pacing that encourages exploration and problem-solving.
Optional elements, like the light and mirror puzzle, reward observant players while remaining non-blocking, reflecting lessons from the Design Challenges section on clarity versus optional discovery.
Later puzzles layer mechanics together, requiring players to combine movement, object interaction, and light reflection to progress. The level scaffolds difficulty by gradually increasing sequence complexity, introducing memory and observation challenges, and encouraging creative solutions.
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By structuring the level in this way, players experience a coherent progression in difficulty and strategy, aligning closely with the onboarding and gradual discovery goals outlined in the About the Game section.
Blueprint Scripting
This project was my first experience with Unreal Engine’s Blueprint system, which I used to implement all puzzle logic, interactive objects, the AI enemy, and certain sound elements.
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The most complex system is the light and mirror puzzle, where players rotate mirrors to reflect a beam and unlock hidden paths. While the implementation could be further optimized, the current setup effectively prototypes the mechanic and demonstrates functional interactions across multiple objects and triggers.
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Through scripting these systems, I gained hands-on experience in translating level design ideas into interactive gameplay while learning how to manage dependencies and visual logic flows within Blueprints.
3D-Modeling
I modeled all level meshes in Maya, excluding the player and enemy character models, and UV-mapped each asset. Larger platforms and objects were scaled to match a 100x100 cm texture grid, providing consistent visual cues for size and proportion. This approach supports clear player perception, simplified the level layout, and would ensure a smooth hand-off for future 3D-asset work beyond the whitebox stage.
Reflection & Learnings
PLANNING AND EARLY INSPIRATION
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I learned that spending more time on moodboarding, reference gathering, and concept exploration at the start would have made later modeling and whiteboxing smoother. Jumping straight into development sometimes made iteration slower and more time-consuming than necessary.
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IMPORTANCE OF PLAYTESTING
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Playtesting proved invaluable for identifying pacing issues and gauging player understanding of puzzles and mechanics. In future projects, I will organize more frequent and structured playtests to refine interactions and ensure players enjoy the experience while learning intuitively.
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DEVELOPMENT IN UNREAL ENGINE
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This project was my first time fully designing and prototyping in Unreal Engine. Working with Blueprints, especially for the light & mirror puzzle, was challenging but rewarding. I gained a pretty good understanding of Unreal’s systems, learned to prototype efficiently, and developed skills that will improve both speed and quality in future projects.
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PROTOTYPING AND ITERATION
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The mechanics and interactions I implemented serve as functional prototypes that communicate gameplay ideas clearly, even if not fully optimized. This reinforced the value of prototyping early, iterating consistently, and balancing ambition with practical constraints.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
A Forgotten Star strengthened my ability to design and sequence puzzles in a way that teaches mechanics gradually while maintaining player engagement. The project gave me hands-on experience with level design, line-of-sight, and pacing in a single-level experience. Working entirely in Unreal Engine and using Blueprints for the first time also helped me develop practical skills in prototyping a bit more complex interactions. This project reinforced the importance of clarity, player discovery, and iterative testing, lessons that will directly inform future level design work.