Water Basin Escape
Description
The Water Basin Escape is a three-step puzzle I designed and built in Unreal Engine 4. The goal of the puzzle is to figure out how to access the door at the other side of the room. I began by developing an initial concept on paper. From there, I proceeded to verbally playtest my concept with a few people and updated my design based on the results of the playtesting. I then built the puzzle in Unreal Engine 4 and made it fully functional using blueprints.
Video Walkthrough
Development
Initial Concept
Design Goals
To develop a puzzle that would require the player to complete 3 steps in order to open a door
To design a situation that would be very intuitive to the player
To have an increasing difficulty curve for the 3 step process
Design Methodology
The puzzle is set in an empty water basin to make it evident to the player that they will need to fill the basin in order to reach the door on the other side
The 3 pipes lining the wall indicate that the puzzle has 3 steps
The first pipe only requires the valve to be placed on its socket and turned in order to activate
The second pipe is slightly more difficult in that its socket needs to be oiled in order for the valve to activate the pipe
The third pipe is the most challenging in that the socket appears to work as its supposed to, but the water will not flow unless the player has unclogged the pipe at its spout
Initial Puzzle Diagram
Verbal Playtesting
Playtesting Goals
To assess the difficulty of the puzzle
To evaluate whether any of the puzzle’s aspects were too easy or too challenging
To determine if the puzzle met the initial goal of being very intuitive
Playtesting Results
The decoy tools just led to frustration and made the puzzle more confusing than intended
Feedback to the player such as modifying the rotation of the rusty socket is very important to help the player determine how to solve the puzzle
The Tool Room
In-Engine Revisions
Design Adjustments
The length of the room was increased to give the player more room to move
The depth of the water basin was increased to reinforce the fact that all 3 pipes would need to be activated
The width of the room was left as is to maintain the right claustrophobic feeling which encourages the player to want to escape from the room
Lights were added above each of the pipes to clearly indicate whether they had been activated or not
Wireframe View
Scripting
Design Goals
To use UE4’s blueprint system to add complete functionality to the puzzle
To provide the player with the freedom to activate the pipes in any order
To create the blueprints in a modular way to improve readability and efficiency
Possible Improvements
Dedicated assets for the doors and the pipe light indicators to communicate their function more clearly
A fully developed inventory system to vastly improve the control system and not require the player to remember individual buttons for each tool
The UI and feedback to the player could be improved to aid with the overall experience
Sound effects could have been added to improve the dank and dim atmosphere of the puzzle’s setting
Blueprint Snippet
