End Screen/Credits
In line with our 80s Sci-Fi theme, inspiration for the end screen came from the opening and credits sequences of the Star Wars Series.
Example 1
Example 2
I set up a trigger box that would play the widget, which was scrolling text I created signifying the end of the game in the player's victory. When this finished I had an animation play every 3 seconds, setting a new binding for the role and person name for each credit. Then, I showed a simple end screen where the player could restart or return.
However, this end screen was removed from the final version of the game for reasons that were not shared with me.
Splash Screen
Inspiration for the logo came from the swanky, vaporwave aesthetic that is closely linked with the 1980s, in the form of a sleek, neon font.
The intro was created through a level sequence that had one of our creatures spin through a transform action, before calling a widget, which begins as a team logo before having a fade-to white that calls the main menu upon completion. This was done in order to set the aesthetic of our game early while having a seamless transition to the main game, with positive feedback from the team.
Death Screen
Inspired by the death animation of Super Mario 64 in creating a sense of fear around the main villain, I made the death screen resemble the alien. I first created a design in Adobe XD around our palette.
I then generated a zooming animation that fades in, with a black background appearing on arrival at 1x scale so the corners can't be seen, while playing a SFX of the alien's laugh. This was then added to the death widget, with a delay of three seconds added so the animation can play out before the player respawns.
Logo
Inspiration for the logo creation came from other 80s Sci-Fi logos, and I decided to take from the metallic look and the clash between colours.
Next I decided to use blue and pink to represent the alien’s two heads and the traditional colours of a "male/female" couple in representing them.
This was achieved by applying a gradient overlay of dark blue to white to pink with an emboss applied over it, before applying an outline that had another gradient overlay applied to create a metallic effect resembling these logos.
Opening Cutscene:
As Unreal does not have a simple "Play MP4" function, I created a File Media Source of the cutscene made by an animation student in a separate level and made it a Media Player variable in the level blueprint, so that the level recognizes it as something that's there.
I then made the Media Texture a Mat, before applying it to the widget image. Through the widget, I isolated the video's audio and played that in synch with the movie starting. On completion, I set a delay before bringing up the loading screen and introducing the player to the level.
Skip Cutscene/Loading Screen
The loading screen was done similarly to the animated portraits, through a material flipbook that checks for columns and rows.
This becomes visible as the cutscene ends, and lasts for two seconds before the level opens up. This gives visual flair to any potential staggering that may occur with level loading, so the player isn't stuck on a blank screen.
Additionally, I set up a "Any Key" function to hide the cutscene and stop the movie, as well as a popup at the beginning of the screen to show you can do that, in order to have an option to skip the cutscene. This takes the player straight onto the loading screen.
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