Remembering Hue
“Remembering Hue” is a Third Person Exploration game created my me and a group of 6 other teammates. PaintGirl is thrown forth into grief after the loss of her painter mentor, Hugh, at the beginning of the game. PaintGirl must traverse through her own mindscape of grief in order to bring color back to her world. All the while, she must avoid “grievals”, ink monsters manifested by her negative emotions.
This project allowed me to thrive in my focus areas of level design and sound design, while also being able to do other work such as 3D modelling and game design. My team and I are actively continuing development. We have an Itch.io page that we will be posting development updates on, which can be found here!
Remembering Hue Trailer and Gameplay
The Process…
Level Design
When beginning the level design process, my teammate and I had to make sure the design we made fell in line with mechanics and themes we had discussed as a group. We knew we had to accommodate for each mechanic, including the red jump pad, orange crate, yellow catapult, green bridge, blue puddle, and purple door. We also knew our aesthetic was an abandoned city because we wanted to reflect PaintGirl’s grief in her environment, especially since this is all happening in her mind.
We started off by making a top down map with pencil and paper. We focused on incorporating design philosophies into our process to standardize each level and make them more consistent with each other. We agreed that each level needed at least 2 to 3 zones, and that each zone would involve necessary exploration to progress to the next zone. We also agreed to have puzzles in each zone to make the player think about how they can use their palette to use interactable objects in different ways.
Our biggest challenges were dealing with framerate issues and pivot point issues on certain assets. The framerate issues were mainly from the shear volume of assets being loaded at any given time. We fixed this by changing our shadow settings to very low and changing other lighting parameters. The pivot point issue was with our modular building models. We learned how important it is for modular models to have pivot points that are perfectly snapped and centered on grid before exporting to a game engine.
Through playtesting we feel that we were very successful in creating an environment that provides varied areas and gameplay opportunities.
Modular building pieces used in Level 1.
Top down map of Level 1
Sound Design
With Remembering Hue, I created the main theme, level soundtracks for the intro level and level 1, and a score for the intro cinematic. I made all music and sounds in FL Studio. With the music of this project, I wanted it to match the emotion of grieving while also having a light and hopeful tone. I also wanted an element of mystery to the soundtrack as the player is discovering PaintGirl’s mindscape for the first time. Within the main theme you can hear piano, strings, and a music box. I also added layered synth pads to give extra dynamics to the theme. In my mind, the piano represents Hugh and PaintGirl’s memory of him, while the music box represents PaintGirl’s innocence. I made sure to incorporate these motifs in the other tracks of the game.
Additionally, I made sound effects for the game. This includes painting action sound effects, jump sounds, footsteps, grieval sound effects, pickup sound effects, and other ambient sounds. I used a mix of free sounds from freesound.org and samples I recorded myself. For every sound effect I would take multiple sounds and layer them together to output an entirely unique and new sound. I use techniques such as compression, phasing, flanging, automation, and EQ to bring sounds to life and cut out any abrasive/muddy frequencies.
Animation + Intro Cinematic
I also made the intro cinematic for the game. This cinematic sets the tone for the player at the beginning of the story and gives implicated plot details. I started working on this by making a fully fleshed out story board that captured each essential frame of action. I then blocked out the scene in Unreal Engine with the level sequencer. I used Maya to animate PaintGirl, then exported those animations into Unreal Engine and was able to call them from within the level sequencer. I made the score for this scene in FL Studio. I made sure to keep the sound consistent with the other tracks I had made.
In terms of animation, on top of the cinematic I also did PaintGirl’s run and walk cycle animations. I created these in Maya as well.
2022 Development
Following the first semester of development in Fall of 2021, my team member, Travis, and I set out to continue development ourselves as part of our honors capstone experience at William Peace University in Spring of 2022. We aimed to add level 2, new 3D assets, a new pole vault mechanic, and a new pickup item called “white paint”. We also intended on presenting our work and promoting the game at East Coast Game Conference in April of 2022.
Travis and I worked together on making a top down map for level 2. We aimed to keep it consistent with the size and scope of the first level, while also adding new mechanics and gameplay scenarios. Aesthetically, level 2 is different from level 1 because it is set in a courtyard area that has a forest perimeter. Our thought with this idea was to show that as PaintGirl copes more with her grief, the world around her also livens up and becomes more abundant with nature rather than industrialized architecture.
By the end of our Spring 2022 semester we were able to create a fully white boxed version of level 2. We were able to incorporate some of our new 3D assets and we aim to fully fill this level with final 3D assets over the course of 2022.
I was tasked with creating the new pole vault mechanic in the game. This mechanic is only unlocked once the player reaches a certain point at the beginning of level 2. It takes up part of the player’s “red paint” resource, which prevents them from being able to abuse the mechanic.
I started with creating the animation in Maya. Once I created the animation, I imported it into Unreal Engine and made it an animation montage. I specified in Unreal for the animation to only effect the bones from PaintGirl’s spine upward. This way, I was able to blend the animation over top of any other animations playing in the state machine using a “Layer blend per bone” node. I also added particle effects to PaintGirl’s brush and feet once she propels herself for added effect.
I was also tasked with making the “white paint” pickup item. For this, I simply made a paint droplet model in Maya and exported that into Unreal. Then, I used a Niagara System in Unreal to propagate instances of that same droplet model in unique ways. I ended up using a point attraction force in tandem with curl noise forces and other forces to achieve my desired effect. I also layered this effect with a floating particulates Niagara System.
2023/2024 Development
Oak City Indie Games Showcase 2023
I had the fortunate opportunity to showcase Remembering Hue at the Oak City Indie Games Showcase in 2023 with my teammate Travis. One of our artists Kristen also helped us in creating stickers and banners for the event! We received valuable feedback and took notes on the playtests we observed to improve the game!
2024 Updates
The Hub World
The Hub World is an ethereal space where Paint Girl’s memories and emotions emerge from. This space is where the player can upgrade their skills, reminisce on Paint Girl’s memories of Hugh, and choose the next level to go to. She comes back here after the completion of each level. A tree resides in the center of this void-like space, growing with Paint Girl as she goes through her journey. Skill upgrades will be visually represented on its branches. The player will upgrade by talking with the Grieval Merchant at the base of the tree and trading White Paint that can be collected throughout exploration of levels.
Below are videos showcasing the visual development of the Hub World so far. I’ve created new custom “Prism” materials in Unreal for the environment, the Grieval Merchant, and the Skill Tree. The Skill Tree is a custom model that I created and imported. You’ll also hear a new music track in the background that I made for the Hub World to give it a more ethereal and mysterious mood.
Hugh’s Spirit Orb
In-game, Hugh will be represented through a “Spirit Orb”, which will pop up at pivotal moments to either inform or help the player. Hugh will give hints if the player is stuck, and will also be found in the Hub World providing important information to the player. I created a new material for Hugh’s Spirit Orb that looks like a swirl of white paint with prismatic elements inside of it. We want to show visually how white paint is the addition of all colors. I also created some new particle systems for the perimeter of the spirit orb along with a ribbon trail for Paint Girl’s paintbrush.