AI-generated questions about the article, answered by the developer.
1. You mention that this narrow curved path has multiple layered challenges—wind, timing restrictions, and the threat of falling. How did you arrive at this specific combination of mechanics? Was it designed all at once, or did you iterate by adding constraints one by one?
The article describes a multi-layered obstacle with wind, speed penalties, and death from falling. Understanding the design process reveals how complexity is built in platforming challenges....
I initally had an idea to make a narrow edge in a storm. So it was designed up-front.
I knew I wanted the wind-direction, a storm and a cloudy side-area.
2. You created the path using a bezier curve in Blender before bringing it into Unreal. Why did you choose to build it in Blender first rather than using Unreal's built-in spline or landscape tools?
The article details a workflow starting with Blender bezier curves, then exporting to Unreal. This technical choice suggests specific reasoning about control or workflow efficiency....
I make all my levels in blender, even the larger block-outs. I quickly itterate in engine with a simple button click to walk around and look at scale. Then I continue to make most of the detailed 3d models in blender. Once im done with a leveldesign i start adding extra details in-engine. The built-in tools in Unreal still have some way to go.
3. There's an interesting detail where you mention players get 'pushed back if you walk too fast.' Can you explain that mechanic? How does walking speed trigger the pushback, and what was the design intent behind punishing speed in this particular obstacle?
This counterintuitive mechanic where speed works against the player is mentioned but not fully explained, making it a fascinating design choice to explore....
It's a constant physcial push in the winds direction, so you have to move carefully not to run or you will fall off.
4. You say 'sometimes you kinda forget what it takes' before listing all the technical steps. When you're deep in development, do you find that the technical complexity can overshadow the simple player experience you're trying to create, or does it enhance your appreciation for it?
The article reflects on the gap between the simple player experience and the extensive technical work behind it, touching on the developer's perspective....
It can sometimes be tempting to use your entire design-toolbox that you built up over the years to create a new challenge. At first sight its fairly simple, but then as you get into it there are a lot of moving parts.
5. You mention playtesting questions like 'is the curve too small to large' and 'can you crouch up that ledge?' What did you discover during playtesting that surprised you about how players approached this curved path?
The article references specific playtesting concerns about scale and exploitative movement, suggesting iteration based on player behavior....
During the inital playtests and the smaller playtests we got a sense of how you move around the world as a player. Only real suprise how you could break some colliders when constantly wall-hugging everywhere.
6. The obstacle includes a full storm system with clouds, lightning, and directional force. How much of that atmospheric system is purely visual storytelling versus functional mechanics that actually affect gameplay?
Given the studio's 'Atmosphere First' philosophy and the detailed storm system mentioned, this explores the balance between aesthetics and function....
It is not strictly mechanical, mood also affects how you play in the moment to moment gameplay. But yes the functional mechanic is mostly physical pushing force the rest is the environmental storytelling and scene.
7. You describe this as 'explorative platforming' as part of a larger level. How does this storm-swept obstacle fit into Lunar Soil's overall design philosophy of non-combat puzzle exploration? Does it represent a departure into more reflex-based challenges?
The article positions this as a platforming challenge in a game described as puzzle-focused with no combat, raising questions about genre mixing and pacing....
We have a lot of platform-based obsticles in the game now, far more then complex logical puzzles, rocket jumping and platforming can sometimes be more fun then trying to solve a directional light puzzle. We have both but have over the year slightly progressed towards more platforming challenges.
8. You enabled Nanite and complex collision shape detection for this curved path. What specific benefits did Nanite give you for this particular obstacle, and were there any challenges getting the collision to work properly on a curved, narrow surface?
The article mentions specific Unreal Engine 5 technical features, suggesting deliberate choices about modern rendering and physics systems....
We use Nanite for basically all 3D-meshes in the game as a standard pipeline.
That lets us have complex shapes when needed.
For collisions you usually only apply thighter polygon shaped colliders when you really want to have detailed colliders, and we do want that for a narrow edge you can fall off.
