In my last post on DATA labs I talked about starting work on the level again and fixing various things that bugged me about the 1.0 build... Well over the last few months I've spent a few days looking at a number of bits and bobs (technical term) and I'm happy to say the level is in much better shape than it was. I also made the daring move from UE 4.14 to 4.19, which is still fairly old I know, but at least we're moving forward and everything works. Today I spent some time rebuilding the FMOD snapshot system so it's a little easier to manage (and also now makes sense), I had a pesky issue with the rear office snapshot that is now fixed and sounding a lot more natural in the environment, swapping from the larger office space with fluorescent lighting to the darker more moody room at the back. I have yet to update these ambient environment sounds, but that's next on my list, as I feel they could be more interesting and a little less static overall.
The rear office has a few interesting things going on, firstly it's super dark and many people who've played the level never find the light switch (maybe I should look into that) and secondly it's got an interactive PA speaker / radio thingy that features a few different 'channels' you can switch between and enjoy at your leisure, a blueprint I worked on back in 2017 and I'm still really pleased with!
I also managed to fix an issue with the level's end sequence, which was as simple as applying a camera fade all along, and spent a bit of time amending some of the pop-up text which accompanies certain props in the different rooms of the level, but I think I'll soon be installing a custom typeface for this as the inbuilt UE 'Roboto' is a little round and fluffy for my liking. I'm also not sure I like the floating nature of the text, but it does fit with it's accompanying sound design quite well so it's staying for now.
One thing however, that has stopped working, is the emissive material on my coffee machine, which now looks rather dull. At least it still makes a sound when I press the buttons though...
There is a chance I'll be streaming some of my work on the project, if anyone is interested in watching then let me know! It's always good to get some fresh eyes and ears on your work, and I'm always open to suggestions, questions and comments.
Thanks for reading!
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