Killer Karnival
About The Game
In Killer Karnival, players find themselves trapped in an abandoned amusement park at the mercy of three killer clowns who engage in a nonstop hunt to track down the player. Using their wit, determination, and puzzle-solving abilities, players must traverse the hazardous night fallen carnival while avoiding these clowns at all costs. Running, hiding, and distracting the clowns are all essential for players to keep themselves from being the carnival’s next victim.
My Role
As the Lead Designer in Killer Karnival I am responsible for making sure all aspects of design are correctly planned and implemented​. I focus on bug testing the game to make sure assets are implemented, and make design prototypes for feedback amongst the group until one is the most appealing before moving onto development stages. In this project I specialized in UI design and level design. I ensured all the the UI menu's function correctly across scenes using both PC and XBOX controller. I also implemented the blueprints for the UI menu's for proper functionality with navigational elements and settings elements that tie into the overall experience of the game. While in level design, I was responsible for protoyping and implementing the entire section in the game known as the Hall of Mirrors. Once the prototype was finished it was all a matter of good communication among the group to tell the artists exactly what assets were required then that was all passed to me to be implemented in-engine. There is also a more detailed list of my tasks here, and my contributions in this project further down on this page through both text and visual content. If you would like to reach out to me head over to the contact page which is easily accessible through the right button on the header.
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Tasks (Design):
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Manage the Design team to ensure success and that everyone is on track to complete tasks on time.
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Level design planning with the other designer to map out new puzzle areas, such as the Hall of Mirrors which gave me more experience in level design through the creation of the layouts as shown above.
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UI Design to plan out and create all the UI elements and transitions in-game including XBox controller support which was a huge new learning experience in Unreal.
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Planning ideas and working with the team with deciding what new content to add and what is not working to ensure success in our game for the audience. The Hall of Mirrors was one that we almost did not create due to not having a player character that would be visible in the mirrors, but we worked around this by having very dirty mirrors that are not very reflective which also still fit the theme of the game.
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Using Miro to map out a wireframe prototype of UI transitions for the in-game menu's as shown above.
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Creating content, such as helping with the lighting, building the UI, and reviewing the FBX files to make sure everything looks presentable.
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A bunch of communication with the other leads and planning early on led to greater success in this project.
Killer Karnival Details
Team Name:
Screamscape Studios
Team Size:
11 Person Team
Year Project Began:
Began the project in the fall of 2024.
Year of Completion:
Released in May of 2025.
Game Genre:
Survival Horror Game.
Platform:
PC, and Xbox Controller.
Player Count:
Singleplayer
Engine:
Unreal Engine 5
Prototypes
Main Menu Prototype Video
The first UI design of the Main Menu for Killer Karnival. The goal was to have the carnival show in the background but also find a way the buttons in the foreground do not block too much of the background once it is finished. I made this photo with the help of an artist for the art assets and arranged the photos into different layouts to gain an idea for how to build the final design where the background would be changed to a 3D scene. The techniques used were arranging photos to visualize a final design better, and to make sure the buttons are easily accessible. This menu was used for the main menu in the Killer Karnival UI.
UI Wireframe Prototype
A prototype wireframe of the in-game UI Menu's including transitions that was created in a program called Miro. The goal of this was to be able to visualize structure for how all the UI menu's would link to each other before much designing or programming was involved. As the content below continues you can probably see it went through a few different iterations on the settings menu, specifically the gamma menu was changed to a controls menu. The technique used a wireframe program to create a visual example of the UI menu's and how they would link to each other to save some time before any real work was put into it. This was then used as a visual reference for how to design the UI in Killer Karnival
UI Credits Menu Prototype
The first UI design of the Credits Menu. The goal was to keep the layout organized in rows by learning how to arrange UI components correctly but also how to use vertical and horizontal box components. I made this menu with the help of an artist for the art asset in the background then overlayed the text and button on top in rows using vertical and horizontal boxes. The techniques used for this was to learn more about Unreal widget components during the early stages of development and to figure out a layout for a credits menu that worked. This menu was later majorly changed in design to be a black screen with animated rolling Credits one after another but in the early stages of development this was the Credits menu for Killer Karnival.
The First Whitebox of Killer Karnival
The first whitebox prototype of Killer Karnival to show stages of progression as the content continues below. This was during development on the level design side of things. The goal of this is to simply show how the level expanded and progressed as time progresses by giving a visual example of what it looked like before any official assets. The blockout was made by the level designers using techniques of Unreal's modelling toolkit so they would have a better visual representation for where to put all of the assets in this section of the carnival once assets were completed. This was the first blockout of Killer Karnival in-game.
In-Game Showcase
UI XBOX Controller Support
A short video displaying the UI and it's functionality. If you look closely you can see I enabled visibility of the mouse but do not click on all of the buttons with it to show that the XBox controller support is functional. I can also use the page up, down, left, right, and enter keys to navigate across menu's. The goal is to show some of the UI menu functionality and that XBOX controller support is functional across the UI menu's. The techniques used were created through UI designer settings plus a mix of blueprints with functions, on hovered, on unhovered, and on focused events. This was used across menu's where the main menu was the first to gain XBOX controller support and then it was used as a reference for other menu's as needed during development.
The New Main Menu
An official in-game screenshot of the Main Menu with the added 3D background and button colors for on hover events visible which was created in a separate scene. The menu was designed over a few different iterations as shown in the prototypes which lead up to this design. The goal is to showcase the final design and how it changed when compared to the earlier prototype version. The techniques used in this was to set up XBOX controller support, button transitions, the camera for the 3D scene, and the post processing lighting. The level design itself was fairly simple once all the assets were in as it was all a matter of working together with the level designers to properly layout assets in the view of the camera. This menu is used as the final design layout for the main menu of Killer Karnival but some small aesthetic details continued to be experimented with afterwards too.
UI Major Blueprints and UI In-Game Showcase
This is a video showcasing many core blueprint features of the UI behind the scenes and showing the different menu's functionality in engine on play preview. The goal is to show noteable blueprints that are in the settings menu where I scan across some slider functions, enum menu transitions, keybinding inputs, and the save system. I then showcase the play preview towards the end where I display how the menu's would look in-game and how they relate to the player character. The techniques used were figuring out a ton of blueprint functionality for UI to put it all together in order for it to function correctly in game but also learning proper organizations of menu's through blueprints so I only need one of each menu unless a menu is different from one another. These menu's are also used as the final UI in Killer Karnival.
Save System BP and Functionality
These four images relate to each other and are showing the blueprint setup for how the save system for the settings was designed in stages. The first image shows a blueprint structure where the variables in settings are populated with their default values set. While the second image is showing the blueprint save with a single variable connected back to the save struct. The goal of these two photos are to show how the start of the save system was made before going into the creation of functionality in blueprints. This is a surprisingly simple setup so far with using little technique to it other than knowing how to make Unreal blueprints and setup variables correctly. This will then relate to the last two photos below which creates the actual functionality of the save system through these variables. The last two photos will also go into more details about the save system since that is where the game calls the save functionality through a function and event.​
Save Function and Settings BP
As described earlier, this is where the functionality of the save system takes place. The first photo is showing a save function in a blueprint function library and how it is setup using blueprint nodes. While the second shows the setup of the blueprint nodes directly within the settings menu. The goal of these two photos is to describe the save system in more detail. In the first photo, within the function the variable from earlier in the save blueprint is called as a set variable after the cast to BP_settings node which shows how it is used from earlier. In the second photo I am using the event construct node and an on clicked from an apply button. The apply button when clicked will make a save file of all the variable value's by using the save function. Then it will load the value's on an event construct using the save file. These techniques are used so that every time the apply button is pressed the game saves, then everytime the settings menu is closed and re-opened the visual display of settings including the value's will be the same. This also functions if the game is closed and re-opened again so the settings are unchanged but it will not save gameplay at all.​​​​ I also showed the save system because it seems to be unique based on what is being saved in a game.
First Layout: Hall of Mirrors
The first design layout of the Hall of Mirrors using a mirror prototype model. The goal of this was to gain a better idea of how to format the Hall of Mirrors through a visual representation and to keep it in the style of a maze. I built this with the help of an artist to make a very basic mirror asset that would be roughly the same scale as the final mirror assets so little had to be re-arranged during development. I made this entire layout in its own game scene too at first as to not conflict with anything in the carnival. The techniques used were level design snapping tools to make sure everything is aligned but also to figure out a layout that is interesting for a maze that everyone in the team liked. I also looked at reference images online for this to gain a better idea of a layout. This layout was then further developed as seen below where more detail was added onto it.
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Second Layout: Hall of Mirrors
This photo is to show that more detail was added to the Hall of Mirrors with an official mirror model and it was placed inside of the Killer Karnival map. This is still during development where the goal was to simply add assets by using the layout as a reference, make sure everything is aligned, and clean it up so it can be showed in game. I also teamed up with a level designer during development to help with expanding the stone wall and adding details to the ground while I expanded on the Hall of Mirrors so it looks as if it has always been a part of the carnival. The techniques used were a ton of teamwork, and level design work. I realized while putting together the assets that I needed two mirrors back to back to hide an invisible face which meant it also needed to be expanded slightly so pillars in-between could be added to each section, but this is closer to the final layout of the mirror room.
Third Layout Final: The Hall of Mirrors
This is the final in-game screenshot of the Hall of Mirrors during an in-game play through. The goal of this is to show how the final level design turned out for the Hall of Mirrors by showcasing a photo of it in-game in real time. Compared to the earlier layout, the only changes that were added aesthetic wise are the addition of broken mirrors and a large tent overtop of it. The Hall of Mirrors is also a core game section that holds a bell puzzle in the center of it that is required to be completed after obtaining the music box in order to progress. The techniques that were used here is finding a way that players had to visit the mirror room, but it was also a bit of an aesthetic challenge for artists since there is no player character to reflect in the mirrors so every mirror could still look like glass but could not create a full reflection. This was solved through dirty mirrors that match the theme of the game and broken mirrors that are still shiny but do not make a clear reflection. This showcases the final result of the Hall of Mirrors.
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Key Takeaways
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I learned how to implement UI transitions and keep the menu's neat by only using one menu across scenes through enum's in blueprints if the layout and functionality stayed the same.
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I learned how to make a settings menu. Implementing blueprints for gamma, camera yaw sensitivity, volume, and window modes that function in-game.
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I learned how to implement a save and load system for the settings menu so changes to value's stay the same and appear the same even if the game is closed then re-opened again.
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I learned how to create custom input keybinding selections in-game for PC for accessibility and flexibility so players can decide which inputs they will use.
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I learned how to implement color changing, custom buttons, sound, and UI animations for aesthetics.
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I learned how to implement XBOX controller support and it focuses on buttons for the additional functionality and accessibiliity option.
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I learned how to make a level design prototype and build up a level from scratch by using assets in-engine that were made by the art team.
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I learned better teamwork and communication skills so everyone knows what times people are working in-engine so there are less GitHub merge errors and the progress on each task so everyone stays on track.
Play The Game Here!