This week, I completed the following tasks in the character blueprint:
Set up footstep sounds
Added mouse input for aiming down sights
Created a transition to zoom the head during aiming
Adjusted walking speed while aiming
Added depth of field effect when aiming
Set footstep sounds specifically for aiming movement
Created the weapon blueprint
Wrote a custom event for weapon firing
Added a weapon state machine
Added weapon sound effects, bullet effects, and reload effects
Implemented bullet hit effects
Created a function to count bullets
Built the reload blueprint
Added natural bullet spread
Added recoil effect when firing
Added bullet glow effects
This week, my main focus was still on blueprint scripting. Once the character and enemy blueprints are done, I can just drag them into the map and use them directly. Although there are many follow-up steps afterward, the blueprints are definitely the top priority.
After finishing them, I’ll move on to reworking some model textures, building the scenes, creating the UI and main menu, and finally packaging the game.
Last week’s recording wasn’t very clear, and Windows Game Bar can’t capture multiple windows well.
Especially when I opened the blueprint editor, it kept recording the main window—pretty awkward!
This week, I found a recording software called OBS Studio, and I’ve discovered it works really well.
Set up footstep sounds:
I selected the audio files and created a single cue. Then, I added an audio modulator to unify the pitch and volume across these sounds, while also introducing random variations in pitch and volume. This way, when played back, the audio feels much more dynamic and natural：
Then, I went back to the animation asset and added a “Notify” — “Play Sound” — selecting the sound cue I just created.
Added mouse input for aiming down sights
Similar to before, I added mouse input, set it up as IA_focus (for aiming function), and linked it inside the character blueprint. This lets me control the focus with the mouse smoothly.
I used a timer to make the aiming zoom effect transition more smoothly. This approach will also come in handy later for toggling the flashlight and handling other action transitions.
Adjusted walking speed while aiming：
In the speed calculation function, I added a condition that if the character is aiming, the selected float value becomes 150(150 for the speed of walk with aiming).
Then I add blueprints for the weapon, cause there are some functions like reload ammo and ammo calculation, I need to split these from character blueprint, otherwise, it will be mass.
Then, in the weapon blueprint, attach (or spawn) the weapon to the character’s arm.
In the weapon blueprint, I set up the following event icons: fire_weapon, change bullets, and recoil.
In fire_weapon, I configured three states: start firing, firing, and stop firing. Then I used play animation montage to connect the animation assets to each of these states.
The rest of the operations are all shown in my screen recording：
This week, I mainly worked on setting up the character blueprint, including:
Character capsule setup and camera setup
Character state machine setup (idle, walk, run)
Implemented camera rotation control using mouse movement
Added shift key input to trigger the running state and linked it to the state machine, enabling communication between the character blueprint and the animation blueprint
Added weapon drag effect (weapon swings slightly caused by camera movement)
Added character detail lighting (I wanted to create a warm light to simulate a body-attached light source, combined with a cold light for contrast)
Effect testing
Before getting started, I will provide all the assets I used and the link to the tutorial I followed. Since the tutorial I found is from the Chinese platform Bilibili, I won’t be able to share a YouTube link for the video resource.
3. Serpent Model I Created in Last Semester — Collaboration Units (Full process: modeling, UVs, texturing, rigging)
4. Gargoyle Model I Created in Last Semester — Collaboration Units (Full process: modeling, UVs, texturing, rigging)
5. Tutorial：
The course is taught by the creator of the game “Deathly Stillness”, which is available on Steam. Through the course, I learned how to create character and enemy blueprints, The character and zombie asset packs (including skeletal meshes, animation assets, and audio assets) were provided as part of the course and used for practice.
At the beginning, I set up the Animation Blueprint, Character Blueprint, and Blend Space for the character.
When I started setting up my character, the first step was to create a Character Blueprint. Inside the blueprint, I added the character mesh and carefully adjusted its position so it sat correctly within the capsule collider. This ensures that the character’s mesh and collision boundaries are properly aligned, which is really important for smooth movement and interaction.
I applied the same process for setting up the camera. I attached the camera to the character blueprint and positioned it in a way that works well with the gameplay perspective I want to achieve.
These might seem like basic steps, but getting them right early on saves a lot of trouble later in the pipeline—especially when starting to work with the animation blueprint and player controls.
Since the screenshots were taken later in the process, they include some updates like the arm texture and a few event icon features I added along the way.
Character state machine setup (idle, walk, run)：
Inside the Animation Blueprint, I set up the State Machine, including Idle, Walk, and Run states.
Idle
Move
In the Blend Space, I blended the Idle, Walk, and Run animations, and set up the corresponding movement speeds.
For example, I set the walking speed to 300 and running speed to 750. Since my scene is quite large, I needed the character to move a bit faster to fit the scene.
Implemented camera rotation control using mouse movement：
I also changed the bool input to Axis 2D, since the mouse controls the camera rotation based on X and Y movement on the screen plane. Using a bool would only allow simple on/off states, while Axis 2D lets me read continuous input values, which is more suitable for smooth camera control.
I used the Input Mapping Context to organize all the input settings and define the input devices, making the control setup more clean and modular.
I added a Look event in the event graph to call IA_look：
Added shift key input to trigger the running state and linked it to the state machine, enabling communication between the character blueprint and the animation blueprint：
In IA_run, I used a bool because it’s a simple on/off check—whether the key is pressed or not.
Similarly, I set up the Shift key input within the Input Mapping Context.
I added an if-run boolean check in the running graph. Then, I created a speed calculation function that uses this boolean—if the character is running, it sets the speed to 750, otherwise to 300.
Added character detail lighting (I wanted to create a warm light to simulate a body-attached light source, combined with a cold light for contrast)：
This was my first attempt at adding a warm light attached to the character, so I added a point light inside the capsule.
Later during testing, I adjusted the light settings and created a toggleable flashlight-like feature for illumination.
IA_open_lightOpen light functionI added this feature in the later stage, so I recorded it using the current version of the project files.
In this shot, George suggested that I redistribute the timing of each action, so the overall animation follows a slow-in, fast-out, slow-in principle.
Currently, my timing is more like slow-slow-fast-slow. Before the character stretches her leg toward the body, I added a preparation pose to build up energy, but George suggested removing it because it feels a bit awkward.
He also recommended speeding up the actions after the character lands and as she stands up, as well as making the following step forward quicker.
So I made some adjustments, but I noticed there are still some issues. For example, when the character is preparing to jump, I had her hold the pose completely still for three frames, but this made the movement feel a bit stiff. If I try to add a slight movement during those three frames, it ends up looking twitchy because the hold is so short.
This week, I received feedback from George, made some changes to the key poses, and deepened my understanding of the animation.
It’s clear that the character’s foot poses need significant adjustments. As the end point of the limbs, the feet tend to have a slight delay at the beginning and during the movement — they don’t move exactly in sync with the legs or on the same level.
Moving Hold means that when a character is holding a pose, they shouldn’t be completely still — there needs to be some slight movement. Even something as subtle as breathing, a small head tilt, or a gentle body shift can make the character feel more alive. If a character stays perfectly frozen for a few frames, it immediately gives off a “mannequin” vibe, especially in 3D animation where complete stillness feels unnatural. Compared to 2D, where we can use line wiggles or stylized shaking to fake subtle movement, in 3D we really have to animate those micro-movements by hand.
My personal understanding is: don’t let your character die on screen. Even just a few frames of subtle “fake movement” can add tension and realism to the shot.
Copied Pairs
Copied Pairs are a specific technique used to create moving holds. The process is actually pretty straightforward — you take your key pose and duplicate it, then move the duplicated keys a few frames forward on the timeline. This creates a pair of identical keyframes that hold the pose for a bit.
At first it might seem like a lazy shortcut, but in practice, you can slightly adjust the in-between to add a soft transition — like the character shifting weight, breathing, or gently swaying. It creates a subtle sense of motion within a hold.
I see this as a way to refine your blocking — beyond just having key poses and breakdowns, you’re adding mini-transitions that give your animation more depth and rhythm.
This is my attempt to moving holds and copy pairs:
I added a pause to the pose where the character opens her arms — I felt like she was building up energy for the next sequence of movements, kind of like a gymnast preparing for a routine. Then I copied and pasted the keyframes and extended their duration. In the spline phase, I adjusted the curves to give her a slight sense of motion, so it feels like she’s subtly shifting, not completely still.
BREAKDOWNS & Arcs
During blocking, it’s important to pay attention to the movement of the hands, limbs, and the COG — making sure their motion follows arcs instead of straight lines.
George suggest to make the animation shorter as there are too many poses, and it last too long, so I make some changes of my plan. After the character stand up, she will move forward for one step and stop there:
Reference video:
Workflow checklist:
When I am animating, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of steps between your initial idea and a polished final shot. This week, teacher introduce his workflow checklist to us, and it is really helpful.
Planning
Thumbnails: Quick sketches to explore poses, ideas, and storytelling to show key poses. Focus on silhouette, emotion, and staging. No need for detail — clarity is the goal.
References
Journal workflow
Layout
Staging
Composition
Story
Blocking
Stepped key poses
Fundamental approach
Easy to edit
Inner monologue timing tool
Arcs
Weight check
Compare thumbnails
Watch at speed
Splining
Work in small sections
Inbetween: adding secondary/key breakdowns for smoother transitions.
Inbetweens are the frames that bridge the gap between key poses. They smooth out transitions, add weight and timing nuance, and define the rhythm of a movement. It can be manipulated in graph editor, adjusted curves, or added breakdown keys.
Arcs
Polish
New mindset: reviewing your animation with fresh eyes.
Non-performance texture
Fix tiny things like toe splays on blinks — like breath cycles, toe splay, or tiny eye movements. These often-forgotten details are what truly bring a character to life and separate good animation from great.
This week, teacher introduced some experimental opportunities we can explore this semester, so I’m thinking that I might take this chance to push myself and create an FPS shooting game.
Recently, the second season of The Last of Us has been airing, and I really love its art style. The decaying cities are covered by plants, and people embark on a survival journey.
What sets this work apart from other zombie-themed works is that it more realistically reflects a cruel and heartless world. For example, under the rampant spread of cordyceps fungus, the government not only fails to provide shelter to the people but instead takes those who are uninfected in surrounding towns under the pretext of sending them to safety zones, only to kill and cremate them in the wilderness. The reason is that the higher-ups believe that if these people die, they won’t be infected in the future, which would reduce their workload.
After the outbreak, other survivors desperately scavenge for resources in order to live. Some even use lies to lure others in, only to kill them and steal their supplies when they least expect it. In that world, humans seem to have become even more terrifying than the zombies.
Inspired by this, I want to make a zombie FPS game. However, I need to think about how to make it and what the protagonist’s purpose in the game would be.
So, I’ve been researching the art design of The Last of Us to get some inspiration：
We can see that most of the city scenes are open and spacious, while enclosed areas usually feature a focal point that draws the player’s attention, along with strong lighting contrasts to guide them in the right direction. Since I’ve never tried designing game levels before, I don’t really have a clear idea of where to start.
I’ve built a game level in Unreal Engine where the player can move back and forth. The layout is shaped like a “U”. The player spawns underneath a collapsed overpass and needs to find the correct path by navigating through the wreckage and abandoned cars. Along the way, zombies will appear to challenge the player.
In terms of gameplay expectations, the player can see their destination—an area filled with tall buildings—in the distance from the overpass. This visual cue encourages the player to explore and figure out how to reach that location. When the player discovers a way to climb the collapsed structure and get onto the overpass, they gain the opportunity to observe their surroundings from a higher vantage point.
The first area is designed like an isolated island, so the player needs to traverse vehicles and the overpass to reach the second section. I want the player to do more than just stand in one place shooting zombies—I want them to actively explore the city, using collapsed structures and debris to discover new paths and move from one location to the next.
The second area the player reach is partially submerged in water, so they have to move forward by stepping on sunken cars. If the player falls into the water, they will die.
I referenced this picture:
Then, while building the level, I imported Unreal Engine’s first-person shooter template to test it. Through testing, I discovered that there are some issues with the scene.
For example, the player needs a strong motivation to explore the map and receive positive feedback—but figuring out how to design that feedback loop is quite challenging.
The second issue is that the scene is too open and expansive, which results in endless skylines in the distance. If I were to build out all the surrounding buildings, it would require a massive amount of work.
A massive map would make the entire gameplay flow more complex. So I think I need to find an alternative approach, even though I’m quite reluctant to let go of this level.
Find Plan 2:
How can a zombie shooting game remain engaging when the scene is smaller in scale? How can I make the decaying environment more interesting?
I was reminded of Escape Room, where the protagonist is tricked by a company—thinking they were just joining a regular escape room game, only to realize that failure means death. So I started wondering if I could incorporate something similar into my game.
For example, the protagonist could also be participating in what they believe is a live-action immersive experience, but it turns out they’ve been deceived and thrown into a zombie-filled environment. They must outsmart the zombies and gather materials to repair the safehouse door lock in order to escape. Meanwhile, everything is being livestreamed by the company for profit. When the protagonist defeats a zombie, viewer reactions and comments would pop up in the bottom left corner of the screen, showing the audience’s responses in real time.
However, although this idea is quite diverse, it would be difficult to implement. For example, how to write the blueprint for delivering items（like find, pick tool to fix the safe door), and how to design a real-time feedback system in the bottom left corner similar to a live stream. I searched online for tutorials but couldn’t find much to reference, so I need alternative solutions.
Find Plan 3:
I thought I could continue my game design based on some tasks I completed last semester. In our group project last semester, we designed a dungeon short film, but due to some factors, the entire scene turned out quite dark, and my model didn’t look great in the scene. So, I thought I could design my own dungeon game, using the gargoyle as one of the enemies.
I tried using Mixamo’s animation library and motion mapping to implement actions like attack, chase, idle, knockdown, and hit reactions. However, I still need to adjust the animation blending and manually keyframe the wing animations：
This way, I can apply the model assets I previously created to design a game, which I think will be quite meaningful.
So, I plan to create a first-person, single-player game set in a dungeon. The protagonist is a member of a mysterious organization, sent to investigate supernatural occurrences and deal with the roaming monsters. The story’s opening is somewhat similar to the beginning of Resident Evil, where the protagonist goes to a strange village or eerie mansion to investigate and ends up killing the leader inside.
Although the game might not have deep spiritual themes or messages, I want to learn how to write blueprints and the process of creating game enemies, and I believe I will gain a lot from it.
Art style
In terms of art style, I suddenly thought of a game I played back in my primary school: Dark Meadow: The Pact，which was developed by Phosphor Games Studio based in Chicago, was built using the Unreal Engine 3 and was first released on the iOS platform (iPhone and iPad) on October 5, 2011.
The player wakes up in an abandoned hospital, having lost all memories of the past.
The only “guidance” comes from a man speaking through a loudspeaker. He claims he was once trapped here as well and tells you that the only way to escape this nightmare is to kill a being known as The Witch.
As the player battles monsters in the hallways, gains experience, and ascends to higher floors, the story unfolds—eventually revealing that The Witch is, in fact, the player’s own daughter.
Game Plan:
So, I wrote down all my game ideas to make sure I won’t forget them later. I’m planning to create two maps: the first one is a forest map on the surface, and the second is a dungeon map. I hope I’ll have enough time to finish both of them：
This week, I continued to watch some animation works on the shape art platform. Some works felt abstract, while others were made to promote disabled people, but the creators were not disabled people. So I need to sift through them.
Among them, the voice gave me a deep impression. This is a stop-motion animation, which shows the negative-filled environment in the mind of the person in Imposter Syndrome. It invites the audience to think about the social and environmental inclusiveness of disabled artists, and explores the gap between expectation and reality. Arouse the society’s inclusiveness and empathy for artists with disabilities.
The work shows the inner struggles and against of the protagonists in the animation in the form of inner monologues and confrontations.
The inner voice in the dialogue tells him “You don’t listen. we don’t show an emotion, you don’t cry, you are not crazy” seems to give himself some psychological hints, and does not allow himself to show weak emotions to others.
This animation has two clues, the first clue is the world of color, it is the real world. He’s giving a speech, introducing himself.
And the black and white world is the second clue, showing the inner self-doubt and struggle he may have when he spoke, as well as some flashbacks in the past to suppress his emotions.
world of color – real world
black and white world – inner self-doubt and struggle
The one on the left said, “You must listen to me, you must not cry,” and the one on the right said, “But I want to cry.”
The pig police arrested him because he claimed to be an artist. This reflects his lack of confidence in his own creation and a sense of unease. The scrutiny of the outside world has a critical eye for him.
Side: You just have to tell them you’re happy and you’re okay, the animation shows he smiled, his heart beating in his hands:
Although the quality of the works on this platform cannot reach the quality of our common animation works, we can see some things that we want to express. Although the creative approach may not be that serious.
I found some pdf of the annual summary on the platform website:
In the pdf, I found James not only focuses on his personal artistic creation, but also sees art as a way to bring about social change. As a creator with a disability, he creates and speaks out to challenge and reshape society’s perceptions of disabled people.
Character created by James Lake
After learning all this, I felt deeply moved, because I had previously volunteered to help people with disabilities back in China. However, support for people with disabilities often remains at the basic level of ensuring physical survival. At that time, my team and I went to Nanlang Town, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, to shoot a promotional video about people with disabilities. It was only through conversations with local community workers and Ms. Lian, the protagonist of the film, that we came to truly understand the hardships they face in daily life.
We received a 1,000 yuan award for the film, and chose to use it to fulfill the “micro-wishes” of people with disabilities in Nan Lang Town. Before collecting data, I had imagined their wishes might be for books, or small, fun items like decorative ornaments or potted plants. But after compiling the survey results, I felt incredibly sad, many of their wishes were for adult diapers, tissues, and incontinence pads. This meant that even the basic hygiene products they rely on daily are often a financial burden. And yet, these are essentials they need to use and change every single day.
When organizations in the UK are already creating platforms for disabled people to engage in artistic expression — and achieving meaningful results (though I understand this also depends on regional differences) — some disabled individuals in small towns in my country still struggle to afford even the most basic daily hygiene necessities. This gap makes me feel deeply upset, because they are truly suffering.
Of course, much of the progress in the UK is built upon accumulated social wealth over time, so making a direct comparison isn’t entirely fair. I simply hope that my country can provide more subsidies for disabled individuals, and work to reduce the inequalities caused by geographic and regional differences.
During our interview, Ms. Lian told us that she had never been to school. We were shocked to hear that, as it was due to her disability that schools refused to accept her. Her condition was the result of an illness in childhood that was not properly treated, which left her with a limp. However, her disability does not affect those around her or other children in any way.
A social worker also shared with us that although there are now schools in Zhongshan City that accept students with disabilities, the number of available spots is limited. Often, families with stronger financial means or better connections are more likely to secure a place. Ms. Lian’s parents were farmers and had limited resources, which made it even more difficult for her to access education.
Ms. Lian’s mother once said during the interview, “If she weren’t disabled, she would have many friends.” That comment was incredibly heartbreaking.
During the filming, some neighbors came to watch and even directly asked if we were shooting something about “the child from that family with a lame leg.” Although these remarks and attitudes from people around her didn’t necessarily come from a place of malice, they could still be hurtful to Ms. Lian.
This is a relatively direct example that shows how the general public — including some social funds and even the government — still fails to ensure that people with disabilities can live, study, and work in a healthy and supportive environment.
Therefore, it becomes especially important to consider whether animation can serve as a positive medium for raising awareness and promoting inclusion. If children’s media can have a positive influence on young audiences, then future social environments may gradually become more inclusive and accepting.
This week, I discussed my previous topic on cyberpunk and body modification with my teacher. He suggested that if I intend to conduct academic research, this topic might require reference to professional literature and theories in fields such as biology and anatomy. Since cyberpunk is not yet a real-world phenomenon—it exists primarily in novels, games, and films rather than in reality—it is difficult to base a study on how body modification might affect the mind and consciousness.
Although some academic literature explores the relationship between body modification and consciousness in works such as Neuromancer or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, there is a lack of real-world data and evidence to support such studies.
Therefore, I need to change my research topic, as the current one is somewhat “risky.” Many of the academic papers on the subject are quite dated, and my supervisor believes that cyberpunk, as a subculture, is more of a conceptual framework that hasn’t seen much recent development. As a result, academic literature on this topic tends to have temporal limitations.
New direction:
My teacher suggested that I could consider exploring a topic related to animation and people with disabilities, as it involves many interdisciplinary fields. The scope of research is broad, and it would be possible to find academic papers from various disciplines as references.
I think this is a good direction because during my undergraduate studies, I took a course related to people with disabilities, so I’m not completely unfamiliar with this field—I already have some real-world context to draw from.
Before taking that course, my impression of people with disabilities was similar to most people’s—I had some stereotypes since I don’t often meet people with disabilities in daily life, I didn’t really know how to interact with them. For example, when seeing someone in a wheelchair, I might instinctively squat down to talk to them at eye level, or offer help even when they didn’t ask for it.
But actually, many people with disabilities just want to be treated equally. They don’t want to be seen as a special group or receive extra care unless they really need it. They are strong and independent inside, and often don’t want too much attention or special treatment.
In animation and film, people with disabilities are often shown as weak, dependent, or always needing help. Because of this, the public may naturally assume that they always rely on others and are just people who need to be taken care of.
How animated characters or animation itself support people with disabilities, and whether these works provide positive representation or reinforce public stereotypes seems to be a topic worth researching. So I started looking for some materials on this subject.
When I did research, I fouled Shape arts platform:
This platform helps creative people with disabilities get involved in the creation of art, where they are involved in three main areas, art projects that work with people with disabilities, such as ‘Another Day- James Lake Cardboard animation’.
They create some projects that document the social history of people with disabilities, access counseling, and training, in which the platform provides many commission and collaboration opportunities for artists with disabilities, as well as financial support and advocacy.
In this way, the art platform provides opportunities for artists and people with disabilities who want to participate in collaborative animation or art projects, increase exposure, and receive funding for their creation and life.
“Another Day – James Lake | Cardboard animation | Shape Arts”
James Lake： the winner of the 2023 Adam Reynolds Award, he win £10K.
He collaborated with Shape Arts to turn these cardboard sculptures into a dynamic animation project titled Another Day – James Lake | Cardboard Animation | Shape Arts.
His use of cardboard as a sculptural material reflects the main character’s concerns about the cost of living, environmental pollution, and social inclusion.
In the animation, the protagonist creates a bird out of cardboard. The bird takes flight, traveling to a place the protagonist has never been before, where it witnesses a beautiful and inspiring scene—symbolizing hope, freedom, and the desire to connect with the wider world.
So I think when people with disabilities become creators and take control of the storytelling, audiences can finally see a true reflection of their lives through animation.
Whether the body is the subject or the object, whether we can judge the difference between human and bionic life from the body structure？
How to define human nature？ What makes us unique is our memories or our voluntary responses to the outside world？
When reading these literatures, I will have such questions, and the main inspiration for me is this paper:
McCarron, K. (1995) ‘Corpses, animals, machines and mannequins: The body and cyberpunk’, Cyberspace/Cyberbodies/Cyberpunk: Cultures of Technological Embodiment, pp. 261–274. doi:10.4135/9781446250198.n15.
