Josh Farnaby - UI Designer
Chokepoint Creative Internship
Summary
While working at Chokepoint Creative as a Game Design Intern, I was tasked with using my UI Design skills to convert pre-designed UI wireframes to functional UI blockouts in Unreal Engine 5 for an unannounced platformer.
Roles
Technical UI Designer
Team Size
10
Project Type
Internship.
Software
Unreal Engine 5, Perforce, Slack, Trello, Confluence, Adobe Illustrator and Krita.
Duration
20 May 2025
24 July 2025
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Skills
UI Design, UI Technical UI Design, blockout UI art, UI animations and team communication.
Main Responsibilities
Challenges
- The first challenge I experienced was in creating a dynamic and fluid spoon animation that worked by following a cursor as well as the currently hovered button from the controller.
The second challenge I faced was in developing an easy-to-use controller UI system without the use of the Common UI plugin.
Furthermore, the final challenge I experienced was in developing a system that changed the prompts on the UI to the correct ones based on the appropriate input type.
Development Part 1
- The first area of development I got to focus on was the Main Menu and I started this process by first blocking out the screen in Unreal Engine 5 and using Adobe Illustrator make block out UI art, based on a pre-existing wireframe. Using a line of feedback, I would then improve the initial blockout to a much more refined state.
I would then begin to figure out how to develop controller input. I achieved this by using the in-built focusing tools through setting focus to the appropriate buttons helping to overcome the challenge of controller input.
I would then figure out how to set up a dynamic rotating spoon by first creating a separate Spoon widget to allow for better rotation control. I would then set the spoons rotation based on the mouse cursor position and which button the controller was focused on. I would then use this information to determine whether it was a fork or spoon to overcome the challenge of the rotating spoon.
Development Part 2
- To continue, I began work on developing the HUD block out using 3D render targets of different UI elements based on continuing feedback and a previous wireframe. I would then set up the functionality like having the berry count change based on the number of berries.
Furthermore, I would then begin animating the UI like the shield dropping and the rotating berries. In addition, I'd develop an animation for the bottlecap rotating. Based on some good feedback, I adjusted the animation to have it led the player's eye down to the bottom left of the screen through a transition.
I would then develop the Collectable Menu using a series of data tables and structs for the world as well as drink information. I would also develop the shortcut buttons by the user pressing certain keys. It would also work if there were a gap between the drinks and would just skip the locked one.
Development Part 3
- The next part of development I was involved with was in creating a Pause Menu and subsequently linking it to different exit prompts as well as the Options Menu. I would also develop the stats functionality on the right of the Pause Menu by having it register what was available in each level and adding that to the menu.
It also went through some iteration on the strength of the background blur and the overall menu size based on feedback.
To continue I would develop a New Input screen to appear when the player disconnects an input and leaves once a button is pressed. This is to comply with platform restrictions.
My final piece of work was to allow each menu screen to change the relevant prompt images to the correct images based on the new input. This worked through me first creating the relevant images in Krita as I lost access to Adobe Illustrator. I would then have the images change based on the input type on functions Key Up and Down using the help of a Game Designer on finding the right mode for the checks. This would help me overcome the challenge of changing the input prompts.
Reflection
Most Proud of:
The first part I'm proud of was in designing a spoon rotation animation that accurately follows the player's cursor and quickly responds to player actions.
The next part that I felt proud of creating a smooth and responsive bottlecap collection animation that blends the in world to the UI element through a UI transition animation.
Furthermore, another part that I felt proud of was in creating a responsive system that accurately changes the different UI prompts for the correct input types.
Any Important Skills?
UI Design,
Technical UI Design,
blockout UI art,
UI animation and
cross disciplinary team communication.
Any Changes?
If I were to do this again, I'd first bring the changing prompts system earlier in development of each UI screen to prevent going back over and doing it for all the UI screens at once.
Another improvement I'd make would be to connect some of my UI up with external elements to see how it would function within a live gameplay scenario.
To continue, another improvement I'd make would be to test the UI with many different input types, outside of the ones I had access to at the time.
Final Product
Credits
I would like to thank the current Level Design Intern at Chokepoint Creative for the wonderful backdrop for some of the images and GIFs present on this page.
I would also like to thank the wonderful Freelance Game Designer for his wonderful UI wireframes that I had the fortunate opportunity of blocking out in engine.
A final thanks you to everyone at Chokepoint Creative for the incredible experience.