Here I made and imported a plug socket for the lamp to connect to, the modeling itself was pretty straightforward.
Looking at my blueprint setup here, I created a straightforward interaction system. When the player clicks on the socket, it triggers both a visual state change and plays a mechanical click sound effect I recorded. I chose the sound carefully – wanted that distinctive snap you get from old light switches.
The blueprint flow starts with the interaction trigger, which then branches out to handle both the audio playback and the light control. I have it connected to multiple point light components I used for the lamp, including the emissive texture on it that gives the lampshade its glow, all controlled through this single switch interaction. The socket’s state drives the visibility of these lights, creating a proper cause-and-effect relationship.
I set up this system to create some natural light variation in the room. The blueprint works on tick, using a random float in range node to occasionally trigger a sequence of light toggles. I’m basically creating this subtle flicker effect by rapidly switching the point and spot lights on and off at random intervals.
This is actually how I learned that you can reference the component type directly instead of having to call the actor and then searching for the light type/ mesh type/ component type after!
I placed fluorescent stars around the light switch so that it’s visible at all times, otherwise the player would have to struggle to place their mouse over it during the tense moments before a scare. It also helps for when you turn the lights out because otherwise the room is almost completely pitch black