Looking at the fog settings I implemented for the bedroom scene, I initially wanted to create a thick, dense atmosphere but decided against it and went for a more subtle look. The primary fog density is set quite high at 1.0, with height falloff of 0.127337 – this creates a layered effect where the fog gets denser as it drops closer to the floor.
The volumetric effect is especially noticeable around the lamp’s radius while still allowing you to see details in the wall drawings. The fog’s presence makes the light feel more three-dimensional and indicates its importance as both a game mechanic and basically the only strong source of vision.
I went with this elaborate flower-like design where amber-tinted panels radiate out from the center. The central light fixture gives off this stark white glow that contrasts nicely with the warmer shade colors.
The wooden board add to the room’s directional lines well. I’m planning to age this up though – I want to add some wear patterns and dirt buildup through vertex painting, especially around high-traffic areas.
I experimented with leaving the closet doors slightly ajar – enough to create this sense of curiosity but not enough to actually see what’s inside. The warm lighting from the room catches just the edges of those blinds, creating these vertical shadows that really emphasize the darkness beyond. I wanted players to naturally question what might be hiding in there, using that universal childhood fear of partially open closets.
The alphabet poster I was going to have change dynamically based on what is going on in the scene, with letters being scratched out etc. I want to add functionality that allows the player to click on certain letters in an arrangement that will trigger events on the CRT TV, but this will have to be for later development.
I then worked with Niagara to add these subtle environmental details, and created this particle system that spawns small white specs to simulate dust motes floating in the air. Set the lifetime values between 0.5 and 1.0 seconds to give them a natural fade-in/fade-out, while the random spawn locations within the room volume create a suspended-in-air-illuminated by light peering out of fog look.