VFX – The Nightmare Rework (Freddy Krueger)

Full overhaul of legacy VFX systems from Cascade to Niagara, with updated materials and new gameplay-driven effects.

Core Responsibilities:

• System Overhaul:

  • Migrated all legacy VFX from Cascade to Niagara.

  • Updated old materials to modern standards, ensuring visual consistency and performance optimization.

Dream World Enhancements:

• Created new ash and ember effects for immersive Dream World ambience (including Survivor POV).

• Designed new blood effects, along with Material Instances tailored for Dream World lighting conditions.

• Implemented clock bubble material updates to improve visual clarity.

Gameplay VFX:

• Developed visual effects for:

  • Drop Dream Pallet

  • Explode Dream Pallet

  • Dream Snare (including Blue Dress Addon version)

  • Teleport Arm Burst

  • AOE Teleport Indicator

  • Clock Interactions (Niagara, Blueprint, Material updates)

    • Cooldown Erosion Timer

    • Bubble Break / Bubble Burst Cooldown Indication

  • Directional Snare Aura Effect for better in-game communication.

UI & Accessibility:

• Updated static aura placement visuals for better feedback.

• Implemented colourblind support via Blueprints across most VFX.

Clock VFX

Designed and implemented complex visual systems to support the gameplay and atmosphere of The Nightmare’s clock mechanic.

Materials & Blueprint Integration:

• Developed custom material for the Blood Bubble

• Created Blueprint-controlled material for the cooldown erosion effect, including dynamic colour transitions based on state.

Niagara VFX:

• Bubble Break VFX – Made using Niagara

• Bubble Burst (Cooldown Over) VFX – Niagara based effect to clearly indicate cooldown completion.

Additional Visuals:

• Updated blood effects using Niagara to update from Cascade.

• Added maggots/bug VFX using Niagara to update from Cascade.

Dream Snare VFX

Created and refined visual effects for the Dream Snare mechanic, enhancing gameplay clarity and thematic consistency.

• Material Development:

  • Designed a custom material for the Dream Snare

• Niagara Integration:

  • Created a dynamic ribbon effect using Niagara to visualize the snare’s spawning behaviour

Note:

• The arm VAT (Vertex Animation Texture) used in this effect was implemented by another team member in the past.

Explode Dream Pallet VFX

Crafted layered and responsive VFX to enhance the visual impact of exploding dream pallets.

Blood VFX System:

• Idle Blood: Subtle ambient blood effects to maintain tension.

• Anticipate Blood: Pre-explosion buildup using visual cues for player feedback.

• Explode Blood: High-impact burst effect to emphasize the pallet's destruction.

Supporting Elements:

• Blood Circle:

  • Custom texture created in Photoshop to add a stylized blood decal beneath the effect to aide affected radius.

• Material Enhancements:

  • Implemented Fresnel highlight updates via Blueprints to create dynamic glow and depth.

Explode Drop Pallet VFX

Designed and implemented impactful blood effects to support the Dream Pallet explosion mechanic.

Blood VFX Components:

• Idle Blood: Ambient, lingering blood elements to maintain tension before the effect triggers.

• Blood Drop Burst: Sharp, directional blood burst to emphasize the explosion moment.