Arcade Paradise is a business simulation game developed by Nosebleed Interactive and published by Wired Productions. The player is put in the shoes of Ashley, a teenager left in charge of her dad's laundromat, with a dream to turn the business into a retro arcade. The player has to complete various tasks, such as doing laundry, cleaning the toilet, and picking up gum, to make money and buy arcade machines. Each arcade machine is fully playable and earns money, allowing the player to steadily grow the business and eventually convert it from a laundromat to a popular retro arcade.
The UI in Arcade Paradise not only complements the retro theme of the game but also greatly enhances the gameplay by making mundane chores feel like rewarding minigames. The UI design of each arcade machine within Arcade Paradise authentically embody the design styles of retro arcade games, with design elements such as neon colours, CRT screen effects, pixelated fonts, and 32-bit illustrations. The game also feels very immersive due to its frequent use of diegetic UI, such as a blueprint map to change the locations of arcade machines and a handheld device to manage various aspects of the business.
Main Menu
The design of the main menu takes inspiration from retro arcade machines, with the use of pixelated fonts, neon colours, a CRT effect, glitch effects and retro sound effects.
Tasks for the Day
At the beginning of a day within the game, the player is presented with 3 tasks to complete in order to earn money, which can be used to purchase upgrades, and records for the jukebox. The to-do list acts as short-term motivation for the player, while also contributing to the long-term goal of converting the laundromat into an arcade. The player can check their to-do list on their handheld device anytime throughout the day.
Laundry
Spatial UI elements, such as pixeleated illustrations of clothes and bubbles, appear when the player is loading or unloading laundry, adding to the retro and fun personality of the game. The player is also awarded with a rank of S, A, B, or C for each load of laundry they complete, depending on how fast they complete it. This adds a sense of competition to what would otherwise be a mundane task, and keeps gameplay fresh as the player recieves a higher payout for a higher ranked load of laundry.
Arcade Machine Games
Each game within the laundromat is a fully fledged and playable video game, with multiple levels, goals, and unique UI, inspired by iconic retro and modern games such as Pac-Man, Pong, and air hockey.
Picking up Trash
When the player picks up a piece of trash, an icon pops up indicating how full the trash bag is. When a piece of trash is picked up, a phrase such as 'radical' or 'gnarly appears, along with the trash moving and rotating before being thrown away, making the action feel more rewarding, fitting the retro game theme.
Throwing Out Trash
Throwing a trash bag in the bin feels more like a minigame than a mundane task, because the player has to time their throw right to hit the target and receive a high ranking which gives them a higher payout.
Cleaning the Toilet
The process of cleaning the toilet in the laundromat is also designed to feel like a minigame, as the player has to find the sweet spot when plunging to inflict enough damage to the toilet to unblock it.
Diegetic Watch
The watch enables the player to check the time and notifies them when they receive a message, when the washing machine or dryer is done, and when the toilet is blocked. Since the watch is diegetic UI, it provides the player with information while also keeping them immersed in gameplay. The watch appearing for notifications can sometimes obstruct the view of arcade gameplay, however, this acts as further incentive for the player to earn money to upgrade the watch to one that doesn't have notifications.
Picking up Gum
Similar to throwing away trash, when picking up gum, the player has to time their action correctly to determine the power of their pull and pick up the gum faster to receive a reward.
Fixing Arcade Machines
To fix arcade machines, the player has to remove bugs from the machine's circuit board, making the action feel more like a minigame rather than a mundane task.
Office Computer
The UI design of the computer in the laundromat's office is inspired by the retro operating software, Windows 95, adding to the retro style of the game and ensuring player immersion.
Handheld Device
Instead of having a basic pause menu, Arcade Paradise has a diegetic pause menu in the form of a retro handheld device known as the PocketPauser 3. The device enables the player to manage their arcade machines, access their daily to-do list, see a graph of income and popularity, access the game settings, and more, all while keeping them immersed within the game world.
Emptying Hoppers
Instead of the income generated by arcades and token machines being automatically added to the laundromat's income, the player has to empty the hoppers of each machine and add the money to the safe in the office. This process feels more rewarding than the money being added automatically, and also enables the player to see how much money each machine makes. The player can then use the PocketPauser 3 to alter the settings of arcade machines, such as their difficulties and prices per play, to try to generate more income.
Office Safe
The simple action of adding money to the safe also feels like a minigame, as the player has to turn the dial left and right to trigger a rumble and enter the correct 3-digit combination and deposit money.
Blueprint Map
The player uses a diegetic blueprint map to move the location of arcade machines, enabling them to customise their arcade and improve the popularity of arcades, as placing a popular game next to a less popular game increases the popularity of the less popular game.
End of the Day
To finish the day, the player has to walk to the bus stop opposite the laundromat and get a bus back home. At the end of each day, the player is shown how much money they have made from the arcade, laundromat, and maintenance that day, along with how many daily objectives they completed.
Semester 3 Learning Agreement: : Western Project (UI Design) Research + Development Blog Posts: Week 1: Planning the Looting System Week 2: Design Characteristics of the Western Genre Week 3 + 4: Collecting Inspiration Week 5 + 6: Initial Concepts Week 7: Creating the Western Prototype in UE5 (Part 1) Week 8: Creating the Western Prototype in UE5 (Part 2) Week 9: Creating the Western Prototype in UE5 (Part 3) Week 10: Creating Loot Icons Week 11: Adding Pop-Up UI Elements Week 12 + 13: Creating Mission Passed/Failed UI Week 14: Improving the Lighting + Final Touches Knight Light (UX Design) Research + Development
At the start of semester 2, I had no prior experience with Unreal Engine 5. To broaden my skillset, I set a goal to learn the fundamentals of the engine and create functional UI elements within the engine, each with a unique design style. I initially planned to create a health bar, speedometer, and item collection counter; however, as I became more confident using Unreal Engine 5, I shifted my focus towards creating more complex UI prototypes tailored to three distinct game concepts, each with unique genres, themes, and gameplay. To achieve this, I dedicated most of semester 2 to learning about Blueprint scripting within Unreal Engine 5 in preparation for creating my 3 UI prototypes in semester 3. Learning UE5: Throughout semester 2, I used tutorials and courses to learn the fundamentals of Unreal Engine, and then applied this knowledge by creating a variety of systems within Unreal Engine, such as health bars, door animations, item pickups, and more. Creating a book of common nod...
Creating a New Level I created a new level and called it 'my_saloon', and then I imported the following assets that I will use to build the environment: Saloon Interior , Old West VOL.1 - Interior Furniture , Old West - VOL 2 - Tradesmen Tools and Props , Old West VOL.3 - Travel Supplies and Goods , Old West - VOL 4 - Goods and Supplies , Old West - VOL 5 - Town Props and Old West VOL. 6 - Town and Industrial . I then used the modular wall meshes from Saloon Interior to start building the layout of the saloon. Creating the HUD I created a simple crosshair widget by adding a small white box and aligning it to the centre of the canvas panel. In the character blueprint, I used a 'Create Widget' and 'Add to Viewport' node to make the crosshair visible at the start of play. I promoted the return value to a variable so I can reference the HUD widget later. Creating a Working Door To enable the player to pass through an open door, I had to...
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