SLEEP AWAKE

Yitong Hu

Aug 12

3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Technical Designer · EYES OUT

SLEEP AWAKE is a first-person psychological horror game published by Blumhouse Games, built around atmosphere, tension, and the unstable boundary between sleep and waking.

As Technical Designer, I worked across gameplay systems, UI architecture, puzzles, interactive storytelling, and production-facing tools and workflows—bridging creative design intent with robust, player-facing implementation.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Role: Technical Designer

Studio: EYES OUT

Publisher: Blumhouse Games

Engine: Unreal Engine 4

Platforms: PC (Steam) · PlayStation 5 · Xbox Series X|S

Genre: First-Person · Psychological Horror · Narrative · Single Player

Core Focus: Gameplay Systems · UI Systems · Puzzle Design · Interactive Storytelling

Tools: Unreal Engine 4 · Blueprint · C++ · Perforce · UGS · JIRA · Codecks · Adobe Photoshop · Adobe Illustrator

UI SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE & IMPLEMENTATION

A major part of my work on SLEEP AWAKE was building and maintaining the game's UI systems.

I helped establish the UI architecture from the ground up, integrating artist-created assets into Unreal Engine and translating visual designs into functional, reusable interfaces. The work covered UI flows, state handling, player feedback, and connections between interface elements and underlying gameplay systems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrE2XMaEOqg

Working with the Lead Engineer, I also helped transition portions of the UI logic from C++ into Blueprint and Widget Blueprints. This made UI functionality more accessible to designers and supported faster iteration as the project evolved.

My UI work extended beyond presentation: many interfaces needed to communicate directly with gameplay states, progression systems, inventory data, objectives, tutorials, and other player-facing systems.

Selected UI work included:

UI architecture and implementation
Widget Blueprint development
UI flow and state management
Gameplay-to-UI communication
Player feedback
Integration of UI art assets
Iteration and production support

GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS & CINEMATIC SEQUENCES

Beyond UI, my Technical Design work on SLEEP AWAKE extended across gameplay and meta systems, puzzles, character behaviors, and cinematic sequences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAuxO7qsdZ8&t

I designed and implemented interconnected systems supporting quests and objectives, tutorials and onboarding, lore discovery, item collection and inventory, player states and skills, achievements, and localization. Many of these features crossed the boundaries between gameplay logic, UI, narrative content, progression state, and player feedback, requiring the different systems to work together as cohesive player-facing experiences.

My work also included puzzle and interaction design, connecting interactive objects, gameplay triggers, progression conditions, and scripted events into cinematic gameplay sequences. These moments needed to remain mechanically readable while supporting the intended pacing, atmosphere, and narrative presentation.

I developed specialized gameplay behaviors, including an anti-backtracking-and-boundary-control enemy encounter system explored during production and Bo’s companion/doppelgänger behavior.

For cinematic and narrative implementation, I connected gameplay conditions with scripted events and cinematics, supporting transitions between player interaction and authored sequences. This work frequently involved collaboration across design, engineering, narrative, art, technical art, and animation to translate creative requirements into reliable in-game experiences.

Selected work included:

Quests & Objectives
Tutorials & Onboarding
Lore Discovery
Item Collection & Inventory
Player States & Skills
Achievements & Localization
Puzzle & Interaction Design
Gameplay Triggers & Scripted Events
Character & Enemy Behaviors
Cinematic & Narrative Integration

DOCUMENTATION & PRODUCTION SUPPORT

Alongside implementation, I created and maintained documentation to support communication, iteration, and long-term system maintenance throughout production.

My documentation covered design specifications, system behavior, scripting logic, and implementation workflows. I also contributed to the organization of Blueprints, assets, and project files, helping establish conventions that made content easier to navigate, understand, and maintain across disciplines.

This work supported collaboration between design, engineering, art, narrative, and other teams while providing clearer references for systems as they evolved throughout development.

Selected contributions included: