Introduction
Little Red Riding Hood is a third-person action-adventure built in UEFN, inspired by the classic fairy tale. It's split into three levels, each with its own atmosphere and mechanic that evolves the story, complete with its own cutscenes and voice acting.
My Roles:
Little Red Riding Hood is a solo project. I handled the full experience end-to-end, with collaborators contributing voice performance only.
Level Design: designed three standalone levels with distinct mechanics, atmospheres, and difficulty curves, supported by a level design document and flow map for each chapter
Quest Design: built and sequenced all objectives, triggers, and progression systems in UEFN
Narrative Design: adapted the source material into interactive beats, redesigned key story moments for gameplay, and directed cutscene structure and dialogue
System Implementation: implemented all gameplay systems including dialogue management, item mechanics, AI companion, countdown timer, and cinematic toolset
Level Design
Three Levels, Three Mechanics
Level 1, The Farmlands & Mill: bright, open, and clearly signposted; cutscene-driven and deliberately relaxed as an onboarding level that establishes the world before any tension sets in
Level 2, The Forest: a closed nighttime loop where the final key item is carriable, but holding it blocks attacking and slows movement, and a jump on the return route forces players through new terrain while encumbered; players can stay stealthy or drop the item to fight and pick it back up, opened up after playtesting showed a stealth-only path felt too restrictive
Level 3, Inside the Wolf: a decaying pocket dimension on a countdown timer, fighting free alongside grandmother as a companion, ending in the game's biggest boss fight
Quest Design
Sequencing Objectives Across Three Chapters
Wrote a level design document and flow map for each chapter, mapping every encounter, beat, and narrative moment in sequence before building
Sequenced objectives in UEFN using the task tracker, trigger volumes, item granter, and dialogue managers
Playtested after each level and iterated: trimmed sections that ran too long, patched out-of-bounds areas, and rebalanced difficulty spikes
Connected all three levels through a central lobby with portals, keeping each level modular and independently testable
Narrative Design
Adapting a Fairy Tale for Interactive Play
Kept the original structure (departure, encounter, consumption, escape), but redesigned how each beat plays out
The wolf becomes Mr. Lupin, met through direct dialogue instead of a monster encounter
Rewrote the ending: the source material gives Red no agency, so instead she and grandmother fight their way out together, turning a passive rescue into an earned escape
Each level opens and closes with cutscenes and voiced dialogue, delivering story context at natural pause points without competing with gameplay
Technical Design
Managing Systems Across Three Levels
Level 2 patrol AI: manually set paths control sightlines and pressure in the stealth section
Level 3 companion AI: runs on UEFN's native bodyguard AI for grandmother, paired with a countdown timer and environmental damage volumes
Cutscenes: lock player input during cinematic volumes and time camera track transitions to keep characters from wandering into frame or moving erratically during playback