Malware Detected
Global Game Jam 2026
Roles
Everything
Year
2025
Engine
Unreal Engine 5
Platform
PC
A short experimental, systems-driven game focused on interacting with a computer interface as a virus gradually escalates and interferes with player input. Log in to delete the virus before it destroys your computer.
Malware Detected was developed as a systems-driven experiment to push my understanding of Blueprint architecture beyond traditional level-based design. Rather than focusing on environment or exploration, I used this project to explore layered mechanics, UI-driven gameplay, and controlled state progression. It allowed me to strengthen my modular Blueprint structuring, improve how I separate system logic from presentation, and develop more scalable, maintainable frameworks. This project marked a shift in how I approach design, thinking less in isolated features and more in interconnected systems.
The Blueprint structure for Malware Detected was heavily centred around UI-driven systems and controlled state transitions. A major focus of development was building a layered widget architecture rather than relying on isolated, temporary UI elements. Instead of spawning and destroying individual widgets per interaction, I created a more persistent widget framework that managed visibility, state changes, and progression through controlled variables and event-driven updates.
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One of the key technical challenges was preventing widget conflicts and ensuring clean execution flow as multiple systems interacted. To resolve this, I implemented structured communication between widgets and core Blueprint logic using custom events and clearly defined state variables, avoiding circular dependencies and unintended overlaps. I also focused on separating display logic from system logic, ensuring UI updates were driven by underlying gameplay states rather than hardcoded triggers.
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This project significantly strengthened my understanding of Blueprint architecture within UI-heavy systems, particularly around state management, scalability, and maintaining clean, readable graph structures as complexity increased.