Meet The Team... Joshua Clay - Winchester Mystery House - UI & 3D Design
Dirtypool Pinball - PODCAST - An Exploration Of The Pinball IndustryShow Notes
The first in a new series diving into the artists, engineers, and mad scientists behind Winchester Mystery House. We sit down with UI artist, 3D modeller, and graphic designer Joshua Clay to talk about what it takes to shape the look and feel of Barrels of Fun’s most ambitious game yet. From haunting interface layouts to the subtle textures that bring the mansion’s ghostly charm to life — this episode opens the door to the minds that built the house.🔺 Praise the Great Pyramid:📡 Twitch – twitch.tv/dirtypoolpinball📺 YouTube – youtube.com/@dirtypoolpinball📷 Instagram – instagram.com/dirtypoolpinball📘 Facebook – facebook.com/dirtypoolpinball00:00:00 - Cold open and the idea behind “Meet the Team…”00:01:02 - Introducing Joshua Clay and his creative role00:02:11 - Why the Winchester Mystery House fits pinball perfectly00:03:05 - From Dune’s desert to Winchester’s hallways: shifting tone00:04:09 - Building rooms from reference photos and architectural plans00:05:02 - How to give each room personality through 3D lighting00:06:17 - Modeling tricks learned from gaming UI projects00:07:25 - Adapting mobile design instincts to pinball readability00:08:13 - The rotating turntable—what it adds to the gameplay experience00:09:04 - Getting motion and texture right on the spinning floor00:10:27 - Collaboration between 3D art and mechanical design00:11:18 - Music, sound, and visuals syncing across modes00:12:35 - Ghost shader experiments and the “spectral fog” look00:14:10 - The eerie charm of the planchette animation00:15:39 - Why Winchester’s visual tone avoids clichés of “haunted” games00:16:53 - Giving players orientation through UI glow and camera framing00:18:05 - Why the team went pre-rendered instead of real-time00:19:12 - Tools of the trade—Blender pipelines, lighting templates, and asset reuse00:20:26 - Voice-over direction and the concept of a haunted tour guide00:22:01 - Early concepts that didn’t make the cut (and why)00:23:15 - Using color cues for different areas of the mansion00:25:07 - The challenge of layering UI over a busy playfield00:27:14 - When readability trumps realism in pinball design00:29:46 - Working with Karl DeAngelo to balance clarity and mystery00:32:02 - Ghost animations that behave differently per room00:34:10 - Special effects inspired by old horror films00:36:20 - How shadows became storytelling devices00:39:33 - Scene transitions that match game rhythm and music beats00:42:18 - The evolution of the match sequence on the planchette00:45:41 - Fine-tuning glow intensity for llighting00:47:50 - Making each mode feel like its own short film00:50:11 - Expo debut and reactions from players seeing the visuals live00:53:06 - Last-minute bug hunts and shader optimizations00:55:39 - Lessons learned moving from still renders to gameplay integration00:58:12 - The emotional payoff: when the house feels alive01:00:27 - What Joshua’s most proud of in the final build01:03:19 - Looking ahead01:05:46 - Closing reflections and the philosophy behind good pinball design01:07:20 - Credits, laughter, and post-show wrap-up#DirtyPoolPinball #WinchesterMysteryHouse #BarrelsOfFun #Pinball #PinballMachine #PinballCommunity #PinballPodcast #PinballInterview #GameDesign #3DModeling #UIArt #GameArt #HauntedHouse #RetroGaming #Arcade #PinballLife #PinballTalk #ArcadeCulture #GamingCommunity #PinballDesigner #GamingArt #HauntedPinball #GameGraphics #BehindTheScenes #PinballAddict #ArtOfPinball #PinballHistory #PinballWorld #PinballStory
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