2.5D Action Platformer
Navigate a crumbling mechanized city as fugitive mechanic Jean "JJ" Jones and her robot protector KAI, on the run from the city's robot reclamation bureau.
Project Summary
Capstone project for Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy
January 2022 - August 2023 | Unreal Engine 5.1
Team of 17 students
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7 producers
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8 artists
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4 programmers
Responsibilities
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Action blocking & Whiteboxing
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Level design & Revisions
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Set dressing & Lighting adjustment
Action Blocks & Whiteboxes
Having previous experience in both level design and Unreal Engine blueprinting, I was given the task of designing some major sections of the game.
First at a high, top-down level, with input from the narrative and level art sections, and then developing specific encounters from action blocks.
Then, combining them together with other action blocks and connective tissue to form sections of the game.
The largest example of this in the game is the Rooftops section, which comprises gameplay from the end of the factory section, until the beginning of the train section, making up about a quarter of gameplay, and comprising multiple set pieces.
I worked with the design and project leads to devise and pitch the idea of a blimp chase sequence, which would grow to become the game's major set piece, even growing beyond the rooftops section, and into a new section that became the game's finale.
Level Design & Revision
Early in development, player capabilities and the nature of combat was loosely defined, so a majority of the game's set pieces underwent at least one major revision as player capabilities were more tightly defined. As other producers moved into roles outside of level design, I oversaw major revisions for sections I and others had created, to accommodate new mechanics and ensure each section had its own focus and feel.
Checkpoint - (AKA "Jerry")
The checkpoint is one of the first set pieces designed for the game, being the first real instance of gameplay conceived for the vertical slice, and has been revised with every change to the game's control scheme and player affordances.
Initially designed as a multi-level puzzle for JJ, with laser walls to serve has barriers to bypass, and falling explosives to serve as danger, the change to having full control of both JJ and KAI necessitated a redesign that allowed them to both be useful to each other, and be in the same space while still serving different functions.
Originally redesigned as a gauntlet, with regularly sweeping lasers, feedback led to another round of redesign by me, with the goal of making a fair but still tense set piece that requires little learning.
The end result was using the lasers as a slow approaching kill plane that dynamically slows down and speeds up depending on the player's distance from it, allowing the extra time to figure out a puzzle element, while keeping the tension for people who speed through the initial section.
Factory
The factory section was initially created as a spectacle moment and a multi-level combat encounter, but the shift towards a brawler style combat and away from having the two main characters being so far apart necessitated a new purpose to the space.
Wanting to preserve what made the space feel unique in the first place, I repurposed the mechanical arms and conveyor belts, bringing them into the mid-ground to make a constantly moving space where traversal is the main challenge.
In keeping with the new focus for combat, enemies are positioned more as speed bumps and can fall victim to the level's traps just as easily as the player, in order to telegraph the threats and slow the player down enough to not be able to run straight through.
Set Dressing & Lighting
As design became solidified, producers transitioned to assisting level artists and dedicated artists with aspects of set dressing and lighting.
This largely consisted of addressing performance issues, functional visual elements such as assembling UI tutorial elements, but one notable contribution I made to the game's presentation is the design of the final title screen.
I was tasked with adding gameplay to the game's visual target shot, which was barren at the time. I reached out to the art lead and offered to create the main menu composition.
Working with the art lead, project lead, and the character artist, I received custom-posed models for the player characters and enemies, and assembled a series of compositions for the art section, making it into the game as our final title screen.