PROJECT ROLE

▧ Creating the Player Controls for the Jetpack-Fueled Movement.
▧ Bringing the Waffle Iron Enemy to life.
▧ Collaborating on the Weapons System.

As a student technical game designer, I wore a bunch of different hats throughout the development of Sugar Blast. I worked on various design aspects ranging from the core player movement to individual weapon and enemy design. My key responsibilities were:

PLAYER CONTROLS FOR THE JETPACK-FUELED MOVEMENT

Early Concepting
In a smaller strike team, we concepted some candy-themed ideas for an advanced player movement set. I took the ideas and made quick prototypes for these, as seen on the right.

▧ Soda-Pack, a Jetpack fueled by carbonated drinks.
▧ Licorice Lasso, a candy grappling hook.
▧ BubbleGum Backpack, a simple soaring device.

Research and Playtesting
I researched other games with Jetpacks to get a good idea on how they created their jetpack mechanics, controls and accompanying gameplay. Additionally, I put the prototype in front of playtesters to get feedback on player inputs, project opportunities and risks.

Metrics and Iterations
As the team progressed, we locked down the metrics for the player movement, allowing for the level designers to further design the maps.
I built a gym-level in which we could easily test and finalize these variables.

I worked on 2 level design ingredients: the Soda fountain and the soda can pick-ups, which refuel the players' jetpack energy bar.

Inspired by the iconic Dead Space 2, I experimented with Diegetic UI elements for the Jetpack, showcasing the amount fuel left on the player themselves, instead of on the HUD.

Art Integration and Fine-tuning
I worked together with the artists on the team and implemented the final models and animations inside Unreal Engine, bringing their hard work together with the gameplay created. I playtested the jetpack further, to get the feel of the jetpack right.

BRINGING THE WAFFLE IRON ENEMY TO LIFE

Early Concepting
Early into the project, I created a concept for the Waffle Iron enemy. I wanted to create a design that fulfilled the following criteria:

▧ The enemy should only require a few, easy to make, animations, given the limited time and resources on the team.
▧ The enemy should fit the style of the game, given the overrun candy factory theming.
▧ The enemy should create distinct gameplay moments when used in different quantities.
▧ The enemy should be able to keep up in its' attacks (and movement), with the fast-paced jetpack-fueled player movement.

This was the initial concept I came up with:

Initial Prototype and First Round of Playtesting
I presented the concept to the team and we decided to continue forward with it, I then created a prototype for the waffle iron enemy. The enemy fires projectiles in arc at the player, and jumps away from the player when it gets too close, or too far away.

I then playtested this protoype, which highlighted some of the flaws in the concept. Most notably, the launching movement of the enemy was too unpredictable for players. Enemies were constantly repositioning themselves with the fast player movement, making them frustrating to keep track off, effectively target, and shoot at.

Return to Research
The initial prototype showed both positives and negatives. I decided to take a step back and researched enemy AI navigation in Unreal Engine, given that our enemies had to accomodate for the fast player movement in 3D spaces with plenty of verticality options.

The Flying Prototype
The research done on AI navigation was used for the Baker Bot enemy, while I decided to prototype and test a basic flying enemy AI. Instead of using full-on pathfinding, it relied on simple line-traces and distance checks to the player to find a suitable target location and slowly move there with the projectile movement component. Additionally, I replaced the default Unreal Engine mannequin with a 3D block-out of the enemy visuals.

Playtesting this new prototype in available game maps got great feedback. The open layouts of the level design allowed this simple flying movement to work without major issues. I iterated on some of the enemy movement metrics and logic, to make them a little bit "smarter", and avoiding them occasionally getting stuck behind terrain.

Final Iteration
I further balanced the Waffle Iron enemy through playtesting. As the waffle iron enemy made itself to its' final iteration, it also got the updated visuals from the project artists. It was awesome seeing the enemy come to life!

Lastly, I created a pipeline document, allowing team members to easily create new enemy blueprints using an inheritence system, and setting up naming conventions for all enemy-related game files

COLLABORATING ON THE WEAPONS SYSTEM

Early Prototypes and Concepts
For Sugar Blast, we initially were hoping to create quite a few different weapons. Players would be able to swap between these weapons effortlessly as combat encounters were tackled.

I prototyped a radial weapon selection prototype, inspired by games such as Ratchet and Clank and Grand Theft Auto.





I created two weapon concepts for the game:
▧ The Banana Splitter
▧ The Soda-Guided Gun

Weapon Implementation Research
To be able to create a decent amount of weapons for the game, I researched weapon implementation methods in Unreal Engine

Functionality, Playtesting and Balancing
Together with the other technical designers in the team, we playtested and balanced the different weapons,
Additionally I built functionality for the BubbleGun weapon alternative fire.

Looking back at the development of Sugar Blast, I am happy with the results. I had a great time working together with the team. The Soda-pack, Waffle Iron enemy, and Weapons were so amazing to see come to life this project. Big shout-out to the artists!

For myself, I learned a lot about combat design, especially in 3D spaces with all these vertical movement options added to the mix, whether it was the player movement, enemy design, level design or all the other challenges that came with this third-person shooter.

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