One Foot In The Grave
The Project: First person shooter utilizing a fast pace and special ghost powers
Contribution: Concept, design, iteration, programming
Design Focus: Systems, gameplay, combat
Tools: Unreal 5, Blueprints
Sound on!
Design Challenges
- Designing encounters that balanced gunplay and special abilities
- Keeping combat fast-paced without frustrating players with overpowered enemies, or trivializing combat with overpowered special abilities
Trap Lab
The Project: First person puzzle shooter challenging players to tag enemies with their marker gun, and lure them into environmental traps
Contribution: Concepted, designed, and iterated on first person puzzle shooter
Design Focus: Level, mechanics, and gameplay
Tools: Unreal 5, Blueprints
Narrative: The player is trapped aboard a derelict space craft and must unravel the mystery of their identity and the purpose of the Trap Lab. Dimly lit hallways and abandoned lab equipment curate an unnerving atmosphere
Environmental Combat: Players use a marker gun and lure enemies into traps, making victory dependent on creative problem-solving rather than traditional shooting mechanics.
The Design Challenge: Giving the player what looks like a traditional fps gun, and teaching them to use it in a completely different way than all FPS games that came before it
Lessons Learned
- Expectations for what your tools/guns can and can't do in a puzzle shooter must be set immediately
- Blending too many elements from the shooter and puzzle genre, especially as it relates to combat, can lead to the game having an identity crisis, and players being confused and frustrated
Depths of Sanity
The Project: First person narrative driven adventure where you guide Captain Macdonald through a strange and ghostly underwater world
Contribution: Developed GDD, designed gameplay mechanics, environment design, and level design
Tools: Unreal 5, Blueprints
Mystery: Players explore the ocean's depths, uncovering strange and beautiful creatures and landscapes.
Sample Collection: Players navigate the sub to designated points on the map, collect samples using the drone, and log the findings on the onboard computer.Hallucinations: Each sample collection triggers a hallucination, which the player must manage by looking out the porthole to lower the panic meter. The hallucinations grow more intense with each sample, culminating in a final, overwhelming hallucination after the third sample.