Capstone
Introduction
Summary
This project served as the capstone for my college degree and lasted around four months. I worked alongside a team of five to create a game inspired by an existing title. We chose Genshin Impact as our reference but reimagined it as a 2.5D platformer to give it a unique twist. Throughout the development process, we held sprint reviews at the end of each milestone to present our progress. I’ve included buttons to explore these milestones in more detail. Additionally, we produced a trailer to showcase the game’s features and gameplay.
Project Details
- Engine: Unreal Engine 4
- Platform: Windows PC
- Level Design
- AI Scripting
- Developed over 6 months
- Role: Game Designer and Programmer
Pre-Production
Design Documentation
The first month of our capstone project was dedicated to planning and design, outside of the game engine. As a team of five designers, we collaboratively developed the game design document. We chose to base our game on Genshin Impact, designing our own version with similar mechanics and features. To ensure a strong foundation, we conducted a competitive analysis of Genshin Impact to fully understand its functionality and core design elements. Once the design document was complete, it was reviewed and graded by our professor, and passing this stage was essential to move forward with the next phase of the project.
Jira Ticket Creation
While primarily a project management task, creating and maintaining Jira boards was a crucial part of our workflow. I was responsible for creating various tickets to track my tasks and progress throughout the project. These tickets allowed me to stay organized and ensure that my contributions were clear and measurable. We also utilized the time tracking feature to log the amount of time spent on each ticket during every sprint, helping us monitor our productivity and maintain an efficient development process.
Gameplay
Character Swapping
One of the key features of the game was the ability to switch between multiple characters. Initially, I faced some challenges implementing this, but I eventually resolved them. Each character had their own health bar, so I had to ensure that if a character died, the game would automatically switch to another active character. Additionally, I had to implement a system that prevented the player from switching to a character that had already been defeated, ensuring a smooth and logical gameplay experience.
Healing Pad
I added a small but important feature: healing pads that could be placed throughout the levels. When the player walks onto a healing pad, it restores their health to full. Additionally, the healing pad also revives any dead characters in the player's party, providing a strategic element to the gameplay by encouraging players to manage their characters' health and positioning.
Enemy AI
I designed and developed several specialized enemies with unique abilities, setting them apart from the smaller slime enemies featured in the game.
Large Ice Slime
The Large Ice Slime inflicts an ice elemental status effect on the player upon contact. Unlike regular slimes, it has a distinct attack pattern, periodically shooting ice shards that not only damage the player but also apply the ice effect. Additionally, the Ice Slime is vulnerable to fire attacks, providing players with a strategic weakness to exploit.
Large Earth Slime
The Large Earth Slime inflicts an earth elemental status effect on the player upon contact. Similar to the Large Ice Slime, it has a unique attack. Occasionally, the Earth Slime will leap into the air and slam down, causing earth spikes to erupt from the ground. These spikes not only damage the player but also apply the earth elemental effect, adding an extra layer of challenge.
Large Electro Slime
The final enemy I worked on was the Large Electro Slime. Like the other slimes, it has a unique ability and applies its respective elemental effect to the player. Its special attack involves creating a large electric sphere around itself, which damages the player and inflicts the electro element. This attack adds another layer of strategy, as players must avoid the sphere to prevent taking both damage and the elemental effect.
Closing Thoughts
This project marked the culmination of my college career, bringing together everything I learned throughout my degree. I gained valuable insights, particularly during the pre-production phase. This was the first time I created a game design document, and I appreciated how Full Sail structured the capstone to mirror the actual game development life cycle.
In conclusion, this project taught me so much and has significantly influenced the way I approach future projects.