jUNKTION
2024 - 1 month
3D Puzzle Game
PC - Unreal Engine 5 - Blueprint
Group Project of 8
Lead Game Programmer - Gameplay / Gamefeel
Pitch
Solve physical puzzles by assembling blocks and their properties. Use your deduction, but above all your creativity, to get out of this factory in a world where all human life seems to have disappeared.
4 Levels with different types of challenges
3 Blocs with various properties and combinations
30 minutes of gameplay
Gameplay
Group Composition
1 Producer / Game Designer
2 Game Designers
3 Game Programmers
2 Game Artists
MY tasks as a Lead Game PRog.
Management & distribution of tasks
As Lead Game Dev, one of my main tasks was to ensure that the team's technical tasks were well organized, prioritized and distributed according to each person's affinity and skills. I also acted as a technical referent for the other trades when it came to questions or integration related to the programmer's work.
Water Physics
As our game is physics-based, I was assigned to create a simple water physics system. Based on Archimedes' principles, I created a buoy system applicable to any object, adapting to the object's weight, and able to support the player's weight. I also incorporated the possibility of adding a current force to the water.
The biggest difficulty was to correctly apply all these principles to the set of glued blocks that the player would have to manipulate.
Objects Interactions
The interaction between manipulable objects and the environment is a key point of our gameplay.
Among other things, I was in charge of :
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Metal blocks and magnets
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Plastic and metal blocks with the reflection and refraction of a ray of light, as well as the behavior of the ray of light.
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Relationships between activating and activatable objects (pressure plates -> Door)
Elements of Gamefeel
An important part of the game was also the integration of graphic and sound assets to enhance immersion and Gamefeel. Among other things, I was in charge of creating and integrating sound assets, as well as animating certain elements, such as opening doors or polarity-changing magnets.
What were the difficulties?
- Using a recently learned game engine to make an entire demo
- Knowing what everyone is good at to efficiently distribute tasks
- As a lead programmer, respond quickly to resolve any problem others can have with the engine
What was learned from that?
- Communication is really important when someone's work is disturbed by any kind of issue
- When creating a game, a smaller scale can mean a better game than expected, a correct time & task management is key