Portfolio
Here are three examples of my work on the top-down looter shooter Solar Purge from Hitscan Games. You can find more detailed examples of my work and the theory behind it in my Design Blog, and specific links will be provided at the end of each section.
Example 1 - Mission Development in an Empty Room
Example 2 - Lore Documentation
Example 3 - Dynamic Character Dialogue System
Example 1 - Mission Development in an Empty Room:
This is a mission I designed in an empty room already blocked into the level, which was causing gameplay flow problems.
Lockjaw Prison is the tutorial level of the game. It is split into two sections - a Mining Zone which focusses on teaching players basic movement and firing techniques, and the Cell Blocks, which offer an opportunity to get familiar with combat.
Even during top-down planning there was some confusion on the part of the level designer and project lead as to what exactly would happen at the midpoint of the level. (Note the question mark halfway along the green player path.)
After meeting with the level designer and project lead, we came to the consensus that we should streamline this central region into a single room, and use it as a change of pace from the tight corridors placed before and after.
Unfortunately early play testers were still dashing through the room, so I updated the level geometry into a horseshoe shape. But with three parts of the room to travel to, the player needed a reason to visit each one.
Ultimately I developed a three-stage arena encounter. We had always intended to introduce a new powerful enemy here (the Skorlac), but I also had the idea of introducing the Elite Level enemies to create a natural difficulty progression into the final part of the tutorial level.
The player enters the room and crosses the trigger, which then activates the first Prison Attendant Dialogue. Simultaneously, the player passes through the enemy trigger which spawns the first wave of the encounter.
Prison Attendant Dialogue
Blueprint Logic 1/2
Blueprint Logic 2/2
After defeating the first enemy wave, the player is prompted to head to the control console and deactivate the fans to equalize air pressure with the other side of the locked door leading out of the room.
The console's Player Interaction Component fires two lines of dialogue from the Prison Attendant. It also stops the spinning of all fans in the room, most notably the large central one.
Prison Attendant dialogue follows, and the enemy spawner is activated.
Until this point in the tutorial, no Elite Enemies have been allowed to spawn. These are hardcoded to be upgraded versions of the Security Drone enemy with extra health and abilities.
A second line of Attendant dialogue is activated as the enemy encounter begins.
Blueprint Logic 1/3
Blueprint Logic 2/3
Blueprint Logic 3/3
After defeating the second enemy wave, the player is prompted to activate the second console and open the pressure door to proceed.
Dialogue to finally introduce the level's toughest enemy is triggered; this uses the same logic as the Prison Attendant, only the mesh has been changed.
Blueprint Logic 1/4
Blueprint Logic 2/4
Blueprint Logic 3/4
As encounters with the Skorlac enemies will continue throughout the level, this trigger updates the player's objective to remind them that they are still trying to escape.
Blueprint Logic 4/4
Here we can see the final result: a room without a purpose becomes both a gameplay and storyline turning point!
”What are we going to do with this space” problems are one of my specialties!
More information is available in this design blog post.
Example 2 - Lore Documentation:
Below is a piece of lore documentation for the game’s weapons manufacturers. I produce a large number of these documents linked on our internal messaging system, which are used by level designers, musicians, artists, and during development meetings for game mechanics surrounding new enemy types and weapons.
A major feature under development at Hitscan Games is a new, more robust weapons design system. Testers, streamers, and convention attendees all tend to assign meaning to the game’s currently random weapon name generator. This new system is designed to give unique flavor to different weapon types and perks, making finding a new weapon more exciting for players.
Click the button below to view the document:
Many more examples of lore documentation are available in this design blog post.
Example 3 - Dynamic Character Dialogue System:
This is a trick I used to give NPC characters in Solar Purge the ability to respond to different player characters in different ways. A bit of legacy code in the dialogue system and an existing Get function for the current player character are combined in a simple Blueprint Component to drastically expand player interactivity!
This entire system was cobbled together from already existing code - the only new addition was the “Requirements Met” Blueprint Component created to switch between the two dialogue channels after checking against the current player character.
One of the player characters is Juggernaut, a highly advanced AI in the body of a military robot but with the personality of a 12-year-old boy. He habitually downloads files from every computer he comes across:
The NPC's standard dialogue path for most player characters.
The NPC's alternate dialogue path.
The "Requirements Met" Component attached to the Base NPC Blueprint. On the second line of character dialogue (ID 1), we check the player's character class. If it is Juggernaut, we proceed to the alternate (Failed) dialogue path.
The Engineer player character interaction 1/2.
The Engineer player character interaction 2/2.
The Juggernaut player character interaction 1/3. The NPC is still on dialogue ID 0.
The Juggernaut player character interaction 2/3. We have moved onto the alternate dialogue path!
The Juggernaut player character interaction 3/3.
In the universe of Solar Purge Humanity has been conquered by an advanced alien species, the Aesrena. Many characters feel a great deal of resentment towards aliens, and the NPC below helps to illustrate that:
The NPC's dialogue path for the two human player characters.
The NPC's dialogue path for the two non-human player characters.
This time we check from the very first line of dialogue (ID 0) and use a fall-through case. If the Engineer class is not discovered, we next check to see if the other human Stryker class is interacting. If so, the main dialogue branch is used. If not, we proceed to the alternate branch.
The human Engineer player character interaction 1/2.
The human Engineer player character interaction 2/2.
The non-human Assassin player character interaction.
A more in-depth examination of the thought process behind this can be found in this design blog post.
Thank you for taking the time to look over my portfolio! If you’re interested in contacting me please feel free to get in touch using either of the contact links below.