Pastry Panzer Panic!
Engine: Unreal
Job(s): Level Designer, World Building, Set Dressing, Compositing, Low Poly Modeling & Texturing, Project Management
Duration: 4 months
Team Size: 21
Job(s): Level Designer, World Building, Set Dressing, Compositing, Low Poly Modeling & Texturing, Project Management
Duration: 4 months
Team Size: 21
Pastry Panzer Panic is a fast-paced, 3rd.person, tank-combat game developed by Dysanian Dawn Studios - a team of 21 students from the University of Central Florida. Over a period of four months, we collaborated, designed and produced a single-player 3rd person shooter where players take control of Betty Bombshell, the game's protagonist, in unique restaurant themed tanks to battle it out and prove who is the best chef on the street. The player blasts through Cornucopia City completing objectives, defeating fast food foes and travels throughout various districts of the city whilst changing between the three tank classes available. The different tanks, objectives, and level variations present different solutions to overcome a variety of unique challenges.
The gallery above contains images of various environments I designed, set dressed and composited using assets from the art team and tools in Unreal. It was important and a challenge to keep the feeling of being inside of an industrial district while providing an immersive and challenging experience.
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The goal of this game was to create four distinct levels that each cater to the specific play styles of the four playable tanks. For this level I designed, the tank featured is the heavy tank which a slow moving, mortar firing behemoth that deals AOE splash damage. So to properly facilitate game-play that caters towards the mechanics of the heavy tank, it was important to keep in mind how I can test the player's use of it's mechanics through providing challenges through the three scenarios that are present in this level. I worked iteratively on the level's pacing by adjusting each objective scenario and sections in between to fit the intended design. In whitebox and after asset implementation, the level went through extensive playtesting to balance enemy encounters and the allowed amount of space the player can navigate on while in an objective area. I also took into account balancing the right amount of horizontal and vertical aiming the player has to make while fighting in objective scenarios so that the challenge of needing to know how to aim the heavy tank's lob shot became more of a necessity. |
Now Museum, Now You Don't
Engine: Unreal
Job(s): Level Designer, World Building, Set Dressing, Compositing, Design Lead, Project Management.
Duration: 4 months.
Team Size: 9
Now Museum Now You Don't is a 3rd person 3D stealth/action game developed by The Curators - a team of nine students from the University of Central Florida. Over a period of four months, we created a multi-level game that pits the player against robotic guards. They must use quick wit and subtle movements to make sure they aren't caught before reaching the end of each level. Throughout each level, different scenarios may arise that can aid the player in their ongoing discovery of the museum's layout or they may find enhancements to their gun that effect the guards in different ways.
Job(s): Level Designer, World Building, Set Dressing, Compositing, Design Lead, Project Management.
Duration: 4 months.
Team Size: 9
Now Museum Now You Don't is a 3rd person 3D stealth/action game developed by The Curators - a team of nine students from the University of Central Florida. Over a period of four months, we created a multi-level game that pits the player against robotic guards. They must use quick wit and subtle movements to make sure they aren't caught before reaching the end of each level. Throughout each level, different scenarios may arise that can aid the player in their ongoing discovery of the museum's layout or they may find enhancements to their gun that effect the guards in different ways.
The entire architecture was first drafted onto a grided blueprint, which was made within the design team of The Curators. After architecture was built through white boxing inside of Unreal, assets from the art team were placed and arranged to fit multiple scenes.
Originally, the level had one single height. Through player testing we found that by having the height of the ceiling vary througout the level not only enhanced the feel of being inside of a museum, but also gave the player a much better sense of navigation. I also placed various landmarks throughout the level so the player can make a better image of their area. This helped the player use the landmarks to help gauge their navigation through the environment. After assets were placed, lighting was then added to the scene. Sticking to a stealthy/mischievous ambience proved to be a challenge. However, through multiple iterations, I was successful with balancing the right amount of lights and darks. |
Cellular Decimation
Engine: Unity
Job(s): Level Designer, Gameplay Designer, Audio Designer, Design Lead, Producer
Duration: 4 months
Team Size: 4
Cellular Decimation is a top down action game with singleplayer and multiplayer modes developed over the course of four months at the University of Central Florida. Inspired by the classic Atari 2600 game Warlords, Cellular Decimation is targeted for children and adults who yearn for a casual competitive experience. The game shares an art style with the children's book “Lost and Found” by Oliver Jeffers, utilizing a soft color palette and graphics reminiscent of watercolor painting. Cellular Decimation also appeals to teachers and parents due to its educational potential of teaching children the basics of cell structure and how a cell defends itself from an intruding virus.
Job(s): Level Designer, Gameplay Designer, Audio Designer, Design Lead, Producer
Duration: 4 months
Team Size: 4
Cellular Decimation is a top down action game with singleplayer and multiplayer modes developed over the course of four months at the University of Central Florida. Inspired by the classic Atari 2600 game Warlords, Cellular Decimation is targeted for children and adults who yearn for a casual competitive experience. The game shares an art style with the children's book “Lost and Found” by Oliver Jeffers, utilizing a soft color palette and graphics reminiscent of watercolor painting. Cellular Decimation also appeals to teachers and parents due to its educational potential of teaching children the basics of cell structure and how a cell defends itself from an intruding virus.
The challenge for this project was to take an Atari 2600 game and turn it into a modern casual game. My team and I chose Warlords, an old tower defense game that had each player on a corner of the map. Similar to the gameplay in the video above, each player has to defend their towers from a ball that could be hit by opposing players.
Coming up with the idea to use cells as the towers and their cilia as their defense weapon stemmed from the foundation of the idea for this project: catering it towards children. While keeping the idea of making something educational and simple in mind, transitioning to cells and viruses from castles and intruders, as in Warlords, felt like the best fit. This is because the way cilia act and how cell membranes work brought forth unique opportunities for mechanics. The cilia works as a double pendulum that picks up momentum the more it's swung around. Mastering the pendulum can be difficult, but extremely rewarding when the player times their hits correctly. |
Count Mandecrowe
Engine: Unreal
Job(s): Level Designer, Set Dressing, Compositing, Narrative
Duration: 2 weeks
Team Size: 3
Count Mandecrowe is a first person narrative experience developed over the course of four months at the University of Central Florida. This project was made for a production class not directly catered towards game development, but rather how game engines can be used as a medium for which to tell a story. It's still currently in development and is being planned to be released for VR.
Job(s): Level Designer, Set Dressing, Compositing, Narrative
Duration: 2 weeks
Team Size: 3
Count Mandecrowe is a first person narrative experience developed over the course of four months at the University of Central Florida. This project was made for a production class not directly catered towards game development, but rather how game engines can be used as a medium for which to tell a story. It's still currently in development and is being planned to be released for VR.
The idea of the story is that you're playing as someone inside of somebody else's subconscious. I felt the best approach to show this visually was to use surrealism as a reference to better help immerse the player. Due to limited access to technology in the class, I used Unreal 4's pre-loaded assets. I combined different textures, particle effects and lights to create an environment that makes the player feel like their walking through a dream or alternate dimension. I also focused on trying to create an ambience that's unnerving, but also keeps the player interested in learning about the environment as the story progresses.
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