Sep 2021 - Apr 2022
Rapid Ride Fight
Project Duration: 6 Months
Product: Multiplayer Capture the Flag Game Tools used: Blender, Photoshop, Figma, Substance Painter, Unreal Engine 4 & Custom Game Engine Team Size: 10 |
Level Design, UI/UX Design, Branding
Producer / 3D Artist / Game Designer |
Project Overview
The goal was to work with a team of at least 6 interdisciplinary students to produce an interactive 3D game within six months using a proprietary engine developed by the team.
My team have took the opportunity to challenge ourselves by working on a multiplayer game with boats and water physics. In this project, I worked as the game director/producer where I focused on creating the 3D assets, UE4 prototype, cinematic, UI/UX, one level design, marketing materials, and managing production expectations.
My team have took the opportunity to challenge ourselves by working on a multiplayer game with boats and water physics. In this project, I worked as the game director/producer where I focused on creating the 3D assets, UE4 prototype, cinematic, UI/UX, one level design, marketing materials, and managing production expectations.
Game Overview
In this game, players play as either the red or white team boat where they battle against each other to conquer the remaining lands of flooded Singapore through a capture the flag match. The team with the highest points after the time is up will be the winner. Points can be earned from doing stunts, destroying boats, and capturing the enemies flag.
Game Prototype
While the technical members of the team work on the custom game engine, I work closely with another designer to create a prototype in Unreal Engine 4. First we constructed a level to test the speed and movement of the boat (left image). After getting a sense for the boat moving speed, we started to block out the arena (right image) to have a feel for how large or small the space should be, and organized playtest sessions within the team.
Level Design
I have came up with the level design for one of the playable level (Chinatown arena). Below is the arena mapped out with each grid unit = 1 boat length. Additionally, I have also documented my thoughts and intentions for each space as well as game flow.
Main Menu Screen Flow (UI/UX)
I expressed the user flow for the game upon launch on the whiteboard by drawing out all the screens that would be seen in the game to ensure that the technical team aligns with the game screen flow and is able to implement the necessary feature in the game engine within the project timeframe. After which, I created a mockups using Figma for better visualization.
In-game UI
For the in-game UI, I started by referencing capture the flag games that exist in the market and blocked out the UI using simple shapes to have a quick feel of it. Here are some of the mockups I have did for visualization.
Game Trailer
It has been a fruitful experience
Overall, I felt that this project have been scoped nicely for the given timeline and within the team's capability. While it's not perfect, I am proud that the team had managed to deliver what we have planned for and overcome the challenges that had arise along the way together.
I have learned that:
I have learned that:
- It is crucial to have playtest session whenever possible so that gameplay bugs can be identified and resolved early. This is even more true when making a multiplayer game - many of the bugs were network related and would take even longer to identify.
- During playtesting session, it is useful to have recordings of all players. This will allow the team to identify gameplay bugs quickly and effectively.
- It's okay to have changes and to feel uncomfortable along the way. That's how we know we are learning and growing. Have faith and trust the process.
© 2020 by Chu Rui Heng. All rights reserved.