Blake Moore

Adventure

This project I was tasked with creating a blockmesh of a level. I then had to add in assets and replace my blockmesh. It concluded with connecting to my teammates levels. Was tasked with creating a entrance and exit transition area to connect them.

Level Design 2

On this project I had to create a new level blockmesh from scratch. I had to also create a main mechanic that would help the player progress through the level. For mine I designed a light puzzle mechanic. You had to match up beams of light to create colors to solve puzzles.

Tournamental

With Tournamental, we were given a tile based game. We only had interacting, movement, and tiles implemented to start. I was tasked with creating a mechanic to include to increase gameplay. I chose to create a Bomb Tile mechanic. We treated this project as Agile Development, so I then had to present how to create my mechanic so a classmate can implement my mechanic to their game. I had to choose a classmate and implement theirs. I chose to include a classmates Ice Tile mechanic. Combining the two, I ended up allowing the player to create ice paths with Ice Bombs.

Gained experience with Trello during this project.

Tournamental Postmortem

I was tasked with taking the core fundamentals for Tournamental and creating my own mechanic from scratch. I then had to incorporate a peer’s mechanic into mine. Then lastly, I had to create levels progressing in varying levels of difficulty. This was also a lesson in Agile development.

What Went Right:

1. Practiced Adapting to Prewritten Code: I was able to build upon my knowledge of Unreal 5. I got practice in looking into the established code of Tournamental and learned how to adapt to what was already provided for me.
2. Creating My Own Mechanic from Scratch: When I finally settled on my mechanic, I was able to implement it and have it perform its intended function. I was able to design a bomb tile that would occupy the player’s current tile. After a set amount of time it will explode, checking if any surrounding tiles can be destroyed. It would then destroy them.
3. Adapting to Instructions from a Team Member: At the halfway point I was able to pick and follow along with instructions from a peer to implement a mechanic they designed. This went smoothly.
4. Building Confidence in Expanding My Code: After adding my peer’s mechanic, I started to think of ways to combine mine and theirs. I was able to, with the knowledge of my current code, create a new type of bomb that functions similarly to the normal bomb. This one would check and freeze water, implementing my peers ice tile mechanic, allowing me to create paths.

What Went Wrong:

1. Initial Plans Not Working Out: I initially wanted to create a hook shot mechanic that would pull the player over harmful obstacles. I found that I couldn’t implement this fast enough for my time limit so I had to scrap the idea and come up with a new mechanic.
2. Technical Difficulties: I ran into an issue where my Unreal Engine was opening multiple instances of itself in the background without me realizing. This would cause it to not save my current work properly. By the time I figured it out I had holes in my coding.
3. Starting Fresh: After realizing the issue with my client I had to scrap everything and start fresh. Doing this allowed me to apply what I learned while working the mechanic out originally so I was able to clean up my coding. Silver lining, I suppose.
4. Looked at the Fundamental Code Wrong: When I first started building the original mechanic, I kept looking at it like any other project, as basic physics based. I didn’t fully grasp the concept of how tile-based layout worked initially. As I worked on solving problems and working on my bomb tile, I really started to see the way the tiles were interacting with each other. It taught me to look at things differently. Just because something is moving on a tile doesn’t mean it’s there.

Conclusion: I feel I gained a great amount of knowledge about how I look at code and how to adjust when things either aren’t working out, or just aren’t the route you should be taking. I developed my confidence in how I solve problems and how I code. I will be taking the lessons I learned in this experiment and continue to grow as a developer in the future.

Project and Portfolio 4 Blockmesh

Blockmesh Revisited. Mechanics Working.

Mushroom Grove Mechanics Overview

Vargr

My first full game project. I designed the first level the player encounters. I also designed the collection system of skulls to unlock a secret area for the player later in the game. I was also the one who worked on the combo system created the ground enemies and boss encounters.

https://teamcobaltacolyte.itch.io/vargr