FPS Exploration Project
This first person shooter exploration project was made in Unreal Engine 4. The player finds themselves by a dream-like lake and must purify all the cursed pillars in order to progress. There are also collectable manuscripts that are tracked along the player’s run.
This project was a culmination of almost all of my skills in game development: level design, lighting design, blueprint programming, particle systems, material creation, and AI design. I learned an array of lessons regarding best practices for the game development process, especially within Ue4. I used a number of Unreal Marketplace asset packs as well as some custom textures and models in order to bring this level to life.
FPS Exploration Demo Video
The Process…
My process with this project began with creating a “mood board” in Photoshop, using reference images from Google. Through doing this I gave my mind a more clear understanding of what aesthetic I was trying to achieve. Key aspects I wanted to include consisted of a forest, light shafts, exponential height fog, and a large variety of rocks/foliage.
I made use of a variety of Unreal Marketplace assets in order to create this environment, some of which include “temperate Vegetation: Spruce Forest” by Project Nature and “Soul: Cave” by Epic Games.
After gathering assets and having a clear outline of what my environment should look like, I was ready to begin designing the game’s level and mechanics.
Mood board I created in Photoshop to get the vision of how I wanted my environment to look.
Before Iteration:
After Iteration:
I started environment creation by using Ue4’s landscape tool and sculpting the general shape of the terrain. I had to keep in mind the scale of the player relative to the mountains to make sure they were able to navigate easily.
While simply sculpting the mountains was sufficient, I wanted a more realistic look to the mountains’ form. I ended up integrating a height map from Tangram Heightmapper – an open source height map website – into the existing height map that I sculpted. I blended sections of the new height map data on top of my original sculpted height map in Photoshop, resulting in much more realistic mountains.
Regarding the mechanics, I used the blueprint system in Ue4 to make fun and engaging player inputs/interactions. I added mechanics, such as dash, grab, sprint, pick up, and projectiles. I made use of custom events and interfaces to allow for variable usage between multiple blueprints.
I was also able to practice my composition and cinematography skills using Ue4’s level sequencer tool. With this tool I was able to make an intro cinematic showcasing where the player will be journeying throughout the level.