Bachelor Project

Overview

The player takes on the role of a Guardian tasked with protecting dimensional nexus points, which connect different dimensions that exist outside of space and time. These nexus points allow souls to travel between dimensions after death, where they are reborn in another time and place.

The project focused on creating a robust Character Controller and Enemy AI system. The game features dynamic combat mechanics, including light and heavy attacks, air combat, blocking, and parrying, with unique elemental damage types and coordinated enemy behavior. I also implemented a custom damage system and designed immersive levels with sound and visual effects to enhance the overall experience.

Features

  • Character Controller: Includes targeting, movement, and combat systems.
  • Combat System: Light and heavy attacks, combos, dodging, blocking, elemental imbuing (Air, Earth, Fire, Water), and In-Air combat.
  • Enemy AI: Ranged and melee enemies with advanced behaviors, perception, and coordination.
  • Damage System: Health management, blocking, parrying, and elemental damage types.
  • Levels: Passage Level for showcasing to showcase the game’s visual concept and a tutorial level for mechanics demonstration.
  • Visual & Sound Effects: Custom weapon slashes, elemental effects, and tailored sound design for combat and movement.

What I did

  • Designed and implemented all core gameplay systems, including a versatile Character Controller using Unreal’s Enhanced Input System.
  • Combat System featuring 4 distinct Elemental States (Air, Earth, Fire, Water) with Light Attacks, Heavy Attacks, Combo Attacks, Dodging, Blocking, Guard Revenge Attacks, and dynamic In-Air Combat mechanics.
  • Integrated a Targeting System for enemy lock-on, enabling fluid combat transitions.
  • Developed advanced Enemy AI using Perception, Behavior Trees, Custom Tasks, Decorators, Services, and the EQS (Environmental Query System). Enemies feature coordinated attacks, hit reactions based on attack direction, and distinct behavior for ranged and melee enemies.
  • Implemented a Damage System handling health management, blocking, parrying, and damage types (knockback, stagger, stun, hit reactions), with elemental interactions affecting combat outcomes.
  • Created a UI System with dynamic Life Bars for both player and enemies that update based on combat and damage.
  • Designed and created two levels:
    • Boss Level featuring a passage and a Dojo-style arena inspired by traditional Japanese architecture and lanscapes, used to showcase the game’s visual concept.
    • Tutorial Level that demonstrates core gameplay mechanics and enemy interactions, with sections for movement, combat, and AI behavior tests.
  • Created Visual Effects for weapon slashes and elemental attacks using Unreal’s Niagara system, including custom effects for elemental imbuing and Guard Revenge Attacks.
  • Designed custom Sound Effects for movement, attacks, and ambient environmental sounds, all integrated within animations for seamless audio-visual feedback.
  • Acquired and adapted all game assets, including characters, weapons, and environment props. Managed the retargeting and adjustment of animations, including trimming, timing modifications, and adjustments in Unreal’s Animation Editor.
  • Performed extensive tweaking by adjusting values, Anim Notify, and Notify State timings to refine animations, transitions, and combat mechanics for optimal responsiveness.

Project Details

  • Genre: Hack n`Slash
  • Platform: PC
  • Project Duration: 4 Months
  • Team Size: 1 Person
  • Engine & Tools: Unreal Engine, Blueprints, Behavior Tree`s, EQS, Ableton, Photoshop, GitHub

Project in Numbers

  • 2312 handplaced Assets
  • 167 Events and Functions
  • more than 200 Variables
  • 57 Blueprints
  • 289 Anim Notify’s and Notify States
  • over 700 GitHub Commits