Into the Giant’s Lair

Remember Chris T.? He’s the Unreal Engine extraordinaire who excels at creating detailed environments for his games. Chris works with instructor Cameron as part of Game-U’s New Jersey Accelerate program, learning how to bring his imagination to life in professional tools like Unreal and Blender. His latest imaginative vision? A first-person shooter set in an ancient tumbledown city!

Chris’ game begins with the player in a jail cell, which he escapes through a portal to battle magical enemies and finally a giant boss adversary. Chris, as always, paid close attention to the game’s environment. Broken pavement textures cover walking surfaces, tinted, swirling clouds move across the sky, wind howls in the distance, waves bob up and down on the ocean, and crumbling stone steps lead to the giant boss’ temple lair. Besides wind, Chris added more ambient sounds and effects like dripping water, crackling fire, and fog. He associated some sounds – like the crackling fire – with a particular asset, so that the sound grows louder the closer the player comes to its “source,” just as it would in real life. Next, Chris used Unreal’s material editor and particle effects to manipulate his enemies’ appearance, making them wispier and more spooky. The combination of Chris’ imagination and skill results in a stunning world ready to explore!

Since games need more than even the most amazing environment, Chris also developed his game’s mechanics. To win, the player must defeat minor enemies, as well as a boss enemy, that Chris engineered. The player breaks out of his jail cell through a portal that leads him to the main level, where Chris added a wall of purple mist that shields the boss. If the player rushes the boss, through the mist, before defeating all the minor enemies that lurk throughout the city, the mist diminishes the player’s health and forces him to fight the boss at a disadvantage. Chris put restrictions on the player’s ammo supply, too. Primary projectiles can only be fired in bursts of four, while the supply of alternative, more powerful projectiles is limited to ten. Chris isn’t about to make winning easy!

While this first iteration of Chris’ first-person shooter still has some bugs to work out, he’s made a big breakthrough by taking his game this far. Well done, Chris! Thanks for sharing your progress with us. Keep up the good work – and be sure to let us know when your game is ready to play!