Roles
Programmer
Team Size
15
Tools
Unreal Engine 5
Blueprints
GitHub
ClickUp
Production Time
September 2024 - April 2025
Genre
3rd Person Action Adventure
Platform
Windows
RockStars! is a third person Action-Adventure game where players take the role of a wandering space hippie. After their ship crash lands on an alien planet, their band members are scattered on its surface, leaving the player to find them. The game empahsizes unique instruments and abilities, diverse platforming challenges, environment interaction, various enemies, and culminates with a multi-phase final boss.
What I Did
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Gameplay & NPC Dialogue System Design & Scripting
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Dialogue Excel Tool Scripting & Setup​
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Exterior systems like UI and animation to support it.
My Workflow
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Initial prototype
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Value adjustment/balancing
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Implementation of dodge system functionality with other in-place systems
Dialogue System
Vision
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A dialogue system that allows players to talk to numerous NPC's throughout a level as well as get important "monologues" that give the player character's inner thoughts
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Certain dialogue sections would grant the player a new weapon
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Dialogue lines could be printed out 1 character at a time
Challenge
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The various ways to receive dialogue presented the challenge of how to make a system that could be applied to the different means (gameplay and NPC)
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The amount of dialogue in the game meant alot of time would be spent in-engine manually inputting dialogue lines (very time consuming)
Solution
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A dialogue component was made that could be attached to NPC's and gameplay actors.
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I created an Excel Tool that allowed designers to easily input dialogue for each Gameplay and NPC instance.
Dialogue System in Action
Gameplay vs NPC Dialogue
There are some key differences between how Gameplay and NPC Dialogue function.
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Gameplay dialogue needed to be a one time only event activated automatically through means such as a collision trigger and progress through each line automatically and then remove itself upon completion.
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NPC dialogue was a bit more complex as it needed the following:
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The player needed to be able to walk up to a NPC and initiate dialogue via the interact button.
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The player needed to be able to progress through each line of dialogue manually via the interact button and exit once dialogue is finished.
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Main dialogue which would serve as the main information given to the player by the NPC.​
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Secondary/repeat dialogue with the npc that the player could partake in optionally once main dialogue had been completed.
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It also needed the option of giving the player a new weapon once completing main dialogue.
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Gameplay Dialogue
There are numerous points throughout the game where the player where encounter gameplay dialogue that gives crucial information. These dialogues are mainly triggered via collision boxes such as the one seen here.
There are numerous points throughout the game where the player where encounter gameplay dialogue that gives crucial information. These dialogues are mainly triggered via collision boxes such as the one seen here.
NPC Dialogue
NPC's were the most complicated out of the 2 dialogue types as they needed both main dialogue, secondary/repeat dialogue, the option to give the player a weapon, NPC animations to support, and proper management of player input to support it.
Dialogue Excel Tool
Due to the sheer scope of dialogue for the project, I set out to make a tool that improved dialogue implementation so that my designers could quickly dialogue in the game with minimal setup. I found data-driven approaches to be incredibly useful for this.
Dodge System
Vision
Create a fast-paced dodge for the player character that could get them out of a sticky situation while also letting them quickly continue fluidly into any other movements (sprinting, jumping, grappling, etc) immediately upon finishing or canceling the dodge.
Challenge
It needed to appear fluid when entering and exiting the dodge whit whatever other animation that may be occuring.
Solution
Used a mixture of timeline and animation montage notifies to properly manage entering and exiting dodge.
Dodge System in Action
SCRUM
Each week our team would discuss what was accomplished in the latest sprint, project status, feedback from playtests. Each department with thin break off and receive tasks for the next weekly sprint. I managed my own tasks and helped other programmers and designers as needed and regularly playtested the game.
Key Takeaways
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Rapid Prototyping Matters: I learned the value of quickly building the core essence of a mechanic without worrying about full feature completeness. Getting ideas playable early helped the team iterate faster and make better design decisions.
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Team Communication is Crucial: Throughout development, I improved my ability to clearly express ideas, share feedback, and communicate problems with teammates—ensuring smoother collaboration and problem-solving.
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Empowering Designers with Tools: I saw firsthand how impactful it is to create toolsets that streamline designer workflows, reduce bottlenecks, and allow for faster iteration.
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Looking Back: If I could do things differently, I’d focus on building systems that are more flexible and easier to adapt as new ideas and changes arise during development.