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Roles

Designer

Programmer

Team Size

7

Tools

Unreal Engine 5

Blueprints

Github

ClickUp

Production Time

September - December 2024

Genre

3rd Action Adventure

Platform

Windows

Shadows Over Vizaria is a​ 3rd person hack-and-slash action adventure game developed by Arson Arcade over a 3 month development cycle. My role of lead programmer had me responsible for the functioning systems in the game including combat, animation, AI, and quest management.​

The vertical slice we produced showcased a level that had the player pickup weapons and fight enemies as they continue down the mountainside to liberate the town and defeat the final boss.

What I Did

AI

  • Enemy AI Design & Scripting

  • Behavior Tree

  • AI Controller Scripting

Combat System

  • Weapon Design & Scripting

  • Movement & Combos Design & Scripting

  • Character Controller Scripting

Animation System

  • Animation Scripting & Setup

  • State Machines & Blend Spaces

AI

Vision

The goal was to create enemy AI that behaves dynamically given certain parameters such as: 

  • If it has a patrol path

  • If it sees the player

  • If it should attack the player 

​

AI In Action

The Behavior Tree

When a player changes seats, the system:

  1. Searches for the next available seat using a loop, checking seat occupancy.

  2. If no forward seat is available, it checks seats behind the current position.

  3. Once a valid seat is found, it updates the player's seat index and executes the seat transition logic (attaching the character, updating UI, etc.).

Combat System

Vision

Create a responsive combat system that accomodate complex melee systems such as combos, 1 handed weapon, and dual weapon behavior. ed behavior.

Combat in Action

Animation System

Vision

Create a visually robust animation system that gives visual feedback to the different stance in the game ranging from combos to damage to simple movement.

Challenge

​Quite simply, the main challenge for implementing animations and a robust animation system that needed to look good fro various types of stances in combat that would always be seen on screen was that  this team did not have an animator. None of us knew how to animate.

Solution

​It took a lot of trial and error but we found through the use of Mixamo animations that were cleverly combined in blend spaces, state machines, and animation montages we were able to come up with a large enough roster of animations that met our design goals. ​​

​

Key Takeaways

  • The main takeaway of this project came from the animation system. This proved to me that complex systems can be achieved with the right plan of action and creative, out-of-the-box thinking even if the most optimal tools (animators in this case) are not available. It took a lot of trial and error but we eventually landed on a system that met our needs.

  • This was also the true first time I had a role in a team with multiple moving parts and a set production schedule. Because of this, I came out with a better understanding of how (at least on a small scale) a game development team might collaborate, communicate, and work together.

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