It’s been a while since I’ve posted here because of the amount of work I’ve put into finishing my semester off strong and committing myself to a long break. I’m really excited to show you all where I’m at!
Production I
My final project for this class was a blast to create. Dinner Party is a local multiplayer party game for 6-10 players that tasks players with attending a dinner party where someone has hired an assassin to kill the wealthy couple that it at the party. You can find more information about the game here on the project page.
The game was easily my favorite that I had made for this class, and I think it was an incredibly exciting project to work on. As a fan of games like One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Mafia, and Secret Hitler, I really thought designing a game that crossed the physical and digital world like these role-based games had the potential to do would be a unique experience as a designer. I was also tasked with being a programmer for this project, which I was happy to do. I’ve included the same pictures here as are on the project page, but definitely take a look at some point!
Level Design
The final project for Level Design this semester involved creating a Capture the Flag level in the newest Unreal Tournament. My idea for the level consisted of a very simple map layout involving a top and bottom level that players would constantly want to switch back and forth between to attack and defend. While there are definitely a lot of issues with the level in terms of the sheer amount of approaches that players have to attack and defend, I was unable to playtest the level much. However, I’ve definitely learned a lot about multiplayer level design from this project in terms of weapon placement, utilization of movement capabilities, and elegance. Below of some pictures of the level.
Game Architecture
Finally, my last game class involved working with a partner to create a game that showed off many of the architectural patterns we’d learned throughout the course, as well as including other features such as language localization, saving and loading, sound, and changing the entire graphics library we’d been using all semester.
What me and my partner came up with was a game similar to the flash game Helicopter where players press and release a button to have their player character rise and fall as they navigate between obstacles and walls. We felt that this type of simple premise would allow for us to truly hone our architectural, back-end skills. The result was a project that I feel satisfied with on all fronts. Scripting a game in Unity is something completely different than coding the entire thing in C++, and it’s immensely satisfying to have worked on this project.
Overall, I have learned so much in these 4 months taking game architecture that will make me a much better programmer overall. It truly was a transformative class that took me from the basics to a better understanding at good patterns.
I finished my semester on the Dean’s List with straight A’s and, more importantly, I am extremely happy about the work I finished. This was easily the most difficult semester I’ve experienced, yet, but it was also the one where I learned the most. After the semester ended, I made sure that I took time to rest. I caught up on shows and games I’d been putting off, slept a lot, and let all of my creativity and ability rest.
However, as many creators understand, you can’t be idle for too long. Look for more information on my personal summer projects soon!
Tim Carbone 