Just Deserts

Accomplishments

User Experience Design

  • Co-designed the tutorial for the game with our narrative/level designer, which had proven to be effective through testing.

  • Created an audio asset list that had a description for each sound effect that needed to be in the game.

  • Designed and co-implemented multiple visual effects in the game with our graphics programmer.

User Interface Design

MainMenu_JustDeserts.png

  • Designed and implemented the player HUD, Pause, and Main Menus intended to fit the narrative of the game.

PauseMenu_JustDeserts.png

  • Made all UI art assets in photoshop designed to fit the visual theme of the game, which resulted in increased immersion for the experience.

User Research

UR.png

  • Created testing procedures for 15+ playtests per milestone and moderated 10+ playtests, suggested changes through data-driven analysis, which resulted in better readability of systems, better guidance in level design, and an overall more balanced and engaging game.

Content Design

  • Co-designed different player weapons, with a focus on the feeling and animations of the weapons. This resulted in the game having 3 weapons that are completely different from each other, which diversified the gameplay and overall made the experience more engaging.

Challenges

Using a new engine

Before working on this project, I had no experience working with the Unreal Engine. This made the implementation of visual effects and UI very challenging. I was able to overcome this issue by doing extensive research on the particle, UI, and Audio systems and using my previously gathered knowledge from other engines.

No artists on the team

When building the team, it was a bit concerning that we were creating a 3D RPG with a very visually important theme without the help of any artists. We were able to overcome this issue by using our previous art experience to craft animations and art assets. We also decided to stick to a simple art style. Additionally, I had to do extensive research on the “best practices” in asset creation to create UI elements for the game.

Covid

The middle of our second semester was the moment that quarantine started. At first, it was difficult both to find motivation and to work effectively as a team. As a team, we were able to overcome this challenge throughout development as we built an effective working environment, created a scheduling system, utilized data exchange, and followed communication procedures to best work together. I had discovered that while working externally I am still able to perform well on a long-term project.