Design Process
Instead of waiting for the levels to be designed and implemented before I could create the gameplay experiences and other functionality I made a test level to add this before the respective levels were done. This meant I was able to efficiently implement the gameplay experiences when the levels were ready and I could be productive throughout development. Early on, I used a dancing mannequin as a placeholder for objectives being completed.
An Unreal Engine plugin was used called Apex Destruction to add the destruction effects to multiple assets within the project as it allowed the gun to have realistic interaction with these assets.
I was responsible for the UI size, content and implementation but the visuals were made by another team member. The wording used in the UI is intended to match “cowboy-speak” to match the setting of the game.
To create asset animations I used a feature in Unreal Engine known as level sequences. This allowed me to keyframe properties of the assets and control the timings of when these changed. The level sequences are activated from within the blueprints but I also used blueprinting methods to change the properties of some assets if the level sequence wouldn’t work for them.
