Capstone

Overview

In the courses GAM4100 and GAM4200, Collaborative Game Development I/II, the class was tasked with creating a game from scratch.

The game was to be developed in Unity and C# and was to be completed in two semesters. The game was to be developed in a team of 7, with each member having a specific role.

The roles were as follows:

Evan Carr (Me) - Game Progammer (Core Gameplay Loop/Player and Game UI)
Shakir Morgan - Concept Art & Illustration
Ethan Rybalov - Narrative Design
Caleb Martin - SFX Designer/Scrum Master
Chris Garcia - Level Designer
Robert Artioli Jr. - Product Owner/Game Programmer (AI)
Chase Albritton - Game Programmer (UX/UI)

Development

As a Game Programmer, I was involved in a lot of departments. As an overview, I was responsible for:

Player functionality
- Dialogue, interaction, stats, health, cursor, player model
Implement the Core Gameplay Loop
- Movement, Aiming, Interacting, Shooting, Shield, etc.
Environment functionality
- Locked/unlocked door, objectives, powerups, save game, sounds, designing powerups and doors, etc.
Design and integrate player/game UI
- Enemy/powerup count, weapon/powerup icons, damage numbers, objectives, etc.

Reflection

Reflecting on the capstone project, I am proud of the collaborative effort and the diverse skills each team member brought to the table. Working as a Game Programmer, I was able to deepen my understanding of game development and enhance my technical abilities, particularly in implementing core gameplay mechanics and designing intuitive player and game UI. This experience not only reinforced the importance of teamwork and communication but also highlighted the creative and problem-solving aspects that make game development so rewarding.

In addition to the knowledge that I gained during development, deploying the game to Steam was another learning experience. Having a a game in production, publically accessible, and receiving feedback from players was a valuable experience that I will carry forward in my future projects.