BladeGunners

BladeGunners is a first-person, online arena shooter game. It utilizes skating movement mechanics to allow for rail grinding on certain objects in the arena which will charge up the player's energy-based weapon. Set in the distant future where bullets are a thing of the past, private weapons manufacturers seek to covertly field test their weapons through gameshow sponsorships. Players are placed into 2 teams of 4 and must face each other in a deathmatch for the highly desired grand prize.

                                                 Gameplay

                                           In-game brands

                                      Sniper Progression

Lucy - Sniper

The sniper rifle model begun with a blockout 3d concept which I then expanded on with a 2d paintover. The advantage of using 3d was that I could view the concept from different camera angles easily. I quickly found that a design that looks good in the side view does not translate so well to first person. By referencing existing games, I got a feel for proportions that make for a powerful looking sniper. I developed the blockout into a low poly mesh that I then added additional details to in a high poly pass. I then refined the low poly into an approximate representation of the detailed highpoly for the final mesh. The model was separated into three materials, as they each had different shaders. This isn't ideal for performance, but its necessary to keep the unique appearance of having a glass cover over the weapon's interior mechanism. As this is a first person viewmodel, I opted for visual flair over pure performance maximisation

                                     Shotgun Progression

Bobby - Shotgun

The idea behind the shogun was to create a robust, menacing and cool looking design that would convey power. Though it has the least potency at range and the smallest magazine of any gun, the raw damage output of the shotgun is unmatched. I wanted the model to reflect that so I kept it fairly simple, sticking to angular, simple shapes and a more classic gun look. 

                                        Pistol Progression

Bart - Pistol

The Pistol was made through an iterative design process, bouncing the idea between me and the team, to ensure we had a design everyone was happy with and one that fit our game well. The AR went through this same process

                                             AR Progression

The AR is the first weapon the player interacts with which meant i had to ensure i did the design justice. Making sure that it was distinct from our other weapons while not over-complicating the final piece

                                       Character Progression

Flo - Character

As feedback came in, the character was constantly being iterated upon. The helmet saw the most redesigns, with a need to keep the unique screen face as well as something that conveyed skater sports. A bike helmet was the final inspiration.

For the armour, mobility for competitors was a priority, so it took the shape of a flexible suit with segmented armour inset. Instead of bulky shapes, it needed to look streamlined for silhouette reads.

                                         Level Progression

The Arena itself was designed with three core values in mind: Multiple viable routes, environments that support our unique movement style rather than inhibiting it and also a lack of predictability. The Skatepark area of the map underwent massive changes as we received feedback from playtesters - a common theme appearing of claustrophobia. Due to this, we ended up stripping away so many elements and removing complex mechanics that directly interrupted movement and instead opened up the area, replacing harsh walls with ramps and rails, supplying the player with alternative ways to navigate areas - improving the 'fun' aspect of gunfights and allowing for future replayability.

For the level environment itself, I broke the concept down into modular pieces that were quickly modelled and textures with world space triplanar to speed up iterations. These were then integrated into the level blockout using Unreal's multi-level system - allowing for the BSP and set-dress to be worked on and versioned independently. Once the game's aesthetic and lighting had been iterated on after feedback, I moved on to modelling the more finalised modular pieces and integrating some varied materials from substance designer. I used varied material colours and lighting colour temperatures to create distinct feels for different parts of the map. This helped to give distinct contrast to the arena's visual identity in different rooms. The ceiling was added last, to keep the environment easy to navigate in-editor as it went through different stages of development. I experimented with different ceiling heights in separate sections to give them varying degrees of spaciousness

                                          UI Progression

Naomi Fielder - HUD

Created through iterative design and development from the process of playtest and feedback sessions, the HUD has been inspired in its design from competitive team vs team shooters. Most prominently the content and layout of the HUD from Overwatch and the content, component shapes and backgrounds from Apex Legends. The overall goal of the HUD was to communicate all the core information without taking up or removing concentration from the gameplay. The shape of the HUD itself was designed to have a futuristic angular theming, with a hex overlay to help tie it all together and make it one with the game, without obscuring or taking focus away from the core information on the HUD components.

                                   Audio Development

I knew that one of the main hurdles for sound design during this project would be ensuring all sounds were properly networked. This is why I made sure to start implementation early using placeholder text-to-speech sounds in Wwise to test if they were playing client/server-side. After I got most of the basic player feedback sounds working in-engine, I focused my efforts on designing the weapon sounds to be representative of their power/playstyle. The sniper was clean & precise while the shotgun was brutal & cold.

                                                    VFX

Ally - VFX

The visual effects was created with the main themes of the game in mind; cyberpunk and Sci-Fi therefore some main inspirations for the VFX were Tron and Halo. Through constant feedback from the team I was able to signify the use of energy based weapons, shields and blades to the player by using solid shapes and emissive.

Alliah - VFX/Concept / Environment Artist  https://www.artstation.com/alyjar

Bart - Concept / Environment Artist  https://www.artstation.com/bartlomiejbyczkowski

Bobby - Prop / Environment Artist  https://www.artstation.com/borispetrov

Becca - Audio Design / Implementation  https://www.rebeccalabrooy.com/

Callum - Gameplay Programmer  https://www.callummetcalfe.com/

Christopher - Systems Programmer  https://www.christopherprobertson.com/

Elise - Level / System Designer  https://www.eliseadennis.com/

Flo - Character Artist / Music Composition / Animator  https://www.artstation.com/flobramhill

Kalvin - Gameplay Programmer  https://www.kalvinmalloch.co.uk/

Lucy - Prop / Environment Artist  https://www.artstation.com/lucypoole

Naomi - System / UI and UX Designer  https://twitter.com/Naomi_of_the_F