The Arena project has the aim of becoming a full release for desktop. The idea arose from a brainstorming session with my colleague in this project.
The project is an online cooperative third person shooter set in an arena style. The players must complete levels, defeat enemies, upgrade their character and weapons and work as a team to progress through the game.
We initially started development in the Unity engine. This decision was made due to us being more experienced with this software, however after a few weeks of development, overcoming obstacles and developing the idea, we decided to switch to Unreal Engine 5 as it seemed a better fit for the style of game but also because it would serve as a learning experience for us both, granting us the knowledge to use for other professional projects.
Initial Development Photo in the Unity Engine
Initial Development Photo in Unreal Engine 5
The initial goal was to get a V1 of the game prepared, with the absolute basics implemented. This would allow us to discover the possibilities and limitations of this project.
The early development process was a lot of research and learning, while my colleague started work on the gameplay mechanics, I began work on the animations and movement mechanics.
I put together three different animation graphs for different player states: unarmed, ranged weapon and melee weapon. This involved sourcing, editing and tweaking animations to allow them to flow seamlessly during gameplay based on the characters speed and direction.
These videos show each player animation state as their speed increases and direction changes from forward to backwards.
The early development process was a lot of research and learning, while my colleague started work on the gameplay mechanics, I began work on the animation
With the basic animations implemented, my next aim was to add sounds to the build. While the game was far too early in development for these kind of additions, firstly and importantly with the terrain that the player walks on undecided, this was an opportunity to develop and showcase my skills in sound design and implementation for Unreal Engine using blueprint.
This project is still very early in development, TBC.
