This is a solo developed project in UE5.
After my layoff from Highwire Games in January of 2025, I decided to put all my efforts into learning as much as possible in UE5 and potentially re-direct all my efforts and free time toward a cohesive focused narrative SP title.
As someone who has spent pretty much his entire career in videogames in one or two specialty, I am learning things I had never any idea how to do before on a daily basis. I always had Technical background, but to be able to actually use them here in much larger scale than I ever did, has been a journey on its own. This is just a sampling of daily triumphs/struggles on working on my own stuff.
After my layoff from Highwire Games in January of 2025, I decided to put all my efforts into learning as much as possible in UE5 and potentially re-direct all my efforts and free time toward a cohesive focused narrative SP title.
As someone who has spent pretty much his entire career in videogames in one or two specialty, I am learning things I had never any idea how to do before on a daily basis. I always had Technical background, but to be able to actually use them here in much larger scale than I ever did, has been a journey on its own. This is just a sampling of daily triumphs/struggles on working on my own stuff.
The Goal is to reach this level of visual fidelity
Dev Blog
- Added a fully functional "Storage Locker" that is fully aware of your inventory and how to react to it (e.g. storing multiple similar items, but can only retrieve one/ automatically convert doubled weapon to ammo)
- Add Melee
- Figured out the Aim Offset stuff - it is fully working with the Shotgun at the moment
- Overhauled the entire weapon system - now fully running on Enums
- Fully context sensitive inventory system - now showing proper functions available to each item
- Added Hand Cannon and Shotgun - The animations definitely could be improved, but that's just on animation side
- Cleaned up all the D-pad functions for weapon assignments
- Full Parity between whatever happens in game and inventory (reloads, holsters, UI, etc)
- Adding a reload system
- Adding a semblance of Inventory system - Each item gets proper function assignment
- Add Item Inspection with it's own camera control
- After so much banging my head against the wall, finally figured out the Chaos driving to a degree and have the car actually controllable
- Improving Traversal with mantling
- This is non specific - can happen on any surface IF within reach of the player
- Different height of mantle depending on whether the player is crouching or not
- Takedown from behind mechanics
- Making sure it functions properly even with multitude of AI present in vicinity
- Creating Animation BP from scratch
- Creating basic traversal mechanics/controls
- Pistol/Shotgun gunplay + ammo pickups + UI
- Exploding barrels
- Very basic enemy AI + UI
- Learning all the cinematics tools
- Rigging the car in Maya and Unreal for hand keyed or procedural animation or mix of both
- Getting the hang of City Environment which Epic provided and World Partition.
- All the new exterior lighting additions
- Playing with some VFX/bokehs/VDBs/Fog/Atmpspherics
Learning "coated" material and applying it to the Layered shader via the samples Epic provided
Showcasing some new stuff I learned recently in 3dsmax (using UDIMs), Substance Painter, and Unreal Layered shaders
Bloopers