POTENTIAL

Game Project 7 - First Person Shooter

Potential is a stealth shooter where the player navigates through a futuristic museum environment and excecutes security drones and turrets by avoiding their detection and finding a way to hit their weak points. 

This is the main menu I designed and implemented into the game. I wanted to avoid the generic sci-fi look while still keeping the slick and modern tech feel.

TURRET

We wanted a more slow and deliberate gameplay in our shooter which led to a more initiate-first approach where the enemies have two states - one where they are patrolling and one where they have detected the player. The Undetected state is sleek and conspicious, the weak point (purple) only visible to the player if they are behind or above it. In its Detected state the weakpoint can only be seen from behind, or straight ahead (but with a very small hitbox).

DRONE

The drone works in a similar way to the turret. Because of its complex state change I made callouts as well as 3D blockouts for both turrets and drones, to make the 3D modelers job easier.

Enemy VFX

For the VFX I had to design something that I was capable of producing without much help from TA and Programmers and using only our limited in-house group engine Coldsnap. Another point that was important for me to visualize was that hitting the weak points would give a great amount of feedback, while just shooting the enemy normally would be rather anticlimactic.

WEAPON VFX

In these images you can see the lifebar, crosshair, hit marker, muzzle flash, smoke and ammocount display that I designed.

VFX Implementation

For this project I have spent a lot of time not only concepting, but also implemeting VFX. Since I can't write shaders I have mostly supplied TA with textures, built FX meshes, drawn 2D spritesheets and made particles. These more technical tasks have given me a more thorough understanding of how VFX are actually made. I know how to make Signed distance field textures, textures for Step shaders using channels to control dynamic alphas, meshes with scrolling UV textures and other handy techniques. I would absolutely love to work closely with a dedicated VFX artist to really get to know this stuff, but right now I don't have enough experience for a VFX-focused portfolio.