Next Generation Internal Prototype
Studio
- Army Game Studio
Game Engine
- Unreal 4
Description
In 2014, I spearheaded an effort to assess and develop new capabilites in a next generation engine. I was responsible for the creation of a protoype that was intended to prove out several critial features and capabilities that would be required for future development. I created tasking and helped ensure that the project reached completion within the allotted time and budget. Additionally, I was responsible for gathering information from various other disciplines and formulating a plan and schedule around their input. Ultimately, the project had several general goals:
- Create a pipeline that can be used to bring content from Unreal 3 to Unreal 4.
- Determine how much labor it would take to update a level from the previous engine
- Create a dynamic, configurable day/night cycle with a basic framework for weather effects
- Recreate one of the studio’s previous levels, with graphical updates as time permitted
I also acted as the primary level designer for this prototype, and handled a substantial portion of the reconstruction of the level from Unreal 3 to Unreal 4. I worked with technical artists to refine and the day/night cycle that I had created earlier in the project. This project ended up being an excellent learning experience not only for myself, but for the studio at large.
Due to the sensitive nature of the work I do for this project, I am unable to divulge specific details or images pertaining to our prototype. Details on specific products that will be released to the public will be available as they are approved for public release.
Development Time
- Approximately 9 months, with intermittent development thereafter.
Tasks
- Responsible for interfacing with government customers, gathering requirements, and creating production timelines.
- Created tasking and oversaw the day-to-day development of the prototype.
- Worked with art and programming teams to develop a method of carrying over content from Unreal 3 to Unreal 4.
- Scripted a dynamic day/night cycle and a framework for weather effects.
- Reconstructed a large scale map from our Unreal 3 product, and give it a visual upgrade.
- Managed several internal developers across multiple disciplines.