HARD HATS
ROLE
Game Designer, Level Designer, Programmer
DESCRIPTION
5v5 arena multiplayer game set in the construction theme.
4 players of each team are Labour in FPS view.
1 player is a Foreman that can influence Labours with a strategy view.
YEAR
Started in 2018 and working on it to this date
GENRE
Hybrid Shooter/Light Strategy
PLATFORM
Steam
MY TAKEAWAYS
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Create a multiplayer experience mixing elements from existing games as well as my own Civil Engineering background.
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Iterate tests and improve gameplay and game flow using playtests.
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Scripting/Programming using UE4 Blueprints.
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Create a tournament system mixing dedicated and listened servers until winner is designated.
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Communicate with freelancers to convey art vision.
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Modify pre-bought assets to ensure artistic fidelity.
MORE ABOUT THE GAME
GAME DESIGN INFLUENCES
Halo reference = Objective Arena matches as well as implementing "in-game" coaching aspect from E-sport Halo directly into the experience of the game.
Shootmania reference = Making a game with a limited amount of gameplay mechanics, weapons, but build the experience mostly around Level Design.
RULES
Each game lasts 15 mins.
Each team owns a building/construction that they need to build faster than the opponent team.
To win the game, you need to have the biggest construction.
Each expansion counts as 1 point with up to 5 points to be declared winner.
BUILD YOUR CONSTRUCTION
Each expansion splits into 2 phases.
FIRST PHASE
On the map are located Materials that will re-appear after some delay when picked up.
It exists 3 types of Materials which are split into 2 categories.
1. Main Objective Category:
Blocks : Used to expand your construction, you can find them in Big (50ea Qty) or Small (15ea Qty).
2. Utility Items Category:
HSE Suitcases : Used to increase health or add armor to players (Outcome decision from Foreman).
Toolboxes : Used to increase ammo or make Dynamites and Asbestos grenades (Outcome decision from Foreman).
Each time a player (Labour) collects a material, it stacks up in his/her personal satchel which has a limited qty of materials it can carry.
Each satchel can be thrown in game, reacts to physics and can be picked up again by the same player or any other player in the game.
For the materials to be collected and validated for a team, these satchel need to be thrown in the Team Collection Dumpster.
A quantity of 100ea team blocks is necessary to start the Second Phase.
When collected, the team count increases and the Foreman player can access the Utility Items resources. More information about this in the Foreman Section.
SECOND PHASE
Now that one of the team has collected 100ea blocks, they need to validate the additional floor/expansion by “Calling the Crane”.
"Calling the Crane" event, is accessible only every alternating 30 seconds and corresponds to a zone (similar to a King of the Hill in Halo).
To call the crane, one of the player needs to remain for 10 seconds within this specific zone, without dying, and without the opponent team to enter the zone.
If the team successes, an additional floor/expansion is added onto their construction.
If the team fails, it will need to retry in another 30 seconds minimum as this zone will be shut down during that amount of time.
These 2 phases repeat themselves throughout the matches, as some restrictions were created to avoid different issues such as:
- Team focusing on the first phase only prior to capturing enough blocks to snowball the second phase.
- Respawn kill (which is common in arena games).
5 PLAYERS, 2 WAYS TO PLAY
LABOUR (FPS)
Each labour can:
- Jump
- Crouch
- Shoot with Nail Gun (using Line trace)
- Melee attack with Wrench (similar to beat down from Halo) / Can be also used to bounce off surfaces
- Interaction to pick up items
- Throwing satchel
- Throw Dynamites/Asbestos grenades
FOREMAN (LIGHT STRATEGY)
Each Foreman views the map through 3 cameras spread out in the map as well as through each players' POVs.
They have the following abilities:
- Ping ennemies, locations and objects located on the map.
- Send additional text information that appear on each Labour screen.
- Using the materials collected by the Labours, he can use the Suitcases to give:
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+50 Health (to a max of 150Health)
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+1 Armour (- 25% damage)
- Using the materials collected by the Labour, he can use the Toolboxes to give:
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+ 1 Dynamite
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+ 1 Asbestos grenade
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+ 21 ammo
- Black out opponent Foreman's camera access for limited duration.
- Pause opponent's team Conveyor belt.
ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONALITIES
TOURNAMENT SYSTEM
To create a sense of community and competitiveness, I created a Tournament system that uses both Dedicated server and listened servers.
More information to come...
COMPANY SYSTEM (CLANS)
More information to come...
JOINT VENTURE LOBBYS
More information to come...
CUSTOMIZATION
More information to come...