Lantern(2020)
Roles:
Team Lead
Gameplay Scripter
Animation Scripter
Cinematics Designer
Level Designer
Engine: Unreal Engine 4
Team Size: 7
Duration: 4 Months
Platform: PC
Programming: Blueprints
Overview
The core concept of the game was to be a relaxing, 3D, puzzle, art, adventure game, portraying the journey of a character following a sky lantern leading them on an emotional adventure. The lantern guides the player through the lush atmospheric mountainside forest, in which the player will have the time to discover its beauty and the secret areas within it.
As the player ventures through the game they gain new mechanics in the form of masks, which represent the Chinese Zodiac.
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The game featured in game cinematics, block pushing, clambering and double jumping powers representative of their zodiac animal counterparts.
Trash Bandits
During the development of Lantern we formed Trash Bandits and would work towards creating a professional product. We worked well as a team and built a healthy and inclusive work culture. Our group orientated goals and teamwork would play a key role in Lanterns production.
Rachel | Eliot pic |
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Conor | Dan |
Tom | Micheal |
Lucy |
Team lead
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Ensured all members of the team were given appropriate tasks
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Mitigated bottlenecks and blockages in work pipelines
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Kept up prompt email communications with Outplay studios, our professional mentors
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Maintained consistent meetings and group work reviews even during quarantine
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Utilized a flexible workflow
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Used Trello to help breakdown work for team members and organise our schedule
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Organised social events and field trips
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Ensured that our team’s work culture would be inclusive and enjoyable to work in
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Developed online working strategies to help transition our in person group work into online group work sessions
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Gameplay scripting
Scripting Overview:
As gameplay Scripter for the project I used Unreal Engine's visual scripting in order to prototype and develop the mechanics quickly.
Features: ​
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Clambering, allowing player to grab onto and climb up edges
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Mask switching that changed players aesthetics and mechanics
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Block pushing
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In engine cinematics
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Set up and maintained version control
Level Design
Level Design Overview:
As level designer for lantern I would understand, iterate and create natural environments that would encourage the player to explore.
Features: ​
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Created varying iterations of the map
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Experimented with how mechanics felt in a liner block out version of the level
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Researched and developed natural environments and ground formations​
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Worked closely with environment and technical art to produce optimised spaces with our art style
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Utilised architecture theory
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Animation Scripting
Animation Scripting Overview:
As animation scripter for Lantern I worked closely with our character animator. I would work to implement and insure animations worked properly in a game space.
Features: ​
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Set up animation states
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Creating bones in the character I could rotate with scripts
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Adjusted animations in engine so that they would better line up with the game world
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Set up and made use of blendspaces and bone layers