Project time

5 months

Team size

14

Tags

Endless Runner Couch co-op Time-Trail Track tool

Tools

UE4 Visual Studio Perforce C++ Unreal Blueprints

Future Runner

Introduction

Future Runner is a co-op endless runner. The players run side by side on separate parallel track halves with many obstacles in the way. The players gain speed by collecting energy. Energy can be obtained by collecting orbs on the track and will be lost by hitting obstacles. Only the player that holds the energy core can collect energy, without the energy core the player will simply pass through the energy orbs. The players can pass the energy core back and forth between each other. Together they need to reach the end of the track as fast as possible.

What I learned

  • This was my first Unreal Engine 4 project.
  • This was my first 3D game project.
  • I learned Unreal Blueprints.
  • I Improved my knowledge of C++.
  • I learned how to work using Perforce.
  • I learned how to use Unreal’s construction scripts.
  • I learned to work with Unreal Splines and Spline components.

Development

Learning 3D and Unreal

This was my first fully 3D game and my first project using the Unreal 4 Engine. This made for slow progress in the beginning of the project. Luckily, I had two more experienced programmers with me which helped me improve quickly and learn the ropes.

Team unbalance

We had the issue that our team was not balanced. We had a lot more artists and designers than programmers. We overcame this issue by down scooping the technical side during the design phase of the project.

I made tools to aid the designers. With these tools, they could create levels without requiring help from a programmer. I also helped the artists to implement their assets into the engine quickly.

Missed deadlines

While we had a large art team there were issues with the asset development. For instance, the model for the main character was only finished in the last week of the project. This caused for a scramble to implement the model and get it animated in time for the deadline.

These issues taught me the value of having a team lead who keeps a tight oversight over the project. With more checkups, these issues could have been found earlier so scope and resources could have been changed accordingly.