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Protocol Xeno

Developed: January 24, 2022 - August 13, 2022

Team Size: 12

Engine: UE5

Code Language: Blueprint

My Involvement

Role: Lead Programmer

Things I did:

  • Implemented weapons

  • Implemented abilities

  • Implemented physics & movement

  • Implemented shop & progression

  • Managed programming task distribution

  • Taught other programmers

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Role: Systems Designer

Things I did:

  • Pitched game idea

  • Balanced combat & progression

  • Collaborated with other designers on new weapons

 

Role: Publisher

Things I did:

  • Submitted the game to Steam

  • Created promotional art & trailer

Post Mortem

​This game is the most polished, fun, and complete game I've worked on to date, and I'm very proud of it. The game is fun and addicting and the art is mostly cohesive. The game starts off easy but even very skilled players will find the game challenging. 

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I think the success of the team was in large part due to the achievable scope, which allowed ample time for polish and balancing. This scope was a combination of the game's origin as a jam project and the team's experience with over-scoping.

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Another big part of the success of the game was overall enthusiasm and chemistry within the team. The whole team worked well together and whenever there was a conflict of opinions the dispute was always resolved fairly quickly and with both parties understanding of the other side.​

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There were several issues with the project, with poor organization being one of the most blatant. Since the project originated as a game jam there were no organizational structures set up from the beginning and those added on afterwards were ineffective due to habits being built without them. This leads to a lot of inefficiency in task management and prioritization.

 

Another issue with the project was knowledge siloing, caused by the shift in team composition between the jam and full production teams. Specifically the problem was that our primary VFX artist during the jam left when we went into full production and didn't document their code meaning that our other VFX artist had to spend a huge amount of time trying to understand and then rework those effects.

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