In 2017, I was an Open World Level Designer working on Far Cry 5. I had a strong foundation in Level Design, along with Scripting via LUA / Kismet, but I really wanted to learn Unreal Engine – as I recognized the advancements in technology Epic was making to push the gaming industry forward.
BvB allowed me to do that.
Originally conceived when thinking about how the ’80s and ’90s had some of the most original ideas for movies, the realization popped into my mind that no one has made a ‘Home Alone‘ inspired PvP multiplayer game yet.
Over the next couple years I worked on learning the basics of Unreal. At first I learned Blueprinting, and then I expanded my skillset to the other areas of the Engine.
In 2019, I left Ubisoft to focus on creating BvB full-time. Over the next few years I gained exposure to all the pieces which make up a complete project/game, including:
| Character, Animation & Controls | Gameplay Systems & Multiplayer Engineering | UI/UX & Accessibility Design |
| 3Cs(Camera,Controls,Character) Dynamic movement and interaction systems Hit logic, reactions, ragdoll MetaHuman implementation, configuation & optimization Animation state machines Player vs Player interactions, behaviour & design logic | Core gameplay mechanics & systems Replication & server-client networking framework Combat design, sound design Interactive items & crafting Health & energy systems Physics, collision, projectiles Timers, match-flow logic Multiplayer synchronization | Dynamic HUD/UI systems Interactable/equippable item widgets and gameplay interfaces Front-end & in-game menus Accessibility implementation (including colour blind friendly design and visual auditory indications) |
| Unreal Engine Architecture & Technical Implementation | World Building, Level Design & Environmental Art | Optimization, Debugging & Technical Problem Solving |
| Unreal framework architecture GameMode/GameState/GameInstance implementation Player Controller & Pawn logic Blueprints, Classes, Interfaces Replication architecture (Rep-notify, RPCs, Multicast) Soft & hard object references, casting and functionality | Level design and world planning Modular drag n’ drop building systems for user-created content & fast level construction 3D-modelling, level art, lighting, environmental storytelling & colour coding Dynamic & persistent world changes | Unintended gameplay behaviour investigation & debugging Advanced CPU & GPU profiling & optimizations VRAM and memory optimization Network performance & behaviour debugging Vector math, and physics experimentation troubleshooting |
Although I eventually decided to stop development on BvB, due to various reasons, such as player adoption rates for multiplayer games drastically shifting within the last few years and the challenges of creating a PvP game with a small team – it still served its purpose of driving my knowledge and skillset exponentially further.
I will be adding some gameplay footage from multiplayer BvB games in the coming weeks to this page – I’m just in the process of capturing and compiling. Stay tuned!
LEVELDESIGN.XYZ 