Left In Ruins
During the spring semester of my senior year at High Point University, I enrolled in a Senior Capstone Project course where I got to collaborate with a group of people and create a small game throughout the semester. The pictures shown to you on this page are from the final product.
Platform: PC
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Duration: January 2023 - May 2023
# of Developers: 6
My Role: Project Manager, Level Designer, AI Programmer
Left In Ruins is a third-person action-adventure/puzzle game in which you have to explore ruins in a desert. Within these ruins are priceless treasures that any treasure hunter would love to acquire. However, these ruins do not come without their traps. Also, it appears that you are not the only one searching for these treasures.
This game can be seen and played at itch.io: https://taylorman2274.itch.io/left-in-ruins
LEVEL WALKTHROUGH
MY ROLE AS...
PROJECT MANAGER
As the project manager, I was responsible for handling the development of Left in Ruins through GitHub Desktop. Throughout the development process, there were weekly or bi-weekly Sprints. Each Sprint had its own issues and milestones. I assigned the issues to the individual best responsible for handling them.
Furthermore, I also created a design document for the game.
AI PROGRAMMER
Using a blackboard and a binary tree, the enemy AI operates through a series of behaviors given certain conditions. Using the enumeration, the AI has two Alert States: Neutral and Alert. While the AI is patrolling, he is in a neutral state. Once the AI sees the player character, the AI changes to an alert state and begins to chase the player.
LEVEL DESIGNER
SOLUTION: Eventually, a linear path was built into the level.
PROBLEM: Originally, Left In Ruins did not have a linear path to progress through the level.
PROBLEM: In section four, the only obstacle for the player to overcome was a lone enemy AI. This does not follow the level of difficulty that the previous three sections were building up to.
SOLUTION: Firstly, a circle of fire traps were added surrounding the diamond gem. Secondly, the enemy AI could now be stunned by walking over the fire traps.