Dragons Evolve [DX]
Project Lead • Technical Designer | 10-person team | Released March 2024
Premise
Management wanted to take a library of completed dragon models and create a game loop that would utilize them all. From this, I had the idea to formulate element names that suited the dragons for us to assign to each completed asset.
Then I architected a system that would allow players to evolve single element dragons into double and triple element ones. This idea took a set of finite assets and turned them into an expansive pool of possibilities for players, allowing them to create their own unique dragon from whatever elements they choose.
Approach
Before my team started making AI behaviors, I created a framework to facilitate dragons evolving and seamlessly transforming into each other.
This framework included:
- A network to connect each elemental combination
- Means to traverse through the network
- HUD to indicate valid items for evolution
- Particles to play during evolution
Scope
In order to cut down on development time, I came up with a system to allow dragons to share attacks instead of making unique ones for each. This allowed us to only develop 5 attacks that all dragons shared based on their elements.
Conclusion
My main takeaway from this project was that with careful and creative planning, you can take a finite number of resources and turn them into an experience that feels much larger to the end user.
4.7
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