Short:

Turn-based tactical game
Tech:

Unity
Note: this page has been cleared with the client to comply with signed Non-Disclosure-Agreement, therefore it doesn't provide some of the key details of the project in question. Some illustrations will use placeholder assets or will be distorted.

A prototype that we made for an investor collective in the US. While I can't delve into gameplay details since it's under NDA, generally it was a turn-based tactics game, developed in Unity, in 3D, and targeting desktop and browser (via WebGL).

Initially the project was made in 2D by another member of the team, and at that stage, it was due for major expansion, both in gameplay and visuals. I overtook the project and worked on it bringing it to 3D with animations, custom shaders, and a new UI.

My responsibilities were:

  • Most of the programming at the point when I overtook the development
  • Development planning and estimation
  • Game design brainstorming, ideas, and balance tweaks
  • Adapting and refactoring old code to fit with gameplay changes
  • Figuring out a new art style for the project and implementing it

Challenges on the project:

  • Legacy code refactoring - there was a game there already, but then major gameplay reworks came. I've made great strides to preserve the bits of the code that were still useful while rewriting the parts not suitable for expansion

  • Transition to 3D brought along some challenges when it came to the readability and clarity of what happens on the screen. I had to redo the visuals quite a few times before I've settled on an approach that worked for both gameplay and UX purposes:

Before and After
  • Fights are very dynamic in nature and scale; simple a 1-1 can become an all-out firefight involving everyone on the map, which was quite tricky to get right both from a technical standpoint and from visual clarity one.
The friendly unit suffered additional damage due to the enemy ambush.
  • As in any strategy game major part of it is information. I had to develop a system that tracked information that the player saw during the round so that later it can be shown on screen by using visual cues. To display those I've developed a hologram-like shader.
You can see how enemies turn to holograms since the player should no longer see them.
Hologram shader renders based on normals, with screen-space scanline effect.
  • Stylistically game was made with a "tabletop came alive" approach, with figurines having animations while still standing on their stands. It worked great for the gameplay since the scale of the objects can be whatever UX needs it to be while still looking appropriate to the setting.
Here you can see the stands (which also double as health bars) and animations.
Units are oversized for clarity, but that fits well with tabletop stylistics.