Design Iteration
Responsibilities
Track Designing
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Researched titles in the same genre
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Brainstormed and designed paper prototypes, which are iterated later and ended up in the game
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Designed and iterated 2 Yellow Palette Tracks (Nimbus Towers and Cloud Capital - images on the right) out of 6 total tracks by collaborating with 3 designers in the group
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Implemented the tracks in Unreal Engine using Modular Road Kit Plugin and adjusted through iteration
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Gameplay balancing including placing pickups and ramps in the tracks
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Iterated the design based on player testers' feedback
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While the track is designed to be new-player-friendly, hidden shortcuts are incorporated for high level players to discover and try out as well, making it easy to learn, hard to master.
Environment Building
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Used UE landscape tools to create terrains for the tracks.
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Communicated with artists and placed props and decals in the environment for the tracks.
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Placed conveyance elements such as signs and lighting to improve player experience
Playtesting
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Playtested all tracks throughout the milestones
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Reported bugs through JIRA
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Communicated with teammates and leads for potential solutions
Postmortem
What Went Well
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Steam Launch. The team was able to create the first shippable game in 4 months.
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Track Design. Six tracks are distinct and fun to play with.
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Beautiful Environment. With artists' assets carefully placed in the level, the game is visually attractive.
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Cross-Discipline Communication. Different disciplines are able to communicate and integrate smoothly.
What Went Wrong
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Fluctuating Metrics. The metric of the track, environment, and the player character required frequent changes in the milestones.
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Disorganized Playtest Feedback. Playtesters' feedbacks are not organized and, thus, not incorporated effectively in the early stage of the development
Even Better If
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Build with Metrics. Create unified game metrics in the early stage of development in a document and iterate accordingly.
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Standardized Feedback. Use systems like Jira with a standardized team format to keep the feedback organized.
Game Summary
Hex Rally Racers is a Co-op arcade racer for PC where players race on flying brooms through wild twisting and turning tracks, combining ingredients to craft potions to be used against other players. Race through six stunning tracks in a chaotic race against seven other witches, or against three friends at the same time in a multiplayer split-screen!