Despite having a late kick-off for this sprint, the team did a fantastic job at achieving the vision for this game. 

Programming

It was crucial that our programmers started on the game's core loop immediately. The faster we reach a playable prototype, the more time we will have to tweak and make changes to the game. I presented the core loop to the team and made sure it was clear how each of these mechanics works individually and together. 

One of the game's most important features is its resource management and inventory. I worked closely with the programmers making sure they understood exactly how resources would work in the game. They started out by setting up a UI system that allows for inventory slots. Each slot can hold up to 25 of one resource. However, both the slots and the max count can be upgraded. Our programmers did an amazing job at setting up a modular system that allows us to easily increase the amount. 

Another important feature to our game is the different type of enemies. There are a total of 5 enemies, each having a different Ai pattern to them. Our programmers began working on the first enemy, which is the Rouge Bot. This robot is slow and rusty, so it will not be the smartest enemy in the game. Because of this, the robot will have a patroling route and a detection route. The programmers created an Ai that allows it to patrol certain areas and to freely navigate without bumping into areas.

Finally, being able to pick up robots is a feature needed when building robots. As such, we designed a system that allows us to pick up items and place them back down. This is mostly an immersion feature, the ability to pick up your creations will add a personal connection with the player. Being able to place them around your base will also help create this immersion. Of course, it also serves a mechanical purpose, since players will move these robots to the selling bin and sell off their creations for hard work.

Models

For our models, we began by modeling some of the most important areas that players will interact with the most. One of our 3D artists designed the dark web PC which is where players are able to go on the dark web and buy upgrades for their players and for their resources. This will be an area that players will interact with constantly, so it was crucial that this model stood out to the player. I also worked closely with the 3D artist to help create the future funk aesthetic that I am looking for. He did a great job at blending futuristic with old-school retro. 

Another important model that the player will see constantly is the wrench. This is the player's primary way of scavenging in the world around them. So players needed to have an aesthetically pleasing wrench that they could enjoy visually as they traveled this world. This design came out amazing and we achieved the look that we were looking for.

Finally, we also began work on background props and clutter. For this game, we need a lot of miscellaneous props that fill the scene to make it appear as if this is an actual home where a futuristic mechanic works. One of my 3D artists began work on this and created this metallic shelf that will fit perfectly within our workshop. This shelf will get cluttered with more props that they are designing.

Art

Our 2D artist did an amazing job at bringing the vision to life. From the color scheme to the designs and look of the world, they did a great job at creating the beginning of this vibrant world. 

One of our 2D artists designed these scrapyard props and worlds. The scrapyard is the main area where players will be exploring and spending a large amount of time. It was important that the scrapyard found life with its design. A challenge that I had personally, was, "How am I supposed to design a visually aesthetic scrapyard?" This seemed like a challenge until my 2D artist created these concepts and suddenly that problem was no longer a concern. 

Another one of our 2D artists began work on the enemies and the robots we can build in the game. Here we have three types of enemies, the rouge bot, the scavenger, and the attack bot. These will later be modified visually to create a variant enemy type. 

The designs came out looking amazing, each character fit the world that I had envisioned and gave us a perfect direction in how we should begin modeling our characters.

Level Design

I worked closely as the level design lead and with our level designer. We needed to make sure that we understood the whole map before we broke it down into subsections. Separating the map into sections, we are able to have an "open" world while still being optimized. The world map is split up into 3 different sections, each with a different theme and with an increase in difficulty.