Cartoon Cinematic

I've had an idea for a short Unreal demo in my head for a while and finally took some time to develop it. I prototyped the gameplay and it felt solid and fun. But there was this feeling that it needed an introduction cinematic to establish the characters and set the tone.

So, I created a rough draft or "pre-visualization" in one day, and I was happy with it. It contained every scene I needed to tell the story, and I threw together scratch audio all at once, to get the timing right.

Then came the decision to commit to the rough and actually illustrate and animate it. I have this nagging feeling that, with the rise of AI-generated content, this type of hand-made animation will become a thing of the past. But I embraced it and gave it my all.

Here is a video of the rough next to the final. I'm very pleased that the original timing and framing of shots survived.

It's helpful for me to keep track of how long things like this take to do. So, I logged the hours:

• Rough Draft: 6 hours
• Final Illustration: 115 hours 😅

*Quick note: The music is a temp track that I do not own the rights to. I plan on re-doing the audio before putting out a playable version.

This was just a quick look at the cartoon cinematic process. I'm not announcing the game yet, but I hope to have an early access version to post soonish. Here's a sneak peek at some of the game levels in development:

My Game was at the Cannes Film Festival ^_^

 Wow, this year is really flying by.

I'm happy to share something I've been working on with iNK Stories NYC. Our game, Lili, was recently featured at the Cannes Film Festival!

Screenshot from Lili, read The Guardian article here.

It's been really interesting to lead the game design effort on such a unique title. Lili is a "screenlife thriller" meaning all of gameplay and storytelling takes place on a virtual desktop, and you (the player) take on the role of a modern-day hacker, breaking into systems, solving puzzles and driving the narrative choices.

Lili has to be one of the most exceptional game design challenges I've had the privilege to work on. We're using live-action video feeds from multiple camera angles (allowing the player to spy on other people), while presenting time-sensitive hacking challenges, and a variety of story-telling devices.

It's common in game development to work on something in the shadows for a long time without the opportunity to share. But amazingly, Lili was featured in the Cannes Film Festival immersive competition, as the first video game ever to be showcased in this category.

Additionally, because the story off Lili is a modern adaptation of The Scottish Play (Macbeth), we have partnered with the Royal Shakespeare Company to produce their first video game ever!

"Lili makes Cannes history as first ever video game to be showcased."

- Royal Shakespeare Company

It has been an incredible honor to work on this project, and I hope to have more news in the future. Thanks for checking in.

Game Design in iNK

 Hi all, wishing you happiness and health at the end of 2024.

This was an intense, interesting, and productive year for gamedev. 2023 ended with really bad news for gamedevs, which continued into 2024. For a variety of reasons, the industry took a big hit, and a lot of people are feeling the pain. My heart goes out to devs who lost jobs, or even left the industry altogether. It was a big loss.

I have been plugging away on my own journey, mostly working on indie projects and paying the rent. I can't decide if I'm more excited about working in Unreal 5, or happy to stay in my comfort zone using Unity. It varies from project to project.

My big news is that early in the year I took on the role of Lead Game Designer for iNK Stories in Brooklyn, New York. I have history with iNK going back almost 10 years, so it was great to reconnect with old friends, and make some new ones.

It's been an adventure working with iNK on several projects, spanning multiple platforms. I especially enjoy being on-site in NYC for collaborative sessions and motion-capture shoots. The clients and talent I have gotten to work with are top-notch. I can't wait for an official announcement to share!

Wishing everyone a great 2025, and the strength to take on the obstacles ahead. Keep your loved ones close, enjoy some gaming sessions, and if you have time, explore some gamedev ideas. Dare to dream, big and small <3

Retro Station Test

 

Galactic Horizon

I've worked on a few Unreal Engine 5 projects lately, but due to NDA restrictions, I haven't been able to show as much as I'd like to. That's why I'm really happy to show the Galactic Horizon Demo I helped build with N-Fusion Interactive.

*Turn up the video quality if you watch the embedded video please!

**Skip to 30 seconds if you want to jump past the menus.

In this demo you take on the role of an interstellar traveler investigating various deep space planets. You analyze the atmosphere and local flora and fauna. Ultimately your goal is to determine if the planet is ideal for human colonization, interplanetary trade, or maybe should be avoided.

The demo was made by a small team using early versions of UE5 as they were released. Some things I learned more about along the way:

• Sequencer (cameras, animation blending, and BP events)
• UI Animation
• Media Player/Media Textures
• More Advanced BP Scripting
• Ultra Dynamic Sky/Weather
• Fluid Flux
• Landscapes
• Brushify
• Procedural Foliage Volumes
• Niagara Mesh Renderer (for flying ships and creatures)
• Level Streaming
• Cinematic Layouts
• Displacement Materials on Nanite Landscapes
• Manual vs Automatic LODs

After spending so long developing projects in Unity, it's really encouraging to dive back into Unreal and find out how my experience translates into the latest version of the engine. Some things are done the same, some things are done differently, but the underlying methodology is very similar.

But so far, in UE5, everything we make tends to be bigger, faster, and more detailed than what we've done in the past! I am loving this journey.

Image and video credit to N-Fusion Interactive (Jeff Birns, Jason Zisk, & Tyler Munden)

UE5 Water Sim

 Here's my latest water simulation test using Fluid Flux in Unreal 5.

I love the results from Fluid Flux, but it needs to be used on somewhat flat and irregular surfaces to look the best. So I took a blocky stone texture and started breaking it up.

Then I extract and extrude the stone sections into models and placed them over the surface.

Push them back into Unreal and let the water flow over them. So cool!

Home Office Webcam: Professional, Practical

When you work fully remote, your webcam presence is your professional presence. But depending on who you work with they may have different expectations on how you should present yourself. Gamedev tends to be more casual. The focus is on what you contribute, and it doesn't have to be a sleek corporate look.

This room is my dedicated office for work. But it's also where I game and socialize online. I try to keep it clean and presentable. And my background contains my personal interests, games, and decorations.

Of primary interest is my retro-gaming shelf. It holds four generations of working Nintendo platforms (NES, SNES, N64, & GameCube) with hundreds of titles (original physical cartridges), and a small CRT that fits perfectly into the shelf.

My walls have movie posters, and framed fan-art graphics for classic games (F-Zero, Star Fox). And behind me is my wife's futon/sofa, which we keep so that the office can be used as a guest room if friends/family want to stay the night.

Lastly is a cat bed and pub chair for my darling cat Izzy. She likes to make an appearance when I'm doing video calls. But she does get banned from the office when she gets too demanding of attention. I pay her back with fish puree later.

Let me know if you think my home office setup is appropriate, or if you have any tips. Thanks! <3

/Lastly: I always use headphones on video meetings to reduce line noise on the call. I suggest everyone do that!