In re[Mod], players face each other in an all-new competitive FPS experience. re[Mod] players will have to fight over gun parts scattered in various locations around the arena so they can modify their weapon on the fly to make it even more deadly. Our dynamic gun modification system lets players explore both traditional and incredibly ridiculous firearms until the match is over. Explore, modify, fight to the death; and may the best robot win.

• Platform: PC
• Engine: Unity
• Production period: August 2017 – Present
• Team Members
  • Charlie Carucci – Lead Designer & Product Owner
  • Tyler Bolster – Lead Artist & Animator
  • James Keats – Lead Programmer & Build Master
  • Max Sanel – Project Manager & Scrum Master
  • Tim Eccleston – Level Designer
  • Natalie Frost – VFX/HUD Designer
  • Michael Manfredi – Environment Artist
  • Justin Mulkin – Gameplay & Analytics Programmer
  • Jake Buzzell – Music Composer
  • Max Johnson – Music Composer
• DOWNLOAD THE GAME HERE

Personal Roles and Responsibilities

As the Lead Designer of this team, my responsibilities bleed into almost every aspect of this game. All of the systems or gameplay elements outlined below are important features of the game that I designed, prototyped, balanced, and polished to bring re[Mod] to a finished state. This game will be complete by the beginning of May 2018.

Lead Designer:

• Reviewed and iterated on level design
  • Design Feedback – relayed feedback related to level geometry, game space, and lines of sight to the Level Designer, Tim, to optimize both maps for FPS gameplay from whitebox to complete
  • Gameplay Set-up – worked with Tim to set up the gameplay elements in both the Duel Mode and Arena Battle maps
  • Free-for-All Map – Whiteboxed an asymmetrical map targeted towards non-team based play. This level was cut for time purposes.
• Designed weapon part acquisition systems and balanced part effect stats
  • Weapon Pads – spawn a random weapon part within its respective category
  • Stage Areas – grant players a legendary part if they successfully capture the stage
  • Magnet Arm – allows players to pull apart towards them as long as it is within their view, no matter how far away the part is
  • Weapon Part Prototyping – Utilized the scripts put together by our programmers to prototype and balance new barrels and firing mechanisms.
• Tested different methods to increase player versus player interaction
  • Team Battle game mode – team play has proven to give players more incentive to fight over stage area and explore different weapon combinations, without having to worry about every other player in the match
  • Score system – the win/lose state for a match is based on how many points players collect–the player with the most points wins. This has led to more stage captures, legendary parts being used, and increased skill level in players
• Improved player feedback
  • Player HUD – revised to show the player all the information they need to know at any given time (health, ammo, score, weapon part effects, etc.) without distracting the player or taking away from the fast-paced nature of our game
  • Additional UI Elements – designed features like our Hype Text to let players know when they’re performing well
• Developed our visual vocabulary
  • Weapon Pad colors – each weapon part category is assigned a specific color, so players can learn to recognize these colors and know which type of part they’re looking at. This way, players can identify the parts they want much faster.
  • Common vs. Legendary – some weapon parts are incredibly powerful. Players can identify one of these legendary parts by the particles swirling around them.

Audio Designer:

• Recorded and edited original sfx for different weapon and player noises
  • I mainly used foley I recorded myself and edited in Logic Pro using a combination of EQs, Compressors, and Modulation plug-ins.
• Utilized FMOD to implement all of our in-game audio
  • FMOD has proved to be a very useful engine and I’m really thankful that we chose to use this program. FMOD allows me to easily set up new audio events and use a variety of tool tracks to change when the audio plays, how it sounds, and who can hear it.
• Increased audio player feedback
  • I made almost all of the audio in our game currently. As the audio designer, I wanted to make sure that we had plenty of audio feedback whenever something happens to the individual player and when an event happens that effects everyone in the match.

Player Experience

We want our players to feel the thrill of discovery and experimentation when they combine new weapons parts they find to make entirely new guns. By letting players build their own guns on the fly, gameplay will constantly be changing. We want to create a distinct visual vocabulary for our weapon parts so players can easily distinguish parts from each other, and recognize the parts they know they like.

While playing re[Mod], we want players to feel a rush of adrenaline every time they go toe-to-toe with another player, pride when they prove their weapon build is superior, and a sense of curiosity when they see a weapon part they are unfamiliar with. We always want players to feel rewarded for discovery and a competitive drive to come in first. These emotions are crucial to creating a successful player experience for our game.

We’re all incredibly excited to show off our game. Thank you for your interest in re[Mod]!