PiÄ…tek
RTS
High Concept
Co-Lead
Level Designer
3D Modeler
Unit Designer
x 2
Completed
May 2022 - June 2022
The premise of this second first year project was the creation of a Level using an Unreal Engine 5 template prepared by second year students in Game Programming, with a focus put on the creation of modular assets.
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For this new exercise, groups of 2 would each cast wishes on 6 "genre" templates. Among the different options presented to us, we opted for the RTS template as we believed it would offer a better opportunity for in depth level Design, presented as the core of the exercise.
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While my partner would handle technical aspect, I would take the initiative on the design aspect, bringing my own experience on RTS titles on the table, most notably the Company of Heroes series.
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Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to solve the inherent technical issues which ultimately hindered our ability to build the game.
Poland
This project was an opportunity to pay tribute to a rather forgotten front of WW2, Poland. Even more so when it fitted with our limitations.
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The name of the project itself finds its roots from history. PiÄ…tek means Friday in polish. The 1st September 1939, that saw the beginning of the Second World War and the invasion of Poland, was a Friday.
Units
When it came to establishing a Unit dynamic, we decided to go for a classic triangle.
Due to the inability of implementing a cover system, indirect fire or types of damages we had to rely on pure numbers to create it.
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That meant using huge differentials in the HP and Damage departments as well playing with other parameters such as the rate of fire to balance things out.
Units Statistics
Dear Map,
Being at the core of this project the Level was our major concern throughout all of the 5 weeks. The base of which was a Molecular diagram envisioned early on.
As we had no way of getting production buildings up and running, the flow of the level was inspired by Company of Heroes 1 "Vierville" mission (Battle of Normandy). In which the player starts with a handful of paratroopers, only to accumulate forces by assisting allied units engaged with the enemy in a number of locations across the map.
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In Piatek this progression would be further symbolized by the environment and the elevation, as the player would gather units through the lower countryside before taking on the high city, the final objective.
All the while offering different risk and rewards choices to the player regarding the locations they would want to engage in, and what units they would get in return for this commitment.
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Units Distribution
Modular War
After an introduction to the modular approach of 3D assets, we were to elaborate our environment as a giant construction kit. Meaning my LEGO years would have a chance to shine.
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Thankfully, my previous experiences using blender allowed me to pick up 3ds Max rather quickly.
After studying polish town's architecture and collecting blueprints, I set off to model the different vehicles as well as the buildings and structures that were to be featured, with the exception of a few models.
With the advisable approach to 3D being one of low poly for this project, we settled for a style similar to Total Tank Simulator.
This further justified our choice of setting. As when it came to early war vehicles and anti-tank guns, their boxy appearance made them more approachable for beginner modellers and fitted perfectly with the low poly style.
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One that would rely on flat colors with darker tones to highlight features and create volume without going through UV unwrapping and texturing.
Assets List
