Gameplay Programmer
About the projectS
I was responsible for two projects.
The first was an online multiplayer card deck game, where I worked on bug fixing and implemented multiplayer features, including lobby functionality.
The second was a multiplayer PvP prototype I started to develop entirely on my own. It’s about fish fighting for survival - players grow by eating and outmaneuvering others to become the biggest in the ocean.
Despite being a prototype, it has already attracted over 400 players to its Discord community in under six months.
In the following I am only going to write about the fish prototype because there is more to say about my own progress.
Project Specifics
Team size: 4
Project Time: JUL 2024 - OCT 2024
My Roles: Game Programmer, Game Designer
​Tools: Unity, Rider, Google Sheets
First prototype & evaluation
I started with a multiplayer package based on Photon Fusion 2. Around that I tried building the fish movement and connecting it to the multiplayer functionality. Besides that I tried to find prove of fun in growing and getting stronger/faster/bigger.
Third Person Controller
I tried to make a realistic fish controller while keeping the gameplay in the foreground. The difficulty is that the fish has to be able to turn quickly and move very freely, and also feel fluid.
Unity Packages
I used things from the asset store that could be avoided by programming myself. This taught me how to handle large projects and incorporate them into my own work.
Fusion Connection To Room
Online Multiplayer
The most difficult part was probably wrapping the head around the concept of multiplayer, how clients, hosts and servers work and how they affect each other. I learned a whole lot about the complete process of a multiplayer game and how to set it up.
My Teamwork
All the work we did was communicated online - so I learned how to work and communicate from home. We mostly worked with scrum and sprints to ensure a good workflow.
I worked on different parts of the game, so the team size kept changing and I got to interact with lots of different people, which I really enjoyed!
conclusion
I really appreciated being able to see and work on every part of the project. I learned that I really enjoy wearing multiple hats and talking to all parts of the team and just having a varied job all round.
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