BEYOND THE LINE

First created in Unity as a passion project, and then refined in University, "BTL" was an experiment with procedural tools, custom physics and data analysis. The core of the project was to create an open-world hovercraft racing game, with a focus on freedom of choice.

Satisfied with the prototype, I then rebuilt it in Unreal Engine 4, using C++ and Blueprints, with a focus on creating tools which allowed me to experiment and iterate quickly.

Beyond the Line never quite left the back of my mind, and I still dream of someday implementing speed and freedom, both for gameplay and development tools, into a larger polished product.

Prototyped in Unity

Initially started as a passion project over a summer break, I created a polished prototype Hovercraft game for university. The final submission had three linear tracks, two open-world courses, three different vehicles and a tutorial.

The environments were created in Houdini, using its procedural workflow to create the terrain, as well as roads, textures and tree placement.

It also had integrated data collection tools allowing me to refine and iterate on the game based on player Data.

The "3 C's" were vital when working on the vehicles, creating a system that was responsive, while offering emergent challenges. Of a particular focus was how changing even small values on handling or acceleration could affect the player's experience and interaction with the tracks.

Remade in Unreal Engine 4

Wanting to further my knowledge with UE4 and C++ in particular, I remade the game, with a greater focus on the open-world aspects.

Using Gaia to create procedural terrains, with a custom material landscape as well as UE4's array of procedural tools, I could easily experiment with a variety of environments.

Worlds could then be fleshed out with Quixel Megascans and my track building tool.

The difference in physics systems meant I had to rethink several aspects of the game, taking the best parts of the Unity prototype while improving on issues.

Track Building Tool

A key issue with the original Unity version was the time it took to iterate and edit tracks. Using UE4's spline tool as a foundation, I created an editor with which Tracks could quickly be created and edited.

As well as being capable of horizontal and vertical manipulation, it also has procedural support columns, exchangeable parts such as quarter-pipes and tunnels, and can be split into two separate tracks.

Using C++ and Blueprints together

The core of the Hovercraft's system is written in C++, and then placed as nodes into Blueprints. This allowed me to rapidly test a variety of different vehicle types and settings, while still relying on the speed and cleanliness of C++ within UE4.

The physical, visual and camera components are all handled separately, giving me complete control over the character, controls and camera of the vehicle.