Shoot for the Stars
Developed by Stellarverse Studios (team of 4)
My responsibilities:
- Created all of the materials except for the skybox
- Created all of the VFX
- Modeled all of the 3D models except for the grapple point and star rays
- Created a spaceship model generator in Houdini
- Problem solving
- Source control troubleshooting
Polygon Outline Material
To give the city a futuristic look, I created a material that would highlight the polygons of meshes. Placing this material on an object allows meshes seen through the object to appear with its polygons outlined. In the game, this is placed on spheres that attract the player's attention to the spaceships and on the signs that the player needs to jump over to let the player realize that the signs are colliders.
Spiral Particle VFX
Using Unreal's niagara system I created a particle effect to highlight the tower and the end of the level.
Star Material and VFX
To achieve the effect of a shooting star, I added movement to the star texture through HLSL code and created a VFX where little stars shoot out from behind the large star with UE's niagara systems.
Cell Shader
I created a cell shader material to place on most 3D objects in the scene. It also removed the need to UV unwrap those objects. The cell shader is most obvious on the platforms that the player jumps on.
Spaceship Model Generator
I made a spaceship model generator in Houdini to efficiently create varied spaceship models. It has controls of a seed and whether or not an additional top is added to the spaceship. This game has a lot of spaceships, and with this generator, we can create a multitude of unique spaceships quickly.
