Alex Allen
ABOUT
PROJECTS
RESUME
CONTACT
PACER
1, (Solo Project)
​Game, Level & UX Designer​
Role :
Team Size :
Platforms :
PC (Itch.io)
Unreal Engine 5
Engine :
2 Months
Dev Time :
PACER , is a movement focused FPS inspired by retro boomer shooters like Quake & Doom 2 but also features more modern game aspects that you would see in games like ultra kill.
​
Within this project, I focused on created an intuitive, immersive and engaging combat experience with a game loop that rewarded players of a higher skill.
Contributions to Pacer
Implemented three functionally different weapons.
Designed and implemented both a tutorial and playable level.
Implemented three separate / differently behaving AI enemy types
Designed and implemented engaging movement mechanics
Solely mitigated many build issues & produced itch.io builds.
Independently designed and developed the full game
Implemented a range of different UI / informative widgets
Implemented a performance rating that allows players to compete with other's scores
PACER Game Loop
EXPLORE
& GATHER
CHARGE CRANK VALUE
FIGHT
ENEMIES
SURVIVE
PACER's Crank, System Design
What is the Crank system?
The "Crank Value" system is designed to resemble a pacemaker and the game revolves around it. This system is a value presented to the player through UI that is constantly decreasing by 1 unit per second and can only be increased / cranked up through killing enemies.
What does the Crank system do?
The "Crank Value" system incrementally effects the players movement speed / abilities and will also kill the player if the "Crank Value" reaches 0. These "Crank" related effects are indicated to the player through the on screen UI widget.
As the player's "Crank Value" Increases, both the player's overall movement speed will increase in 4 intervals (as shown here ).
On top of this, if the player's "Crank Value" exceeds 35 they will have access to the dash movement mechanic (as shown here ) until either the "Crank Value" drops below 35 or the dash is used which temporarily disables it.
PACER, Level Design
In Pacer, the levels are designed to provide ample space to utilise effective movement mechanic usage.
On top of this, due to the game being intentionally difficult, the level is designed to be studied in order for the player to create their own path that takes them past their favourite pickups which will eventually make the game easier to play for people who die a lot.​​​​
Objective Positioning
In order to allow player's to clearly understand their objectives when playing Pacer, I provided players with an informative widget in Pacer's tutorial.
On top of this, when designing Pacer's levels, I always positioned the objective of that room to be ahead of the room's entrance in order to make them more easily visible.
Leading Lines Usage
In order to further improve the readability of Pacer's levels, I incorporated a range of leading lines that highlight where the player needs to go.
These lines are coloured yellow in order to make them stand out. The lines can be directly followed by players in order to find all of the level's objectives.
Objectives
In Pacer the player has simple retro inspired set of objectives. These objectives are three small electrical boxes that need to be interacted with to activate. One these boxes are activated enemies will spawn in and the player will have to kill all of them without dying in order to advance on to the next.
PACER, Combat Design
Weapons
Pacer features three weapons, the Deagle, the Akimbo Shotguns and the Minigun.
These weapons were chosen for implementation in order to accommodate a range of different FPS playstyles such as people who prefer to shoot with precision, tracking or people who enjoy to hot switch weapons while moving around their enemies.
Player Movement
As previously mentioned, I implemented a range of movement mechanics into Pacer to provide a high octane experience with a high skill ceiling.
The Dash and Slide mechanics also allow players to have more options when trying to both navigate the map and evade enemies.
Deagle
Slide
Dash
​
Minigun
Akimbo Shotgun
Combat Feedback
In order to make the player's combat related impact easy to understand, I implemented a range of different VFX, Audio and Widgets. These implementations highlight both when an enemy/player takes damage and also when an enemy is about to attack.
Through these implementations, the player is easily able to understand things like when to dodge or when they've taken damage without reading UI.
Enemy Death VFX
Enemy Hit VFX
Enemies
Pacer features three different enemies, the Heavy, the Skeleton and the Ranged Enemy. I decided to implement this small variety of enemies in order to provide a range of challenges for the player.
Each enemy features different behaviours for example the Skeleton moves and attacks quickly but has lower health where as the Heavy moves far slower and has a lot more health.
Heavy
Ranged Enemy
Skeleton
PACER, UX Design
When creating the UI for Pacer, I focused on creating and implementing UI elements that were clear, intuitive and easy to understand even without reading the progress bars seen in the HUD. In this section, these UI elements and the decisions made when designing / implementing them can be seen
Crank Value Indicator
In order to improve immersion and engagement. When implementing the Crank Value system's UI, I added a green flashing UI system indicating the increased Crank Value. I also edited the footstep SFX to scale with the player's increased movement speed (Max Crank UI shown in right image).
Max Crank Value Indicator
Blockage Visualisation
In some sections of Pacer, the player will be blocked from using doorways due to either the advancement out of a section or because of an objective's activation.
I visualised this simply for the player by implementing a red cross across the doorway.
Hurt Flash UI
In order to show that the player has taken damage, I implemented a simple red flash widget animation.
​
I implemented this simple widget animation as it is seen within many FPS games and it's purpose is easily recognisable
When implementing the dash UI, I decided to incorporate a simple overlay showing the player whooshing through the air.
I then accompanied this widget overlay with a simple whoosh like sound effect in order to improve the feel of the mechanic.
Dash UI
Slide UI
In order to show the player to be sliding, I implemented a range of images very similar to the Dash UI. These images will then change directions and appear to be randomly rotating in order to simulate creating an air drag visual.
I then also accompanied this with a metal grinding sound to improve immersion / engagement.
Contact Me
Feel free to contact me through clicking on the icons shown beneath or emailing me at alexallen2k3@gmail.com. I will get back to all messages within 24 hours.
