Luis Andrade
Game Developer and Software Engineer
Wingman: Social Espionage
Unity3D Game Project
Overview
Wingman is a comedic third-person, stealth-based, action-adventure game. The game is built and currently being developed on the Unity3D game engine by a team of five people, including myself.
In Wingman, you are a suave master of manipulation and a wingsuit enthusiast. You have taken it upon yourself to fly from rooftop party to rooftop party to assist those lonely souls longing to meet their other half. These lonely souls (your clients) are putting all their trust in you to help them get together with their interest. This won't be easy however, as Wingman is faced with a variety of challenges.
First off, the "interest" isn't even aware of your client's existance. As Wingman, you must use you charm, wit, and cunning to "play up" your client: make him or her interesting, increase his or her confidence, and do everything in your power to make your client the life of the party and the center of their interest's affection. How you proceed is up to you, but remember to be stealthy. There is security throughout these parties, and you're not exactly welcomed (much less invited) to these events. So go out their and save the world from the chains of loneliness in the best way you can.
My Contributions
Pathing A.I.: Enemy Patrol Patterns
Using Unity's Nav Mesh component, I created a basic A.I. and behavioral system for the security guards' movement and behavior. I started by first laying out waypoints throughout the level and then assigning each guard a list of waypoints. These points determine each guard's patrol path.
For behaviors, each guard follows their assigned patrol paths until they see the player. If one does, the guard first stops and looks at the player, which begins filling a detection bar designed by another team member. If the bar reaches a certain level, the guard will have "detected" the player and respond by either approaching the player to catch him/her, or searching the area near the player's last known location if the player manages to escape.
By giving security guards a patrol pattern, players are encouraged to learn each security guard's patrol path and find the best route to stay hidden from their line of sight.
Level Design: Stealth and Exploration
Through planning, feedback, and iteration, I worked on designing our game's main rooftop level, the guard building area, and certain tutorial levels.
The tutorial levels were designed to quickly teach players the game's mechanics. Each level teaches a specific mechanic and will build upon previous tutorials when needed. This way, the player learns how the mechanics work together without wasting time.
For the main level, I designed a large, formal, rooftop-dance party. The size fit the aesthetic of the game and encouraged players to explore the area to accomplish objectives. However, the goal was to also encourage players to be stealthy and to learn routes that would best cover them from the guards' view.
Lastly, I designed a guard building interior as a purely stealth-based area to challenge the player's stealth skills. I created a winding path that players must follow while avoiding the various guards on patrol. Using only the walls and safe areas as cover, players must reach the other end of the building to retrieve necessary mission items without getting caught.
3D Modeling: Environmental Objects
I created some of the scenery models seen throughout the level, such as the tables, chairs, the modular pieces for the bar, the Guard Building exterior, and more. We decided to go with a cartoonish art style to emphasize the comedic nature of the game.
While creating these models, I also considered how I could use them to help the player sneak around the level. I made sure that most of the scenery objects were useful in some way or another. Some objects work to help hide the player, while others work as landmarks to let the player get a better idea of how the level is laid out.
All of the models were created in Maya 2012, which also let us add basic textures and colors to our models using the 3D paint tool. The basic, cartoonish art style of the game let me create these models quickly in order to start designing the levels as soon as possible.
