Daniel Salameh's Portfolio

Some of my contributions…

Design and greybox a narrative map with 3 distinct city areas

Design the main co-op combat and puzzle system

In this co-op narrative puzzle shooter, fight your way through mosters and solve puzzles to uncover what happened to the king and the people of this dark steam punk island.

Design and greybox a narrative map with 3 distinct city areas

This is my first project in Unreal Engine and I have gotten very comfortable using the sculpting and greyboxing tools! These photos show two stages in the cities development. The idea is to make a map that is not only grandiose and works as a city, but also offers a fun city to move around for a hoard shooter. This means lots of forked pathways, interesting line-ups, and some accessible high ground.

The story will take the players through the town square, the factory, and the neighborhood. I want to make sure each offers a unique play style and positioning technique to avoid enemies.

Through this project, I am learning not only how to push the limits of the Unreal Engine map making tools but also how to design a map specifically for combat!

Sculpt and texture 1 full island map

Using Unreal Engine's landscaping tools I was able to create an island for The 4G map. I used a very free style sculpting method to make something that felt natural while still maintaining intention behind the heights and placement of mountain structures.

I then used the painting tool to create a 4 layer floor material. This automatically paints the island based on slope to ensure grassy tops and dirt sides.

Finally, I used modeling mode to begin mapping out the general layout. I would frequently play the game and walk around to get a sense of scale. I was able to make unique models as well as a modular wall model.

This task taught me a lot about Unreal Engines Landscaping and Modeling modes, their capabilities, and shortcomings. After a few hours, I was able to work efficiently with the tools at my disposal.

I then used the painting tool to create a 4 layer floor material. This automatically paints the island based on slope to ensure grassy tops and dirt sides.

Design the main co-op combat and puzzle system

We want The 4G to have a strictly co-op style that encouraged replayability. I decided to split the player classes in two: gunner, mechanic. Abstracting this idea, one player is mainly for combat and the other is mainly for puzzle solving.

There are a few aspects of this that I want to strictly avoid:

One player having more fun than the other
One player moving on without the other
Locking off certain capabilities from roles

This requires a mindset shift - it is not about making one player a combat player and the other a puzzle solver, it is about one player mainly use force and the other mainly use finesse.

In order to success in their primary goals (gunner: kill enemies; mechanic: solve pipe puzzles), the players require help from each other. For example, the gunner must shoot off a lock allowing the mechanic to turn the pipe. On the other side, the mechanic must repair and refill the gunners gun when it jams or runs out of ammo.

Each class also has some expertise in the opposite role. Gunners can turn pipes to solve puzzles, it is just a slower process. Mechanics can kill enemies, they just have to kill enemies one by one with their wrench. This allows for clutch moments in case one player is briefly out of the fight.

Overall, this co-op balance creates a fun system of relaying on each other while not entirely locking mechanics to certain roles. With each role having a different play style, replayability as the other role is encouraged. Playtests will tell if audiences really do react this way.