Game Programmer
Spear Fishing Game
What's better then Spear Fishing? Spear fishing with a Grappling Hook
Technology: Unreal Engine 4
Date: Spring 2022
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This game was created during my advanced graphics programming class in my spring semester, during my third year, at Champlain College. In this 3D tech demo, the player controls a person trying to catch fish with a spear grappling hook while avoiding death. My responsibility for this project was creating ground materials, and particle effects to improve the visual quality of the project.
Particle Effects / Materials
At the start of the project, the team brainstormed a master list of all of the systems, models, particles and materials for the project. When I went about constructing the particles, such as the rope below, I attempted to capture the same low poly aesthetic that was being put into our models, in some cases using our models as the particle shape. Some particles, like the rope below needed set up as to fit functionality. When set up in build, the rope generates between where the grappling look lands and a point on the player.
The project aimed for a low poly aesthetic and to go with that, we needed materials which meshed well with the low poly as well as being multi-functional. The material shown below is the master material for all of the natural elements of the project: including the Grass, the dirt, the rocks, and the trees
One of the original goals for this demo was to have a lot of fish attacks for the player to have to deal with and the particle effect below was originally supposed to go with an attack that was cut. This particle would get reused as the effect for when the player sticks the grappling hook into the ground, for which I implement myself into our existing grappling hook system.
When creating particle effects for the fish, I needed something which both matched the water material we were using but also stood out enough to make the effects noticeable. One of the ways I went about this was by making the blues of the particles slightly different shades to reflect their movement and how they are changing the water around them. Pictured below is the fish trail:
