Beneath the Badlands: Project Overview
Beneath the Badlands is a BFA capstone project created by a team of more than 40 developers in just under half a year. Denoted a "Special Project," Beneath the Badlands' development had Triple-A ambitions, management, and scale. Our objective was a highly polished game that met industry-standards for a AA or AAA experience. Beneath the Badlands was to showcase the highest level of skill for every member of the dev team.
Current State:
The initial objective of Beneath the Badlands' development was met and production wrapped on June 1st 2023 with most of the team exiting the project or graduating. Development still continues, however, with a smaller team of programmers, including myself, working to patch, polish, and (hopefully) publish Beneath the Badlands.
A final trailer for Beneath the Badlands is in the works and the final, shippable build is soon to follow. Our GDC trailer can be viewed here:
Key Contribution
My role as designer, programmer, and mentor evolved over the course of development.
As a designer, I authored dozens of design documents and critical sections of the game design document.
As a programmer, I handled much of the front-end player experience; weapons being the most prominent.
My contribution was the integration of sound effects, visual effects, camera shake, controller feedback, and animation to every weapon.
My contribution was the integration of sound effects, visual effects, camera shake, controller feedback, and animation to every weapon.
As a mentor, I was one of the most frequent scrum-masters - usually leading weapon or level development. My performance led to me being promoted to the role of Level Design Lead later in production. As Level Design Lead, I managed the production of levels from block-out to set-dressing and did most of the final passes to encounters, hazards, and interact-able elements.