I began learning the basic principles of game design by recreating small games such as Brick Breaker and Tetris using Unreal Engine's blueprint system. Once I had a grasp of how to use the game engine, I decided to create a small game demo to put what I had been learning about game design into practice.
Cold war is a game with simple but impactful mechanics. It is focused on risk/reward dynamics, resource management, and careful positioning.
The aim of the game is to be the last tank standing. Stay out of the water for as long as possible, and try to take your opponents out in the meantime.
A large amount of time was spent on honing the "3 Cs" of the game, namely the camera, the controls, and the character. I placed a particular emphasis on perfecting the player character's movement and "Feel", as many multiplayer games live and die on how responsive and tactile the character and controls are to the player.
Early versions of the Player character (see Left) felt light and floaty. The flight mechanic, in particular, went through several failed versions before I settled on its final iteration.
The tank's primary attack was also iterated upon extensively. Tank attacks originally applied a small amount of recoil to the player. The rate of fire was also frequently adjusted, sometimes with disastrous results. Recoil was eventually removed from the tank's ranged attack entirely. However, the mechanic and code were later re-used for the tank's dash attack.
Play Test Footage
https://youtu.be/kd5MWGQ9UBY
Play testing proved to be the most valuable tool during the development process. No matter how many tweaks i made to mechanics, they were pointless without player feedback. Play-testers me insights into the game that I would never have made on my own and allowed for instant feedback on mechanics I was considering implementing. They proved invaluable to the development process, and i intend to make extensive use of play testing in all my projects going forward.
Screenshots
Power ups were added to the game to keep the moment to moment gameplay more unpredictable
Players were given a powerful one-use item per round..
The map was size was chosen to deliberately prevent players from hiding in areas out of enemy rocket range.
The game included a full tutorial on the menu screen to get new players used to gameplay.
Fuel management became an essential part of every player's survival strategy.
Download link: Cold War by RianJPH (itch.io)
Marketplace assets used in this game demo:
Stylized Toon Water - North Wind Studios
Stylized VFX Mix [Niagara] - Lidya Art
Stylized Winter material Pack - Simuranstudio