Shipped Games

Orcs Must Die Unchained

Primary Role: AI, Networking, and Gameplay Systems Programmer

Game Description

Orcs Must Die! Unchained takes the award-winning Orcs Must Die! action tower defense gameplay to a whole new level with 3-player team-based gameplay! It is set in the familiar world of its hilarious fantasy predecessors, years after the finale of Orcs Must Die! 2. With dozens of new rifts and worlds beyond them, heroes have come from far and wide to wage all-out war for control of these magical gateways. In the years since Orcs Must Die! 2, Maximillian and Gabriella have done their best to rebuild the once-mighty Order. Their new enemy, the Unchained, is no longer the mindless horde defeated twice before, but instead an organized army led by its own powerful heroes.

Responsibilities

  • AI Systems for Player Bots, Mercenaries (Sub-Bosses), Bosses, and minions

    • Developed and worked on an AI Behavior System to support the creation of player Bots for Siege (PvP) and Survival

      • System supported many types of AI creatures, from stealthy Pride Assassins to overprotective Bears defending their minions

    • Refactored and enhanced the above system to support the creation of custom bosses, neutral objective minions, and Mercenaries

    • Worked on Pathfinding modifications and associated minion behaviors to support fully blocked paths

  • Mobility Skill System to support fast, non-traditional movement abilities for Heroes

    • Custom networking solution that supports smooth movement up to 300ms latency and 2% packet loss

    • Custom physics allowing designers to tweak the movement physics of hero abilities, such as staying attached to a ground or acting as a guided missile

    • Modified and fixed bugs with Unreal's animation system to support Mobility Skills

  • Gameplay systems and tools to support of the development of Orcs Must Die Unchained Heroes

    • Assisted with the development of multiple OMDU heroes, iterating with design and art to bring them to life

    • Programmed several additions to our combat system to support new hero abilities

    • Spawn preview system with intelligent actor placement

 

Demo Videos

Below are some demo videos showcasing some heroes utilizing systems I worked on

Tundra

  • Tundra utilizes a Snowball Mobility Skill called Avalanche. It has custom physics, steering, and camera movement

  • Tundra posses a unique ability, called Glacial Wall, which can fully block minion paths and act as a dynamic pathing obstacle. Players can strategically place his wall using the spawn preview and placement system

Midnight and Temper

  • Midnight has a Dash ability called Dash and Slash. It leverages the mobility system for fast, rapid movement that is smooth even while experiencing moderate latency and or packet loss

    • Her Dash skill supports immediate extrapolation so the skill feels responsive to the player

  • Temper posses an ability called Bull Rush, which also utilizes the Mobility System

    • The physics and the characteristics of his Bull Rush change based on whether his rage is full or not

    • Supports custom camera interpolation and movement

AI Mercenaries

Below is an Insider Access episode showcasing four Mercenaries. Their AI was constructed by our design team utilizing the AI Systems I worked on (Video may be gone in future)