The Goal & Design Pillar
The core design pillar is "Tactical Clarity & Networked Reliability." The goal is to recreate the precise, high-stakes feel of a competitive tactical shooter, where player skill, weapon mastery, and team strategy are paramount. A major focus is ensuring all core mechanics are robust and feel responsive in a networked multiplayer environment.
Key Mechanics & Iteration:
Networked Weapon & Inventory System:
The Goal: Design a fluid, responsive weapon handling system where equipping, dropping, shooting, and reloading are perfectly replicated for all players, forming the foundation of fair gameplay.
The Solution & Iteration:
Systemic Foundation: Built a comprehensive system for weapon pickups, featuring distinct handling for Pistols and Rifles, including animations for equipping, dropping, and reloading.
Inventory & Drag-and-Drop: Implementing a networked inventory with drag-and-drop functionality presented a significant challenge. I am learning to manage the complex ownership and replication rules in Blueprints to ensure a player's inventory state is always accurately reflected on all clients, a critical aspect of multiplayer integrity.
The "Feel": Iterating on the Enhanced Input system and animation blueprints to ensure weapon handling feels crisp and immediate, which is non-negotiable for the FPS genre.
. Team-Based Spawn & Score Logic
The Goal: Create a clear, competitive loop where team composition and objective-based scoring drive the match forward.
The Solution:
Team Selection: Implemented a pre-match team selection (Terrorist vs. Anti-Terrorist), establishing player identity and team goals from the start.
Spawn System: Developed a team-specific spawn and respawn system that places players back into the action quickly after death, maintaining match pace.
Win Conditions: The current focus is on implementing and balancing the win conditions (e.g., team deathmatch score limit), which is teaching me about data-driven design and tuning for long-term engagement.
Player Feedback & Damage Systems
The Goal: Provide players with instant, unambiguous feedback on their actions and state, crucial for fast-paced tactical decisions.
The Solution:
Damage, Health, & Armor: A core health and armor system is in place, with the damage logic being refined to feel impactful and fair.
Future Polish: The next phase includes integrating VFX (muzzle flashes, impact decals) and SFX (distinct weapon reports, spatial footstep sounds) to complete the immersive feedback loop and enhance situational awareness.
