Hex Rally Racers

Hex Rally Racers is a 3D arcade racing game for PC where players race on flying brooms. Fight through a maze of six different tracks to win the race. Choose your witch and your broom which provides special abilities, fight against seven other witches or against three friends at the same time in multiplayer split-screen!

ROLE

GAME ENGINE

PLATFORM

DEVELOPMENT TIME

DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Gameplay / UI Programmer

Unreal Engine 4

PC, Windows

3 Months

58 (12 Programmers)

CONTRIBUTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITES

Built the overall mechanism and layout of spells, inventory and usage.
Implemented the HUD feature which depicts all the different spell combinations and broom types.
Ensured multiplayer features worked coherently for all the spells.
Worked closely with artists and the level designers to ensure proper conveyance for the spells.
Worked on UI for broom selection, Menu and HUD.

TRAILER

SPELL CASTING MECHANIC

The game involved spell casting as one of the main mechanics. Since the level designers would require constant access to them, it was necessary to make it data driven.
Each broom had a set of combinations which produced different spells.
I had to work closely with the level designers to ensure that no single broom was over powered and provide them freedom to work with their designs without having to worry about implementation.

UI SYSTEMS AND SETTINGS

UI in general was particularly tricky as the game featured multiple brooms and witch types. To top it all it had to ensure it had proper controller support.
The player HUD updates based on the current broom type of the player. It takes into account the pickup picked and displays the current spell available to the player.
In the player select screen multiple details had to be changed based on player inputs from different controllers.

RETROSPECTIVE

What went well?

The game had a clear direction from the start in terms of design and mechanics.
People were split into strike teams to quickly solve bugs and deal with unknowns.
Building the overall framework of spells and brooms went well as there was clear communication between leads, designers and programmers regarding the requirements.

What went wrong?

The amount of time required for UI was underestimated which meant considerable amount of workload was added towards the end.
Split screen multiplayer meant more time spent on controller inputs and conveyance, which was unaccounted for during planning.

What I learned?

How to work on a team with 58 people.
Understand each person's roles and responsibilities and ensuring not to step on other people's toes.
Morale and motivation plays a huge part in game development.