Cryptic Project
Cryptic Studios, 2023
This Unannounced Action RPG was intended to be a jumping-on point to the genre for a western audience, featuring a captivating art-style and a focus on co-op and permanent growth. Nevertheless, we wanted to give all the challenge and creativity that fans of the genre expect.
The project was unfortunately cancelled in late 2023, but directly inspired my solo project: Project Samba. [Link to come]
I was brought on to the new team at Cryptic due to my experience with Unreal Engine, focusing on engineering work in C++. Nevertheless, I still took efforts to introduce the technology and tools to people on the team that had been used to working in the Cryptic engine for years.
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The largest feature I made from scratch was the Synchronized Actions system. Originally meant for backstabs and ripostes, the system was expandable and included special grab attacks from our boss character, Dreadmire. I worked very closely with animators and designers for implementing this feature, defining the standards that animations for backstab and riposte required. The system could also be used to drive interactions with objects in the world, like levers and chests, to cleanly control player character behaviors contextually.
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I also built or expanded several core combat systems such as Break, Stagger, Sprint, Delayed Death, and Prone.
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I had a close relationship with the Narrative Director, helping to work out the themes and motivations of this unusual Afterlife world we were building.