Overview

Technical Lead | AI Programmer
(Unity Engine; Team of 9)

"Cats & Critters" is a whimsical couch-coop party game where a group of cat wizards adventure through a randomly-arranged archipelago.

As AI Programmer, I engineered a utility-based AI reasoning system by implementing response curves to support a variety of multiplayer scenarios.

As Technical Lead, I documented regular build reviews and utilized weekly technical production meetings to maintain team momentum.

Responsibilities

  • Compiled and documented weekly builds for development, playtesting, and QA use.
  • Developed an AI framework to allow scripting in-game enemies with sense, navigation, gameplay, and utility-based behavior interfaces.
  • Engineered flexible utility response curves for use with reactive behaviors, multiplayer difficulty balancing, and game content generation.
  • Built an encounter system to gate players into sequential challenges, such as wave challenges and a multi-phase boss fight.

Technical Highlights

  • Reassessed effectiveness of a GOAP AI system, refactoring and optimizing it into a simpler utility-based reasoner.
  • Created a flexible response curve system to author the outcomes of any game systems that reacted to realtime data.
  • Emphasized combat interactions with limited assets by implementing knockback mechanics and responsive combat feedback.

Team Dynamics

  • Worked with level designers to manage hundreds of level assets in a scalable way that would support all game systems.
  • Navigated restrictions of development on a small team with limited access to custom assets.

Design Contributions

  • Designed and pitched original game design concept to peers and mentors, refining the high-level design based on feedback.
  • Tuned the appearance of enemies and pickups based on realtime data to capture difficulty dependent on party size.
  • Wrote spell names and descriptions to display during loading screens to passively teach and engage players with the variety of abilities.
  • Facilitated multiple playtests with groups of varying ages and experience levels to judge accessibility.

Project Insights

  • Developed and adapted advanced AI reasoning systems to allow flexible decision-making in a hectic multiplayer environment.
  • Leveraged team strengths to create a depth of variety through game mechanics even when facing limited asset constraints.

Media