Boss Project
Project Type: BluSum Solutions prototype
Teamsize: 8
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Tasks: Game/creative direction, project management, game design, 3C-design
Project Details
Boss Project is a two-week learning project aimed at creating a 2D action game character, with a specific focus on responsive and impactful attacks. I closely collaborated with the artists, conducting research, planning, and documenting an animation list containing detailed frame data and reference poses for their use. Subsequently, I iterated on the animations alongside the artists until they achieved the desired quality. Additionally, I wrote a short feature list for the programmers and iteratively developed the character controller within the Unreal Engine.
Fully realized, Boss Project would have been a fast-paced action platformer, employing various movement mechanics and rapid attacks to evoke the sensation of a skilled cyber-ninja in a dystopian cyberpunk setting.
Work Examples
All of the features were documented in the following list for the programmers to implement: Feature List
Animation List
The goal was to create fast and responsive attack animations. The main inspiration was Hollow Knight's attacks, but with 3D animations and a historical weapon called the "Ninja Claw," chosen to evoke the feeling of a swift assassin.
However, Hollow Knight's instantaneous attacks would look and feel weird in 3D. Therefore, I conducted extensive research and experimentation with different frame data. Eventually, I settled on an approach inspired by Smash Bros Ultimate, where the idle animation is instantly canceled, and the character immediately transitions to the anticipation pose in frame 1, resulting in the attacks feeling fast and responsive, as there is a significant change in pose as soon as the player presses the attack button, providing immediate visual feedback
This method allows the animations to be quite fast while still conveying weight and power through a prolonged holdout after the hit and a lengthy recovery.
I documented the frame data for the attacks and created reference images with an animation figure to illustrate the general motions for the artists. These motions were greatly inspired by a YouTube video I discovered about the ninja claws: YouTube Video.
Here, you can take a look at the Animation List i wrote.