TECHNICAL ART / UNREAL ENGINE / ARPG
A top-down roguelike prototype combining stylized 3D production, Unreal animation systems, Blueprint-driven weapon VFX, and branching level design.
PROJECT VIEW
Created during a one-month game jam around the theme Hidden World, Beyond the Headlines follows a journalist investigating a town shaped by post-truth narratives. This migrated case study separates the original project into recruiter-readable technical-art modules while preserving the project’s concept, production process, and in-engine evidence.
GAME JAM PROTOTYPE
GAME SYSTEM / COMBAT READABILITY
The core loop combines exploration, reporting, weapon switching, random rewards, permanent death, and level-based enemy escalation. The original breakdown maps those systems into a readable progression rather than presenting the prototype as a black box.
MY ROLE / SCOPEConcept design and gameplay visualization documented on the original portfolio page.
Define the investigation-and-combat loop around truth, choices, and repeated runs.
Connect health, energy, coins, weapons, buffs, enemies, and level progression.
Use the system diagram to align visual feedback with the intended player decisions.
STYLIZED 3D / CHARACTER & PROPS
The art set covers the journalist protagonist, merchant, weapon props, currencies, batteries, and the traveling shop. Turnarounds and texture views make the production scope visible beyond the final screenshots.
MY ROLE / SCOPE3D art and supporting game assets. The key-art concept uses Midjourney-generated material, credited separately from the modeled game assets.
LEVEL DESIGN / REAL-TIME PROTOTYPING
Blockouts and annotated routes connect the town entrance, merchant decision, plaza, school secrets, and boss encounter. The timeline shows how spatial progression and narrative choices were tested together.
MY ROLE / SCOPEPrototype and narrative-design contribution documented in the original project archive.
Block out readable spaces for exploration, combat, and story encounters.
Place decision points around the merchant, reporting system, and school reveal.
Connect the route to a repeatable boss-level structure and ending loop.
RIGGING / RETARGETING / BLUEPRINT / NIAGARA
The character pipeline moves from Blender rigging to Unreal retargeting, weapon sockets, converted motion data, montage blending, and Blueprint-controlled Niagara effects.
MY ROLE / SCOPEAnimation and technical-art workflow: rig preparation, retargeting, weapon attachment, animation blending, and weapon-effect integration.
Rig the character in Blender and prepare the export for Unreal naming conventions.
Retarget motion data and add weapon sockets to the character skeleton.
Blend the converted animations into gameplay montages and transitions.
Trigger and switch Niagara weapon effects through Blueprints.
REAL-TIME INTEGRATION / GAMEPLAY VFX
Final gameplay frames show exploration, dialogue, enemy groups, talent selection, combat effects, interior environments, and the boss encounter operating together in the Unreal prototype.
MY ROLE / SCOPEFinal integration evidence for the concept, 3D art, animation, and technical-art contributions shown above.
KEEP EXPLORING
