Game Prototypes
Short production cycles focused on gameplay systems, loop design, and rapid prototyping in Unreal Engine, built to validate mechanics quickly and communicate a playable pitch.
Drone Squad Commando (Work in Progress – UofT Game Design Bootcamp)
Drone Squad Commando is a real-time tactical drone coordination prototype developed as the Capstone Project for the University of Toronto Game Design Bootcamp.
The project explores squad-based command systems, AI coordination, environmental hazard simulation, and layered gameplay loops built in Unreal Engine 5.6.
Players control a primary drone while issuing commands to AI-controlled support drones in dynamic mission scenarios including fire rescue, environmental containment, and zone-based objectives.
The core design emphasizes command delegation, spatial awareness, risk management, and escalating environmental pressure systems.
The prototype also focuses on clear aerial navigation and mission readability, introducing beacon-based visual guidance, environmental boundary systems, and drone-style camera calibration to simulate real-world drone operation conditions.
Core Systems & Mechanics Implemented
- Main Drone Controller — Player-controlled drone with range limitation system affecting responsiveness based on signal distance.
- AI Drone Command System — Blueprint-driven command architecture (Go To, Rescue, Suppress Fire, Drop Off, Regroup).
- 3D Flying Navigation — Smart Flying Navigation integration generating flight meshes for AI drone pathfinding.
- Fire Propagation System — Zone-based spreading fire that advances across terrain using dynamic burn materials and environmental hazard logic.
- Zone / Pocket Architecture — Modular mission pockets that deactivate pickups and objectives once consumed by fire.
- Pickup & Drop-Off System — Rescue gameplay system with target validation, transport mechanics, and safe-zone completion triggers.
- Mission Manager — Centralized Blueprint system managing zone states, scoring, and win/loss conditions.
- Range & Signal Degradation Mechanic — Gameplay feedback loop reducing drone control authority as signal distance increases.
- Navigation Guidance System — Vertical light beacons used as aerial landmarks to guide players toward mission areas and improve spatial orientation across the map.
- Environmental Boundary System — Invisible wall Blueprint along dense tree lines combined with contextual UI prompts guiding players toward open flight corridors.
- Wildlife Scatter Spawn System — Procedural spawning framework for deer and horses driven by Data Tables and an external Excel workflow for balancing spawn density and behavioral parameters.
- Multi-Layer Gameplay Loop — Primary (Rescue), Secondary (Fire Suppression), and Tertiary (Command & Delegation) gameplay layers.
- UI & Feedback Systems — Tactical HUD with zone progression indicators (Forest, Farm, Town), drone damage, battery monitoring, and mission state feedback.
- Niagara FX Integration — Fire, smoke, embers, dust, and drone propulsion effects optimized for real-time performance.
- Drone Camera Calibration — Post-process pipeline with early color correction and grading designed to approximate the look of real drone footage.
Drone Squad Commando demonstrates scalable Blueprint architecture, AI state management, environmental simulation systems, and mission sequencing frameworks designed for expansion into larger tactical training or simulation-driven applications.