Blog Post #13: Ahem, This Thing On?

W. 1/23/2025

I’ve been hard at work. I wasn’t taking notes on the time spent— though I could go back through my journal and review that in there— but I spent roughly three hours each day over winter break working through this Udemy course, titled “Unreal Engine 5 Blueprints - The Ultimate Developer Course”. The entire course length is 41.5 hours, and, as of today, I have completed 28.1 hours of it. I spent significantly more time than the length of the modules, as the math shows— with rewinding and pausing and troubleshooting, I wager that it’s taking roughly twice as long as the module length. 

This course teaches from the ground up, using four games as example projects that I made along with the instructor. I’m almost done with the second one. The first one was a 3D third-person spaceship arcade shooter. I will be taking a lot of the controls and other features from that project, and implementing it into a personal project of mine.

What is this personal project? Well, I was initially going to just recreate Bosconian (1981) in UE5, but I realized that it’d be super dope to do something similar, but from a first-person perspective, and 3D. So the player will be sitting in the cockpit of the spaceship, and I’m thinking about making the first level of this arcadey game as a 3D replication of the first level of Bosconian. I’ve already researched and created a pixelated viewport shader (referencing this YouTube tutorial). The plan is to create detailed 3D models for all of the ships, asteroids, mines, and enemy space stations, then the pixel shader will form this really interesting, dynamic effect of light being cast over moving 3D, ever-shifting pixel graphics.

I’m taking some liberties with the fidelity. The introductory level will be a 3D Bosconian level (lovingly recreated), but the ship the player pilots will have two different starting blasters— one that builds up a red-hot beam of laser energy (especially effective against asteroids), and one that pulses out spiraling, glowing, fish-shaped projectiles. I thought of the fish idea over break while I was lying in bed, just about to fall asleep. I remembered my instruction from the Mindvalley, Jim Kwik-led course, Superbrain, and didn’t want to get out of bed to write it down; instead, I made the idea memorable— I imagined a bunch of slimy fish flopping around beneath the bedcovers around me. And it worked! I remembered it when I got up the next morning. 

I have this idea for a title for this grander spaceship game: Crossed Stars. I wrote about it before, here, about the gameplay loop of taking bounty hunting missions and upgrading the playable ship using mined resources. “Crossed Stars”, like “star-crossed” + “double-crossed”— because I want it to have a character-centric plot that ultimately ends in tragedy. Like I told my D&D players recently during our debrief session, what use is gaining something if there’s not the threat of losing it? And what’s the point in a threat if it’s not acted upon? (In that D&D campaign, multiple players told me, as I was writing for it, that they wanted a found-family arc, and like the sadistic DM that I am, I made that happen... then took it away.)

But I haven’t done anything more for Crossed Stars than making the shader. I’ve been working on finishing the Udemy course before starting on it, because 1) I might learn some new things that will make it easier to achieve, and 2) I still need to round out my blueprints skills ASAP, so that I can work on my Seminar project. 

The second example project in the course is less exciting, though still valuable. It’s a 3D, third-person jetpack platformer. I’m just trying to get through it— still learning, of course— and get to the final two projects— a sidescrolling dungeon hack-n-slash (which I have another project idea for) and a vehicle racing game using the Chaos Vehicles features in UE5.

(What is my sidescrolling idea? I have so many ideas. This one will be set in a haunted manor— very Gothic— but the player is playing as the ghost. It’ll be a pixelated RPG, but the abilities that you upgrade are specific to ghosts. So you could upgrade your stats in “Poltergeist”, and be able to move objects more easily, for example. And the point of the game would be to expel the bands of increasingly-disturbing trespassers— from a group of bold children, all the way up to a cult, using the manor to stage blood sacrifices. I digress.)

Ok, I need to finish this up so that I can work more on the Udemy course. Here is my project proposal for my Seminar project.

Project Description

For this term, I will be developing a functioning prototype of the core mechanic for my Praxis project. Essentially, the movements of a 3rd-person character— specifically the movements of their attacks— will create a trailing streak, which will smear the two-dimensional image of the three-dimensional scene. This smear will act as a smear of wet oil paint composing the scene; the smear of colors, shadows, and details will reconstruct that with which it comes in contact— altering the three-dimensional layout of the environment. The working name for this mechanic is “alla prima”— the artistic term in Italian for wet-on-wet painting.

Regarding the work of this project for this semester, I will finish a Udemy UE5 Blueprints course, I will deconstruct the Viewfinder mechanic by replicating a tutorial video series focused on doing so in UE5, I will learn how to make a refraction trail in a UE5 project (socketed to the weapon of the base character), and I will combine the Viewfinder mechanic with the refraction trail— with a sample environment around to alter.

I will also take steps to ensure that I can afford to work on the larger project over the summer— such as determining if I can stay in my graduate housing/if I need to secure housing, and securing some kind of funding to pay for rent and costs of living. 

Milestone 1 Goals

(February 5th)

I will have completed the Udemy Blueprints course. At this time, I have completed 28.1 hours of modules— though it took significantly longer (maybe twice as much?). There are 13.4 hours of modules left. If I do 1.93 hours each day up until the Milestone, that should be enough to complete the course.

I will contact Student Housing to see whether I can stay in my graduate housing over the summer. If the answer is “no”, then I will begin searching for a sublet.

I will also go on Pivot, a website recommended by Sara Simeone (the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies) for graduate students seeking funding, and begin searching for grants. 

Also, in Seminar following these proposed milestones, my peers suggested the Epic Megagrants. Upon initial research, it appears to be for instructors— but I’ll look into it further.

Milestone 2 Goals

(February 19th)

I will have replicated the Viewfinder mechanic in UE5, by process of following the two-part YouTube tutorial. The entire length of those videos is roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes. I expect it to take much longer.

I will also continue my Milestone 1 housing goals. Likewise, I will check in with more Clark advisors, to see if they have some new information on grants/funding. 

Milestone 3 Goals

(March 12th)

I will have created a refraction weapon trail effect, and will have imported it into a sample project, socketing it onto the weapon when it swings. There’s a French tutorial series on YouTube that’s 60 hours long. I’m fluent in French, but I assume that it’ll use a lot of game engine-specific vocabulary (which I would have to learn). That tutorial series looks like it creates a higher quality effect than this one— but the latter is 30 minutes and in English. We’ll see how it goes— most likely combining elements from both. 

I will also continue my Milestone 1 housing goals. 

Milestone 4 Goals

(March 26th)

I will commence combining the refraction trail with the Viewfinder mechanic. To do so, there are a few steps that I can foresee:

1) I will have to have a sample project with the 3rd person perspective focused on the weapon-wielding character; I will have to have a colorful sample environment to alter.

2) I will have to figure out how to take the square “lens” of the Viewfinder mechanic, and change that to match the refraction trail, as it’s arcing. 

3) I will have to make sure that the “camera” is positioned very specifically; it will have to represent what the player sees, and not affect the player character.

4) I will have to make sure that the Viewfinder effect takes into account the smear caused by the refraction weapon trail.

I will also continue my Milestone 1 housing goals. 

Milestone 5 Goals

(April 16th)

I will have completed the #4 process and created a functional prototype of the alla prima mechanic. I will also have secured housing and funding to continue work on the larger Praxis project over the summer.

Description of anticipated completed work and how it will help with your current and future studies. In other words, how would you describe the end result of this project that you will be presenting at the conclusion of the semester.

The alla prima mechanic is the core mechanic to my prospective Praxis project. It’s also the most innovative. As a result, it is difficult to even contemplate how to achieve its production. Completing a functional prototype of the mechanic will allow me to advance in the most efficient path towards my Praxis project. It will also provide a clear example of the aspired mechanic, which I will be able to present to more experienced programmers— so they can improve it, if necessary.

I intend to use the alla prima mechanic— and the rest of the Praxis project— as the keystone of my portfolio when applying to studio jobs. It showcases my innovative spirit and the abilities required to achieve the vision.

I think it’s manageable! I have a clear plan on how to create the pieces of alla prima; the struggle will be during the last month of the term, when I will be tasked with putting those pieces together.