top of page

Wingmate is centered upon a squadron of starfighter pilots stranded in an unknown galaxy fighting through war and political turmoil in a time far into the future. Focusing on cooperative strategies, Wingmate's main feature is the necessity to use coordinated teamwork to accomplish the game's goals. Dependence on a partner is so pronounced that most objectives are impossible to complete without it.

​

Project Design Goals

 

  • Create a unique online multiplayer experience in the Unreal Engine 4

  • Demonstrate skills in tactical space combat shooters gameplay & mechanics design

  • Create interesting mechanics that encourage cooperative teamwork for players in their starfighter cockpits

  • Design and develop three modes through LAN and Steams online server

    • 3 player co-op mission versus AI (for tutorial purposes)

    • 9 vs. 9 objective based map

    • 3 vs. 3 arena style map​​

​

Studio

Personal Project

​

Platform

PC

​

Engine

Unreal Engine 4

​

Tools Used

UE4 Blueprints

Photoshop

Maya

Steam Game Servers API

​

Completion

Last Updated 1/20/19

​

Team Size

2

​

Wingmate Game Design Document Sample Download

Features Designed and Implemented

 

  • Core Gameplay

  • Starship Character Controller design

  • Level layout

  • Level pacing

  • Player team spawn & Neutral enemy spawn design & placement

  • Medium class starfighter abilities

    • Co-op player required to function for some abilities​

Visual Scripting (Unreal Blueprints)

​

  • Local and Online Steam Support

    • Lobby​ with team and character selection

  • Player Character Controller

  • Unit spawn events

  • Unit pathing events

Work Examples

Design Considerations

  • Ease of ally wingmate tracking

  • Ease of controls

  • Team play encouragement

  • Players always move back to Core Gameplay Loop

In conquest, two teams of five players face off against each other. In a considerably large map, there are two bases at opposite sides of each other moving in orbit around a “highly dense object”. Each base is protected by six defense satellite grids and three flag ships.

​

The main objective for each team is to destroy the Aerodrome in the center of the enemies’ base, while preventing that same enemy from destroying theirs. The first team to destroy the enemy Aerodrome wins.

Wingmate is all about squad-based teamwork and tactical decisions. In every mode, each player will spawn grouped up with other players making a three-member squad or five-member squad. There are two effects that take place when a squad member is close to another squad member:

  1. The maximum speed of squad members wing-manning each other increases

  2. The special abilities of squad members wing-manning each other changes.

​

The player can track their wingmate by pressing the button that is key-binded to tracking that specific wingmate. When this happens, an icon will appear on the players screen following the targeted wingman's location. This icon will not dissappear if the target is out of the players line of sight. The player must press the track wingmate button a second time to stop racking that ally.

Level Design

Conquest Mode

Design Considerations

  • Easy Fun

    • Navigating into/around Foundry​

    • Debris (must avoid)

  • Hard Fun

    • Move at high speeds while dog-fighting other players and dodging debris ​

  • Vertical shift in scale

    • XYZ player movement​

  • ​Understand general flow and expectation without need of a narrative

The players goal in Conquest is to work together with their teammates to bring down the enemy Aerodrome located in the middle of their base before their opponent’s take down their own Aerodrome.

​

When players start the game, will spawn in the Port with their team. This is also where players will spawn if they die. The Port is a pretty safe place that restores the aligning team’s health and shields.

​

Once all players are ready, they will head down one of three causeways, commonly called lanes. Between the causeways is the nebula field filled with powerful monsters that can beat the heck out of an unprepared wingmate. Slaying these creatures will provide a team buff.

​

Each causeway is a path between the two bases guarded by set of powerful satellite turrets. Players will need to destroy their enemies satellite turrets to get into their base and take down their Aerodrome.

​

The satellites are perilous in numbers, and will melt wingmen very quickly if one isn’t too careful. To safely take them down, players need to stay behind their gliders.

Gliders are computer-controlled units that fly relentlessly down all paths, engaging any enemies in their way. Both teams have gliders.

​

Once a team’s gliders push up to an enemy satellite grid, the attacking players will have a few moments to damage it while it attacks the gliders. The players primary attacks do a small amount of damage; however, satellite turrets take much more damage from Mega Lasers. If an enemy player is in range of the turret without their gliders around, the satellite will attack them.

​

As players die, they’ll have to wait for their death timer to expire before respawning back in their base. This timer increases as the game goes on. Dying early in a match only requires a few seconds of time-out. While a death later on could result in up to a 30 second penalty.

​

Once a team has destroyed all satellite grids in an enemy causeway, the attacking team can begin attacking their opponents’ frigates. The attacking team needs to be careful, because the frigates will not just stay in one place and if its health drops below a certain point, it will call one or even both of the nearby frigate allies to come support. The assisting frigates cannot be harmed if they still have a satellite in their owning causeway.

After a frigate is destroyed, the number of gliders from the attacking team in that causeway will double and the aerodrome will become vulnerable.

​

The basics of Conquest: Move to objective, defeat surrounding opponents, destroy objective and move to the next, all while battling a team of opponents trying to do the exact same thing to you.

​

A combination of skills, speed, and teamwork will lead each player to the opponents Aerodrome and victory. Then the player can start a new game and do it all over again.

Conquest Map

Player Pathing

Design Considerations

  • Causeways act as funnels for direct player paths

  • Foundry entrance

    •  A little challenging to navigate through

    • Aligned height to Defense Grids to keep players focused on a general Z axis altitude

  • Foundry Object acts as an obstruction to assist players with a tail/s behind them

  •  Obstruct view of other players outside of Foundry

    • To encourage team coordination through communication

In a large open environment, my main goal was to ensure the environment guided the players to points of interest and potential cover spots.

Foundry

Player Pathing

Design Considerations

  • Easy Fun

    • A little challenging to navigate through

  • Foundry Object acts as an obstruction to assist players with a tail/s behind them

  •  Obstruct view of other players outside of Foundry

    • To encourage team coordination through communication​

  • Hard Fun

    • Prevent players from circling through the foundry in a single quick burst and eliminating all NPC monsters

I wanted to take into consideration all the many paths the players can take to reach an objective.

​

Solo Abilities

Special abilities available when alone

Design Considerations

  • Ease of controls

  • Can morph into a better version of itself

  • Allow synergy and balance with other players

    • Offensive Ability

    • Defensive Ability

    • Crowd Control Ability

Each player has three special abilities:

  1. Laser Beam

  2. Forward Shields

  3. Net Blast

​

These abilities are meant to serve two purposes:

  1. Give players the means to play tactically in dogfights

  2. Reinforce the basic version of each ability before using the upgraded version while in a wingman formation.

​

Wingman Special Abilities

Abilities available when wingmen are nearby

Design Considerations

  • Cooperation of players

These abilities will be available to the player when near a wingmate and temporarily replace the abilities available to the player when away from wingman.

​

Only two players in the same squad are required to activate a Wingmate Ability. Having a third wingmate in proximity will increase the effectiveness of the ability.

Credits

Daniel House

Design

Development

Lighting & Surfacing

3D Artist

​

Elias Manley

Character Ship Model

​

After years of online gaming in competitive Aerospace Warfare, a thought came to me: “How come I never have a wingman? Real pilots have a wingman that helps when a bad guy is behind them.” I want to deliver an experience where the mechanics of the game allow players to easily find and navigate to their wingmates first and foremost. Then create abilities and synergies with the starships' mechanics that allow players to closely team together and take out objectives.

​

​

bottom of page