The biggest project I’ve had the privilege to work on from the up-and-coming AAA startup Gunzilla. My first experience in a big game studio and a chance to learn a lot.
Why did I do this?
During the course of my studies, I must have completed an 18 week internship. Theoretically, I could have stayed with my employer Fabula Games, but I wanted to gain new experience and, above all, work in a bigger studio for a change.
After a lengthy application process, I successfully applied to Gunzilla Games. A new game studio that wants to revolutionize the battle royal genre with their game. A Battle Royale 2.0. I mean, what young game designer doesn’t get excited about such an opportunity? In particular, the focus on a Narrative experience in the Battle Royal had me very excited at this point.
I took on the role of tech designer. That is, to assist in the creation of designs and implement systems with the help of the code department. So perfectly tailored to what I wanted to learn. Game Design combined with Programming.
What did I do:
I’d love to talk long and wide about what I’ve done, but since the game is still in development and I signed an NDA, I can’t reveal too much. And also can’t show any pictures. But I pretty much did what fit my job description:
- I designed several systems & smaller features on paper.
- I then checked these systems with the code department and either implemented them myself or waited for a basic system of code and then worked with it.
- I used existing systems and created the designed content with it
- I built on existing systems and added more features to either simplify or enable the work.
- I have worked with different departments such as AI, Level Design or Coding.
I did the designs in either Confluence or Miro and we worked in the Unreal 5 engine.
What did I learn?
My internship ends at the end of August 2022, what happens after that with me is still unclear. Either way, I learned an incredible amount.
Since it was my first time working on a big project at a AAA studio, I learned to really engage with the game design document. Asking a lot of questions and getting into the most complex game as quickly as possible.
Generally, I have learned that a large part of the work as a designer is communication. Even if you design a system, in many cases many people and different teams work with it. In most cases, coding. That means you have to include all the people involved in the design. And to go through a design approval process. There were days that were full of meetings.
Also, I learned a lot about Unreal. As described in Project Cliffs Castle, I made my first real experience with Unreal during my time at Gunzilla. Most of all, I worked with blueprints and visual scripting. But I also touched on various different topics like
I really enjoyed my time at Gunzilla Games and am grateful for the chance to have worked on such a game. Also the evaluation of my performance is not bad either.