Showcase

Crypt Raider

Here comes game number three from GameDev.tv's UE5 C++ Developer course. When building this game, while I was given direction in terms of objective, style, and mechanics, I had a ton of freedom in terms of level design. I liked what I came up with, even though it took me forever to actually build it (mostly because I was procrastinating). I also took it upon myself to adapt the given puzzle mechanic to add a little different flavor to my version of the game. This posed an extra challenge to the player and to me as the developer.

Similar to the last showcase, I will be presenting this game through the eyes of the main character.

Cara begins her adventure outside of the tom... I mean crypt. Looking around, it is a little unclear how she got here. Cara is no stranger to finding herself in places that seem impossible to get to.

At any rate, she heads inside. She is greeted with an altar holding bones with an old chandalier above it.

Heading to the left Cara finds some stairs leading down. Heading down them, she reaches a room with a few cells in them. At the end of the room there is a pedestal with another old chandalier above it. Perhaps this used to hold something valuable, but not anymore. To the right of it is an open cell, but there does not seem to be anything inside.

This side seems to be a bust, so Cara heads back up and to the other side of the main room. She finds another set of stairs down and takes them. This time, she reaches a room full of coffins with some sort of torture area towards the far end. There is another chandalier here, but this one's placement is a little strange - it is simply hanging over one of the coffins.

Again, nothing of real value. Something seems off about this place. Cara was sure she would find something here. She heads back up into the main room and back to the altar. Do these chandaliers mean something? This one is hanging over some bones. Unless they are from some famous dead guy, these bones do not seem worth much attention - unless it is a clue. Where else could Cara find bones?

She heads back down to the coffins and opens one up. To her surprise, it is empty.

There are an awful lot of coffins. Cara could open each one of them, but perhaps there is a smarter way. The chandalier from the top level led her here, so perhaps the one in here means something.

This is hardly the haul Cara was hoping for. Is this all there is in this place? What about the empty pedestal in the other room? Cara ponders for a moment before finding the answer. That pedestal had a chandalier above it - perhaps this gargoyle goes there!

So the cell was open for a reason! Cara heads up the new set of stairs, which lead outside to a little sitting area. This is... almost charming. For a crypt. And in the middle lies her prize: a pure metal statue! She is unsure what it is made of, but it is definitely the most valuable thing she has come across here. She takes it and heads back to the entrance.

Back at the beginning, Cara stands with her haul. Unsure how she is going to get it out of here, she does the only sensible thing one can do in this situation.

Whew, what an adventure. This game was a lot of fun to design, even if building the level by hand felt a little tedious (apparently that part of the game development process is not my favorite). Figuring out how to do different things when the player interacted with the coffin lids versus the statue was a fun challenge, and I think having the two puzzles be different in nature made the game just a little more fun.

This was the first game I felt like I had enough knowledge to deviate from the lesson plan some. I could do a lot more with it, but in the interest of continuing to learn I am going to leave it here and continue on with the course. I hope you enjoyed Cara's adventure. If you did, be sure to look out for my next showcase!