Michael Sandrin

Purpose of Original Submission

This game was originally developed to be the final project for a multimedia-related computer-science course. Together with my teammate, Andre Lezma, we took a jump into the Unreal Engine for the first time. We were especially proud of this game, and were met with great success.

Summary

BOMBIRD is a unique top-down tank shooter game, which was built entirely in Unreal Engine 4 using Blueprint. I was in charge of game design, 3D modelling/rigging and 2D art, acquiring and implementing Sound/Music, coding of player/enemy behaviors, and creating every UI element.

The gameplay is centralized around the concept of shooting a single bullet, and bouncing it off of walls/objects to destroy enemies and accrue combos and points, and collecting the bullet to reload. With this loop, I wanted players to adopt a more “tactical” approach to

Purpose of Original Submission:

This is the final project for a fourth year level design course I am currently taking, where students are required to work effectively in teams (properly allocating time and resources) to produce a game by the end of the Semester.
 

Summary:

For this group-based project, I took up the role of Project Manager, and Lead Game designer. I was also responsible for the creation of the story, art direction, sound, and creating 3D assets.

I wanted the core to be a Puzzle Platformer, with the goal being to descend through the level, rather than ascending or following a linear path. This was because I decided that the mechanics should tie in with the story, and create "reasons" for mechanics. For example, I wanted to make a player who had a reason for being unable to ascend as this would be a unique feature. This is also why the main character, Plume, was designed to be a half-bird person, who is missing an arm. 

This project is still in development, and is expected to be completed by the end of the semester.
 

Interesting Facts:

My original concept for the game was much more platformer focused, and the main character would have simply been a child with a "magical" Poncho. With the surge of Poncho wearing heroes as of late, I changed my concept, to make the protagonist more unique.

Purpose of Original Submission: 

This was a group project, to explore narrative in multimedia and how to design and execute a game where multiple different paths were possible which could lead to different endings and different cut-scenes. 
 

Summary:

When writing the documentation for this game, I had hoped that the players would enjoy the pun-y and slightly morbid humor introduced in each cutscene. The sword mechanic was meant to be a "close-combat" interpretation of the usual top-down WASD and mouse shooter genre. 

I was responsible for the game concept, story, mechanics design, art assets, sounds and music. 
 

Interesting Facts:

The music in game comes from Final Fantasy 3 (NES/Famicom).

Purpose of Original Submission:

The assignment of this group project was to explore the making of board games. We were required to experiment with worker placement and deck building.
 

Summary:

From the start, my team and I set out to make an anime themed board game that focuses on players battling each other. We had to make physical prototypes and preform extensive user testing to arrive at an interesting and enjoyable gaming experience.

I was responsible for the games conception; from gameplay ideas to the board layout, and card types. I assisted in art direction and re-balancing after our initial concept.
 

Interesting Facts:

When coming up with this came concept, I had just finished watching the anime Madoka Magica, and felt inspired to make a parody project focused around the tropes commonly seen in "magical girl" animes.