Andrew Dowell

As my journey into Game Development continues, I often break down games, test and try to find weak points, understand the game mechanics and work out ultimately what makes it fun, rewarding or frustrating to play. These are my top favourite games, ever in no particular order: Firewatch - The colour pallete for this title is amazing, the artists did a wonderful job of turning the environment into a beautiful journey. The gameplay is simple and the storytelling between Henry and Delilah is just pure romance. I would love a second Firewatch game. Bishi Bashi - Way back in the day this was my Smash Brothers. We played this game hard, for several years and I still love it. This was my first real insight into how games don't need to be high end graphics to be good but rather game play and fun are still a major pillar. Bishi Bashi VR, yes please! Skyrim - Ye gods! I seriously lost myself in this game. The mods took over and I even started making my own. Nothing ready for the 'Nexu

So Death Race '89 is a combination of several game mechanics.I aim of the game is to be the first to cross the finish line. However, you must push two alternating keys to move, and have a chance of automatically dying and returning to the start with every keystroke. Combine with with four players and let the mayhem start! It's called Death Race '89 because you have to press the alternating keys 89 times. This is the blueprint for a single mesh object to move along the spline using a timeline, duration and a track reference. Two inputs nodes which use a branch condition to alternate adding a movement value. The the rest of the movement spline blueprint is the same. So once you get to the finish line, we need a winner. This blueprint uses a collision box to display the winning text and then 8 seconds later restart the level. Finally, use the disable input command in the level blueprint for all players! Fun times!

Over the last four to five years I've mainly focused on the conception and visualisation of many projects and not had to worry about the coding and technical blueprint assembly other than material and asset based stuff. But over the last few months, I've been putting together several demo games and some portfolio pieces and have really pushed hard into these unknown areas to develop my knowledge. Going back to the basics is tough and world building without visualising it first, is an odd process for me. But the more I learn, the more fascinating and quicker I'm becoming. So these are some of the core basic blueprints I've needed to get things working. Of course, every project is different so tweaking and adaptation is vital. 1. How to open a level and End the game. Most VR games have a start room for players to familiarize themselves with the controls. Once they are ready to go an operator pushes a button and the game begins. Likewise, some events or special