Pulse
Summary
Pulse was a futuristic arcade sports game that focused on the addition and removal of space for gameplay. Each player would choose a “position,” much like a Team Fortress 2 class, to play on their team of four. Each of the six possible positions had a unique attraction or repulsion ability to manipulate space. For example, one position, intended to specialize in defending, could attract himself toward his own goal, allowing him to quickly move back into a defensive position if an opposing ball carrier manages to get around him. The defender also had a repulsion ability to knock back any opposing players nearby, potentially causing them to lose control of the ball.
The game was prototyped using Unreal Tournament 2003 before it was cut after six week s of preproduction, leading to my involvement on the Shadows of Abigail project. For more information on what Pulse could have been, visit the official website and view the design document.
The Team
Project Lead: Aidan Karabaich
Artists: Nikki Smith (lead artist), Alex Cowan, Andrew Olson
Producers/Designers: Seth Allison (lead designer), Nick Pham, Alex Howell
Programmers: Stephen Cano (lead programmer), Camden Clutter, Logan Kincaid
Technical Details
Programming Languages: C++, Lua
Engines and APIs: Emergent Gamebryo Lightspeed, Nvidia PhysX, Audiokinetic Wwise
My Role and Contributions
- Designed the overall programming architecture for the game.
- Gameplay programming for the Gamebryo proof of concept while other programmers worked on the prototype. This involved heavy use of Nvidia PhysX for ball mechanics (catching, throwing) and the attraction and repulsion abilities, including modification of the character controller.
- Implemented basic network synchronization and client side prediction to ensure that all players saw the world in the same state.