Lewis Starling
GAMES TECHNICAL DESIGNER
City Architect
ROLE
Technical Designer (Solo Project)
DESCRIPTION
This City Builder allows players to create and design their own city! Players can earn money by placing roads, buildings, stores and houses, navigating through different tools using the game UI. This 12-week project was created solely by me and focuses on the fundamental mechanics behind city builders and how they can be created efficiently so that designers can expand on the project with ease. Created with UE4 blueprint.
YEAR
2021
GENRE
City Builder
SOFTWARE
Unreal Engine 4
3DS Max
MagicaVoxel
Mechanics & Systems
UI Tools
Multi-Select - The player has the ability to select multiple areas on the grid by either clicking and dragging from an area or clicking separate parts on the grid. They can then select a building type or a road to place, this will then populate the selected areas and have the appropriate cost reduced from the players money.
Road & Building Placement - The UI features a Builder & Road tool. When selecting the building tool for example, the UI will expand to give the option of skyscrapers, retail stores or houses. Each with a different cost and profit value. Players can then select one and place it on a chosen location on the grid. A similar system is in place for the roads. Players can place straight roads, bends, horizontal roads etc...
Eraser Tool - Simply clicking on a populated grid space, with the eraser tool selected will delete the placement and give the player a percentage of the cost back. This space will then no longer make money. It can then be repopulated with another building or road piece.
Player Feel & Controls
Rotating - The player can use the Left Mouse Button to rotate 360 degrees around the center point of the grid, allowing them to view the grid from different angles and locations.
Zooming - Using the scroll wheel players can zoom in and out of the play space, allowing them to see close up shots of the city and zooming out to see the bigger picture. Zooming is smooth and allows for certain parts of the grid to be viewed and populated separately.
Panning up / down - The camera can also be moved up or down using the controls, allowing for both low and high angles, this means that when zooming in you can see specific buildings or roads closer up.
Economy System
Active Grid Spaces - Placing a 'power box' in-game, gives other grid spaces within a certain radius 'power'. This allows for them to be populated with different building types. Without power buildings cannot be placed. If a power box is erased the buildings placed around it will remain but no longer earn an income until powered again leading to reduced profit. Roads can still earn money and don't rely upon the power systems to be built.
Managing costs, profit and sales - A data table handles the cost of each type of building and road. This assigns each individual asset, a purchasing cost, a profit over time value and a sold value. The cost of a buyable is displayed in the UI under the asset before purchasing. At all times the player can see how much profit they are making from roads and buildings. The individual profit of each building and road is shown in screen space UI. Selling a property or road gives the player 50% of the original cost to purchase (power boxes give full return) and is added straight back to the players total money, which can be seen at all times.