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Designing and Implementing a 2D Arena Boss Game Using the Unreal Engine

by Ryan Peterson

 

With the use of the Unreal Engine, a game engine capable of easing stages of the video game development process, and additional programming in C++, it is possible for an independent designer to implement a complete video game. To accomplish this, my mentor, Dr. Zoppetti, and I used assistant functionality built into the Unreal Engine, wrote supplementary code, and researched concepts of game development to execute a game of our own design. This research included an equal emphasis on the study of game design, as well as on the programming techniques necessary to create a game. We achieved familiarity with both the Unreal Engine and the C++ language, and experienced all stages of the software development life cycle. As a result of in depth research, design, and implementation, we have completed a 2D arena boss game from opening title screen to closing credits.

About the Author

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Ryan Peterson is a junior Computer Science major, with an interest in all things computer programming. He has been programming video games in his spare time since early high school. When one of his professors brought up the opportunity to delve into learning the Unreal Engine for game development as an independent study, he jumped at the opportunity. Ryan has always enjoyed the ability video games have to immerse the player in another world with their stories, music, and visuals, allowing for a true work of art. On a more computer science related note, Ryan has a strong interest in artificial intelligence, so getting to do research in that field to build the minds of the boss enemies was compelling. He has a pipe dream of one day being a video game developer, but, as of now, Ryan simply intends for this project to display his ability to do individual research in the ever-evolving field of computer science.

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