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Jungle Jim (2025)

Game Design

A game needs a cohesive planning stage to get a good start to development. I conducted market research and created a concept with a hook that would resonate with my target audiences. Following this, I continued to develop the idea for a month before starting to prototype. Throughout development, I have continued to iterate on the design and conduct playtesting sessions. I also have written numerous devlogs detailing my thought processes.

• GDD (In-Progress)

• Gameplay Loop Diagram

• Devlogs Collection

• Playtesting Charts

Level Design

I was responsible for designing and blocking out the levels for the game. The tutorial level serves as a playground of sorts for the player, allowing them to learn the mechanics of the movement in isolated challenges that required them to execute the moves. Other levels develop fun mechanics and platforming challenges. I conducted numerous playtesting sessions for every level, and used iterative loops to implement analysis results.

• Video: Creepy Crypt 5-Min Overview

• Devlog: Jungle Jim Tutorial

• Top-Down Level Graphs

Complex Camera System

Out of all kinds of games, I believe that 3D platformers need to have the most responsible camera systems. The player is constantly swiveling the camera while performing complex character movements. I studied Mario Odyssey intimately to assist in creating my camera system. The camera provides a smooth view into the game world and enables the player to customize their framing for any kind of situation. You can read about my camera system in the devlog below.

• Devlog: Jungle Jim Cam System

Movement Mechanics

I was responsible for designing and programming the dozens of movement mechanics in the game. I paid particularly close attention to game feel, and studied many 3D platformers such as Mario Odyssey to nail an effective feeling to the character! The game is suggested for controller, but it is also able to be played with the keyboard. Because of this, I created separate execution logic in areas depending on the control method in order to improve game feel in both mediums.

• Early Reel: Gameplay / Movement

Character Modeling and Animation

Originally I had planned to find a classmate to take care of the modeling and animation, but I was unable to. Because of this, I was responsible for modeling, texturing, and animating several characters in the game. The protagonist, "Jim", has over 50 animations that I had created and implemented into the game using a variety of techniques such as Blend Spaces, Control Rigs, and Blendshapes. The result turned out great! It was a lot of fun figuring out how to create animations that informed the player about the current state of their character. For instance, when performing a "Flip Kick", Jim is unable to grab the wall for a brief moment afterwards by design. To show this in the animation, I had Jim enter a cannonball shape until he was ready to grab the wall.

• Artstation: Jim Modeling and Animation

Level Art

I was responsible for the environment art for the levels. Instead of using textures and models from asset packs, nearly every texture and model was created myself. Through this process, I learned about using vertex painting and instanced meshes in my workflow to increase the quality while decreasing the time expense. Another tough lesson I learned was just how long it takes to actually fill in a level!Over time, my substance skills grew along with my tech art knowledge. Art requiring complex shaders were not a problem.

Project Management / Leading

This project was my first time assembling and leading a team for game development. I created a discord server and online drive to organize discussions and development. This worked very well as everyone was able to quickly find what they needed or reach out to the right people. Though it wasn't all so easy, there were many challenges I faced. Since this was a student-led project, every collaborator was not set to a strict timeline and would help at their own pace. This made it difficult to properly manage the overall time of the project, and often left me with pieces to put together. This also increased the frequency I needed to follow up on progress, which would often cause a bit of strain. In the end though, I think everything has turned out well!

• Devlog: First Time Leading

Cinematics

Created a modular and scalable cutscene system to be used throughout the entire game. I created an "order" system that would step through orders determined through the details panel, and orders are also able to be skipped by player input. Compatible with level sequences. This system was created so that gameplay elements such as interactable dialogue could play throughout cutscenes and be iterated on quickly. I also created the cinematics themselves for the game.

Rising Tides '25 Trailer Jam Submission

Finished level "Creepy Crypt". Features dark level mechanics and a ghost that chases the player in darkness.

Game Loop Diagram. Click image to see full size!

Riverside Ruins level design. Click to see presentation with a video going through the level.

UI Reel(UMG, Niagara UI, Sequencer)

Very early tech reel created for my universities GDC sponsorship application.

Blockout of the level "Lilypad Labyrinth" as of 1/18/2025.

Playthrough of the tutorial level "Riverside Ruins" as of progress at 1/18/2025.

Maya Arnold render of the Run Fast animation.

Maya Arnold render of the Slide Jump animation.

Jim's model topology.

Evolution of Jim's model created entirely in Maya.

Body UDIM.

Cosmetics UDIM.