Project Snapshot

Shipped now!

Avaliable for download here on Steam.

Engine: Unreal Engine 4

Development Time: 4 months

Team Size: 56 people

Platform: PC, Steam

Role: Track Designer

HaberDashers is a couch competitive local multiplayer arcade kart racer featuring tiny people in a huge world.

Retrospective

What Went well

  • First cohort/team ever to create a game in TGP2, that was a high-enough quality to be shipped on steam.

  • Transition to working online due to COVID-19 was successful and did not impact the game.

  • Communication across teams and leads was mostly smooth, quick and efficient.

  • Successfully created tracks in tandem with other designers.

What Went Wrong

  • Art to Level design pipeline was slow and inefficient. It took some time to notify the track team when assets were complete.

  • Changes to metrics too late into the project caused issues with needing to readjust tracks to accommodate.

  • Rubber-banding balancing was not perfectly achieved by launch.

  • There was not an ideal amount of playtesting because of COVID-19

Even Better If’s

  • More playtesting, preferably in person. If not, find a more couch co-op friendly alternative to Steam’s Lets Play Together.

  • More show and tells about what each team has been working on.

  • Consider camera and how it impacts gameplay earlier on in the process.

  • Make sure there is a clear, centralized place for documentation.

Samples of Work

Living Room Level Paper Map to Final Iteration

Map Design

  • Designer for the bathroom and living room race tracks.

  • Drew over 40 maps (quick 15-30 minute bursts)

  • Speed maps were quick and dirty but were invaluable for getting ideas out.

  • The designs I created for the Living Room track were selected and taken through to the final shipping of the product.

Track Design Choices

  • Design choices were centered around the perspective of being small in a larger world

  • Actively got involved in the process by using Hot Wheel’s tracks for inspiration.

  • Took videos from a track-level perspective to figure out the correct perspective for the game

Implementation and Mod-kits

  • Implemented and designed living room tracks ideas.

  • Requested a mod kit and used it to create the track.

  • Gained experience communicating with other disciplines to implement the designs

  • Learnt important nuances that come with working with mod kits.

Balance and Iteration

  • Balanced pickups across all levels.

  • Added small clutter in the living room.

  • Pickups/hazards were challenging because the smallest tweak in placement had a large impact on the gameplay.