Finding the Soul Orb


Overview

Finding the Soul Orb is a walking simulator with first person shooter elements as well as some puzzles along the way. The main objective is to find the "Soul Orb" after it starts calling for you inside your dreams, a task only achievable with your trusty crossbow to travel some medieval lands plagued by werewolfs, with both beautiful and intimidating sights.

The project had already started when I joined the company and one of my coworkers already did some initial optimization, but he was soon moved to another game, so I took on the rest of the project on my own. Still, he taught me a lot regarding all of the different console SDKs, instructed me in some of the key aspects of console development like Xbox engagement systems, PS5 activity systems, etc, and helped me understand some of the core elements of Unreal development with both C++ and blueprints.

Biggest challenge I've faced on this project?

Besides learning all the areas on the porting process, this project had some serious problems with it's optimization (LODs, fog, lights, particles, materials, etc) and I had to redo a lot of the systems on the game specifically for consoles (like the localization system or the save system).

Biggest lesson I've learned on this project?

Sometimes it's better to rework a system completely to save you time during development, especially if you already can see how other people's code could lead you to some trouble in the future.


Platforms