29 MAY - 9 JUN 2017
Explore my internship experience with Streamline Studios, where I developed a First-Person Shooting Game with Unreal Engine 4. Check this out!
Streamline Studios is a video game development and art outsourcing company. The studio has been employed by major game publishers, film studios, and brands, including Square Enix's Final Fantasy XV, Capcom's Street Fighter V, Take 2's Bioshock Infinite, James Cameron's Avatar, and Coca-Cola. During my school holidays in Form 4, I secured a two-week job attachment as a Project Intern with Streamlines Studios.
GAME = ART + PROGRAMMING?
Do you agree with this equation simplifies game development? This equation was what I think of games before my internship, but my view changed after that. Hear me out.
During my internship, I was partnered with two other interns to develop a First Person Shooter (FPS) game called Outbreak using Unreal Engine 4. I was a newbie to game development, so I knew absolutely nothing about modeling software, programming blueprints, and game assets. Fortunately, I had a Coding Master Mr. Hanif to guide me through game development steps. He introduced me to some useful Youtube channels and online forums to learn the programming blueprints of Unreal Engine 4. Then, he assigned me the role of creating Non-Player Characters (NPCs) for the game. I learned about Artificial Intelligence (AI) behavior tree and applied it in programming the NPCs to respond to different scenarios. I successfully created three modes of actions for the NPCs: static, attack, and die.
Aside from coding, I also joined an exciting session called "Stand-up session," which was common among tech startups. During the Stand-up session, all team members would stand and share their development progress so that everyone can understand each other's work. It made me realize the importance of teamwork and effective communication while working in a team. Since then, I brought this activity back to school and continued this tradition with my team.
On the last day of my internship, I had an opportunity to present my game to the CEO and senior managers of Streamline Studios. I started my presentation with a story: "In a bio-laboratory on a remote island, an outbreak occurs. A deadly virus escapes the lab and starts to infect the scientists and local residents. Infected people will soon turn into zombies that feed on blood. Therefore, a group of special task soldiers are sent to the island by the government to eliminate all the zombies and save the survivors. Here I present - Outbreak."
I considered it a successful presentation because my audiences were delighted with the gameplay and praised my team for our excellent work. The CEO even offered me a job at the company after I graduated from university. Haha! Overall, it was indeed an eye-opening experience for me as I could experience the game development process while working in a startup.
Hope you enjoy my blog!
Kok Wei
Gallery
Meet the team!
Learning from our supervisor, Mr Azlan!
Outbreak in the making!
Designing the settings with Unreal Engine 4!
Programming the NPCs!
Meet the Coding Master, Mr. Hanif!