The Problem: While the gameplay of Wisper Shootout II was completed relatively quickly, as a game primarily intended as a Niagara proficiency tech demo, the game required particularly standout VFX.

What I Did: VFX tasks were split evenly between the 4-person team. Utilizing Unreal Engine’s Niagara particle system, I designed a stylistic exhaust trail for the game’s spaceships using transparent cubes, and a spherical shield effect using materials, shaders, and a low-poly sphere model I created in Blender.

The Problem: Though simple from a gameplay perspective, our game nonetheless needed functional UI Elements to give the player information necessary to complete the relatively short experience.

What I Did: Using Unreal Engine’s built in UI system, I created a simple heads up display to match the game’s retro arcade style, displaying the player’s health, the boss’s heath, and the player’s shield gauge. 

The Problem: In its near-finished state, the game still felt lacking in its audio implementation. The lack of music and sound effects struck us as particularly jarring in contrast to the game’s detailed and stylistic visual design.

What I Did: During the final day of the project, I quickly composed a chiptune track in the style of the NES or Famicom, limiting myself to the same four sound channels as the original hardware (two square waves, a triangle wave, and a noise channel). The limitations I imposed on myself ended up significantly expediting the composition process, as I already knew everything I had to work with before the project even began. I was also listening to a lot of chiptune soundtracks composed by Tim Follin at the time, which served as my main source of inspiration.

For the game’s sound design, I went a similar route, primarily using a recreation of the NES‘s noise channel to further add to the game’s retro feel.