RedHanded
About The Game
In RedHanded, the player is an art thief and has to traverse a heavily guarded art museum to figure out how to steal a valuable statue. The player is forced to enter rooms with the guards to sneak around them to find and obtain two keys in order to unlock the vault at the end of the hall. Once the vault is open the player can successfully steal the statue and make their escape to the exit. Watch out for the guards as if the player is caught the game is over and must be restarted from the beginning to try again!
My Role
As the Project Manager and Designer in RedHanded I was responsible for making sure all aspects of design were implemented correctly and that the team was on track but also communicating with each other​. I focused on some bug testing as always but in this project I specialized in 3D modelling, UI design, level design, lighting design, and teamwork. I made most of the base model assets that are seen in-game and set them up while also constructing the level. Many of the models stayed mid-poly with a base color for most of the textures. Some of the other tasks I did involved helping with the UI aesthetic layouts and implementing the coded transitions between UI menu's which also allowed me to gain some more coding experience in one of my first few projects. I also made sure everyone knew what tasks they needed to do and that they felt comfortable with those tasks. I encouraged good communication and a hard working ethic through a friendly upbeat work environment where I made sure to check in with my team mates frequently. There is also a more detailed list of my tasks here, and my contributions in this project further down on this page through both text and visual content. If you would like to reach out to me head over to the contact page which is easily accessible through the right button on the header.
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Tasks (Design):
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Project Manager to ensure everyone has a task assigned to them and all tasks meet deadlines as a good practice of time management.
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Encouraged good communication and a hard working ethic through a friendly upbeat work environment where I made sure to check-in on my team mates frequently through online chat.
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Level Designer that put together the levels in the game which included room one and two.
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3D Modeller that created almost all of the 3D model assets that are seen in-game and implemented them throughout room one, two, and the vault.
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UI designer that planned out the layout of and implemented a majority of the UI, including transitions which taught me some more about C# in one of my first few group projects in game design.
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Implemented the lighting to try to give a suspenseful, sneaky feel in a game where you play as a robber in a museum and have to avoid the guards.
RedHanded Details
Team Name:
J.A.C.K.A.M.
Team Size:
6 Person Team
Year Project Began:
Began the project in the Spring of 2024.
Year of Completion:
Released in March of 2024.
Game Genre:
Stealth Action Strategy Game.
Platform:
PC, and Xbox Controller.
Player Count:
Singleplayer
Engine:
Unity 2022.3.0f1
Prototypes
UI Main Menu Prototype
This is a 3D model of the desk asset that was placed at the back of the museum in room one but shown before texturing and I made this model using tools in Maya. The goal is to show the end result of the model in Maya so the details are shown clearer before it was added in-game but I also kept it fairly simple as a mid-poly model. I used techniques in Maya such as basic shapes to begin, then used bevels, and extrudes to create the new shapes as shown. This is the end result of the office table in detail before texture is added.
UI Statue Display Case Prototype
This is a statue in game that is a key item in the game the player needs in order to win which is located inside a vault at the end of the hall. A green light was also placed overtop to try to signify it is a good thing in the games milestone once the player finds it. The goal is that this item can be accessible in game after finding a few keys and is a satisfying reward as the last piece the player needs to obtain to complete the game. This is close to the final result of how it looks in-game before the darker lighting is setup in the level. I had some help with another artist for 3D models to make the railings while I made the pedestal and statue. The techniques used here were creating the 3D models in Maya, setting up glass in Unity, adding the assets with textures, and adding proper lighting. This is the final result of the statue model before lighting in the level.
Level Design Prototype
The first whitebox prototype of RedHanded to show the stages of progression as the content continues below. This was during development of the base building structure the player character spawns in during play. The goal of this is to show some behind the scenes content of a reprentation of the level blockout before any assets were added. The techniques used were to build the level in Unity using snapping tools and basic shapes. This was the result of the first blockout of the RedHanded rooms
Museum Room One and Two Prototype
I am putting these two photos together because they are related to each other. The first image is room one of the museum which was styled like an office. While the second image is room two of the museum which was styled like a display room with more pictures and a seating area in the back. The goal is to show the two rooms in the scene the player will go through to find two keys side by side. This is before proper lighting in the scene too but it allows for a clearer visual representation of the assets. I also teamed up with two artists for these level designed, one helped with 3D models and the other did the 2D artwork so I could focus less on modelling and more on level design work during this time. The techniques used were figuring out how to arrange assets in a way where players have a good view of what is in the room without revealing every little detail unless they search further. I wanted to design it so that even if players can see the keys from the hallway they still needed to pass by the guards to retrieve them. I also re-used a few of the assets across rooms to try to save some time to help with programming. These two images are the results of the level designs though with the assets before scene lighting was added.
In-Game Showcase
Main Menu UI
This is the official in-game Main Menu UI design of RedHanded. The goal of this is to show the UI style that was added for the game, including the art assets. This was made with the help of an artist that made the assets then it was passed to me to put together in-engine. The game was called RedHanded not because it is a scary game but as a play on words because the player is a robber and could be caught red handed by the guards. The techniques used were to use proper Unity alignments for widget and proper asset placement. This is what the final design of the main menu of RedHanded looks like in-game.
Credits UI
This is the official in-game Credits Menu UI design of RedHanded. The goal of this is to show the UI style that was added for the game, including the art assets. This was made with the help of an artist that made the assets then it was passed to me to put together in-engine. The Credits menu was a fairly simple design that used horizontal text alignments. The techniques used were to use proper Unity alignments for widget and proper asset placement. This is what the final design of the of RedHandCredits menu looks like in-game.
Final In-Game Showcase
Official in-game screenshot with the proper lighting finally included. The goal is to showcase what it looks like as a player when in-game. As finishing touches for techniques, a few lights on the ceiling lights were tweaked to try to display it is night time along with light fog to obscure full vision across the rooms and down the long hall. Hints were also placed around the level such as a statue of a key in a pedestal to try to tell the player they had to find keys among the two rooms and a false statue of the final statue to try to hint at what needs to be obtained to win the game. UI was added to the game too for a visual display of a white stamina bar, a count system to tell how many items the player has found, and a white circle in the middle of the screen like a crosshair since it is needed to help pick up items during gameplay. This is the end result of the finishing touches showcasing the in-game view.
KeyTakeaways
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I learned how to 3D model for a project to meet deadlines and I learned how to use mid-poly assets in-engine.
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I learned more about UI in Unity and how to code UI transitions in one of my first few times using Unity in a team project.
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I learned that everyone has a role in a team and it is important to stay on track by making sure everyone has something to do that they are capable of doing, and checking in with the team frequently is important for communication to ensure the tasks will be completed on time.
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I learned in hindsight it would have been better to look at some references first and how to UV properly for my level designs to then communicate with the artists as while it is a functional game, it could have turned out a little better aesthetically for both level design and the textures present. ​
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I learned how to properly set up lighting in Unity through the settings for skybox, fog, and adding some more lights in the level to even it out which was a huge aspect that greatly helped the lack of aesthetic details.
Play The Game Here!