DESMOND CRAFT
UX PROGRAMMER
ISLES OF AETHER
UX/UI Director
Tools
Unreal Engine 5.2
Click Up
Perforce
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Period
2022 - Present
About
The senior capstone project: a 3D action-adventure game developed by a team of 12 programmers and 6 artists. I was the UX/UI director and was tasked with delivering functional and navigable widgets among multiple game scenes.
My Role
UX/UI Director
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Designed the UX/UI interphases during preproduction and production phases of development.
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Worked with UI Designer/Artists in incorporating ideas on paper to in game.
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Helped account for appropriate UI elements like color, size, and appearance when co-designing with UI artists.
UX Programmer
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Designed and scripted functionality for several unreal motion graphics widgets.
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Maintained efficient flow control from user experience to gameplay experience.
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Created and handled input for menus.
Making the Menus
Most of my time was delegated to delivering well-designed menus. The other leads agreed that all menus should have the same grand purpose; being separate from the main game and having a similar flow in user experience. With this design concept, I’m happy to have created simple and efficient menus for users to navigate.
Spell Augment Menu
This menu allows users to equip desired spells. It was the most challenging to create, but helped me understand the interface of Unreals motion graphic widgets the most. The menu has three parts to it; the spell panel, the augment panel, and the replacement panel.
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When you select a spell category in the spell panel, the player is led to the augment panel.
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The augment panel where they choose which augment they want to equip.
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The augment selected replaces a pre-equipped augment of the user's choice in the replacement panel.
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After replacing a pre-equipped augment, the user is taken back to the spell panel.
Backend Functions
Some backend functions were created to reduce W.E.T programming. I created a function that handled all enhanced input with a given widget with multiple child components, an array of widget animations, an index, and any extra widget components that can be focused. The function returned the appropriate animations, current index, and widget that is currently focused.
Struggles Faced
The biggest hurdle was overcoming the blocker of not being able to get certain components from widgets. I could not obtain numerous variables nested under parent widget components, causing me to create several helper variables to deliver an optimal user experience. Simultaneously, input was a struggle since I needed to control what variables were focused currently with both mouse and keyboard/controller. These obstacles were tackled with both the help of my teammates and my determination to overcome them.