Comic-book superhero Diablo-like where you customise your own skills.

 

Timeline Vert Slice: 2019/08 – 2021/09
Timeline Release: 2021/09 – 2023/11
Publisher: Raw Fury
Developer: Stitch Heads (own IP)
Role: Tech Lead and C++ Programmer
Engine: Unreal Engine 5

Intro

With a compact Indie-sized (4-8) team on a budget we developed the high-fidelity vertical slice that secured a $6M publishing agreement. After releasing Kabounce, we committed to developing an ambitious concept that played into the technical strengths of our team, as out of the 4 of us we had 2 programmers (myself and co-founder Bart), and there was marketing space available in the Diablo-genre (of which comic book sci-fi had not been done before), a genre so feature-rich for a vertical slice that most companies won’t venture. We developed the vertical slice whilst taking up client work for funding. In September 2021 we signed a publishing agreement with Raw Fury and fully committed all resources to release whilst scaling up to 42 developers.
 
The game is unfortunately no longer available due to legal reasons.

My Responsibilities

Aside from being core developer, I lead the technical scale-up to 42 developers and operated milestone delivery strategies whilst navigating complex stakeholder relationships.
  • As Tech lead I handled onboarding of the additional programmers and tech-designers, defined principles (coding standards), and established protocols (e.g. code reviews through Crucible and chat integration, milestone P4 merging strategies).
    • During scale-up we hired incredibly talented developers with varying backgrounds, each in turn teaching me a great deal over the years, supporting my growth in management as well as development.
  • My fields of development primarily covered: UI/UX, Localization, 3Cs, ABP, Equipment & Inventory, Abilities & SkillTrees, Customization, Gameplay AI (GOAP and Blackboards + BehaviorTrees), Developer tools (Slate, EditorUtilities), General Gameplay, and Netcode.
  • Showcased at events such as Develop Brighton and Steam & Twitch Livestreams.
  • Managed various third-party communications and milestone deliveries.