Choosing

Deciding on something feasible to accomplish by the end of the semester isn't a trivial task. Coincidentally, it just so happens that if the project I draft is too trivial, it isn't a good portfolio piece. Nonetheless, I had a few fun ideas. One of which, completely out of scope, would be to homebrew myself a PlayStation 3 game that could run in RPCS3. To that end, I would have needed to utilize either an open source SDK, or a leaked version of the official SDK for the PS3—without a shred of documentation to be seen in either direction.

Ignoring that pipe dream, I had the idea of making a UWP app for streaming online radio. Ideally, to be run on an Xbox One. I had already implemented BASS in similar Unity app last year, so the actual code implementation in C# shouldn't be an issue. Feasibility concerns arise in terms of actually testing this on an Xbox. I have an Xbox One, but I never work in my room (or inhabit it much in any capacity due to my roommate), and I wouldn't want to lug around the brick of a console with me on a 8–12 minute-long walk to the labs and then back.

Scaling down from consoles, I looked at React Native. Already working with React.js to make disposable blogs, in addition to my team's site, I figured it would be well within my skill set to make an app. Sadly, I'm a game programmer, and React Native doesn't lend itself to developing games as well as one could hope. In terms of external factors, the idea is more sound than the other two, though.

Luckily though, I have a new idea that should tick all the boxes. This past weekend, I worked with four other people to create this small game for the Global Game Jam, over the course of 48-hours. I have to say, for my first ever game jam, that was the most fun I've had in game development. Moving onto my idea, while I have worked on 3D games in both Unity and—as of this year—Unreal, I haven't made a 2D game in Unreal. So I propose to remake Super Sibling Smasherino in Paper2D, complete with networking. Out of all the classes I've spent with Dan Buckstein, networking was the topic I understood the most. And with the extensive tools provided by Unreal, I have confidence that I can make a decent experience. I think this task should be appropriate since external factors are largely nonexistent—I don't see Epic Games going under any time soon; In terms of unknowns, I'd need to figure out how to do anything 2D in Unreal, and networking. The game is rather simple, and I wouldn't have to worry about asset creation, so I believe I can definitely implement the base game in time; Networking will have to be seen, however. I think this should show my skill as a programmer by displaying that I can make something in an obscure 2D sub-engine.