Solo Game Dev in UE5
Building a indie game using industry-standard practices and workflows.
Game Design
Role: Solo Developer (Game Design, Programming, Art Direction, Technical Implementation)
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Development Time: 12 months (Ongoing)
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Steam Page: Fantastic Frolic on Steam
May 11, 2025
Project Overview
Fantastic Frolic is a party-based, hack-and-slash RPG set in the vibrant world of Quirkyland. Players can choose from three unique characters—Lil' J, Esther, and Gorf—each possessing distinct abilities to combat monsters and unravel the mystery behind a foretold volcanic explosion. The game emphasizes exploration, dynamic combat, and character progression, aiming to deliver a delightful and engaging experience, while bringing a strong narrative about humanistic values and anti-imperialist resistance.
Game Design Philosophy
The core design principles guiding Fantastic Frolic include:
Character Diversity: Offering multiple playable characters with unique abilities to encourage varied gameplay styles.
Exploration and Discovery: Creating a vibrant world filled with secrets, resources, and lore to reward player curiosity.
Engaging Combat: Implementing a responsive and dynamic combat system that evolves with player progression.
Narrative Depth: Crafting a compelling storyline that intertwines with gameplay mechanics to enhance immersion.
Technical Implementation
Character Design and Animation
Character Creation Pipeline: Utilized Character Creator in conjunction with ZBrush to sculpt and design modular character models, allowing for customizable outfits and accessories.
Animation Framework: Adopted Paragon Animation Blueprints as a foundation, extending them with custom state machines and animation graphs to support complex character behaviors.
Advanced Locomotion: Integrated AGR V, a suite of components designed to enhance locomotion and animation systems in Unreal Engine 5. This facilitated precise aim offsets and turn-in-place animations, contributing to a more immersive player experience.
Combat System
Combo Mechanics: Implemented the Ultra Combo System, enabling the scripting of intricate combat logic. This system processes input commands and chains them into various behaviors, supporting a wide range of combat styles and allowing for the creation of complex combo trees.
Inventory and Equipment
Custom Inventory System: Developed a bespoke inventory system inspired by Jonathan Isakson's comprehensive tutorial series. This system supports item management, equipment handling, and integrates seamlessly with character modules.
Modular Equipment Integration: Designed characters with modular components, allowing equipped items to dynamically replace or augment existing meshes. This system is being refined to ensure compatibility with AGR V and Character Creator clothing assets.
Environment Design
Initial World Building: Created a sample open-world map featuring diverse vegetation and landscape materials to establish the game's aesthetic and environmental storytelling.
Future Enhancements: Plans are in place to adopt World Creator for real-time terrain generation and Polygonflow's Dash for procedural asset scattering and environment detailing, aiming to streamline the world-building process and enhance visual fidelity.
Development Tools and Workflow
Version Control: Employed GitHub for source control, ensuring efficient collaboration and code management.
Project Management: Utilized Notion to organize development tasks, track progress, and maintain documentation.
Continuous Learning: Engaged with community resources and tutorials to stay updated on best practices and emerging tools within the Unreal Engine ecosystem.
Professional Engagement
Participated in the Animaverso International Festival, presenting a talk on indie game development challenges and showcasing Fantastic Frolic to an audience of animation and game development enthusiasts. This event provided valuable feedback and increased visibility within the indie game community.
Future Plans
Optimization: Refine existing systems for performance and scalability, ensuring a smooth experience across various hardware configurations.
Expanded Content: Develop additional characters, quests, and environments to enrich gameplay and extend replayability.
Community Building: Establish a community around Fantastic Frolic through social media, developer blogs, and early access programs to gather feedback and foster player engagement.
Implement the UI that was Designed on Figma.
Blueprint Programming & Technical Design Mastery
One of the standout aspects of Fantastic Frolic is the depth and rigor applied through Blueprint Visual Scripting in Unreal Engine 5. Over 12 months of solo development, I built and maintained scalable systems using best practices in Blueprint architecture, including:
✅ Modular Blueprint Systems
Developed component-based systems for reusability and maintenance (e.g., combat logic, inventory handlers, modular mesh systems).
Implemented data-driven designs via DataTables and Blueprint Function Libraries, minimizing redundancy and enabling easier content scaling.
✅ Clean & Optimized Blueprint Practices
Maintained clean graph layouts with consistent naming conventions, macro abstraction, and commented flow blocks for rapid debugging and collaboration readiness.
Used Blueprint Interfaces and Event Dispatchers to decouple gameplay systems (e.g., separating animation logic from input or inventory events).
✅ Custom Systems from Scratch
Built an Inventory System from the ground up, following Jonathan Isakson's 79-part series, applying core programming principles like:
Separation of concerns (UI vs data storage vs world interaction)
State replication for multiplayer scalability
Integration with character equipment and animation blueprints
✅ Combat System Integration
Integrated and extended third-party systems like the Ultra Combo System, using custom nodes and conditional branches in Blueprint to create:
Variable combo inputs
Animation-driven hit detection
Energy or resource-based combat state changes
Game Development Best Practices
As a solo developer, I implemented professional production standards that mirror those used by larger studios:
🔧 Version Control with GitHub
Full source control using GitHub with LFS for assets, ensuring rollback protection and branch-based development for features.
Used Git strategically for backup before risky iterations or engine upgrades.
📁 Project Architecture and File Organization
Maintained Unreal Engine's folder structure conventions (
/Blueprints,/UI,/Animations, etc.)Created global config systems (game settings, saved data) with centralized access and persistence.
📑 Documentation
Maintained internal documentation for each major system in Notion, including system diagrams, changelogs, and notes for future optimization or potential collaborators.
Game & Level Design Thinking
Beyond the technical, Fantastic Frolic is deeply rooted in design choices that emphasize player agency, flow, and meaningful progression:
🎮 Systems Design
Designed a lightweight open world progression system that balances exploration with narrative pacing.
Implemented collectible systems, quest nodes, and enemy spawn logic to maintain engagement through dynamic content.
🧠 Accessibility & UX
Created a responsive UI framework in UMG with scalability in mind (text size, controller navigation, visual contrast).
Built feedback loops using animation + sound cues for pickups, hits, quest interactions — improving moment-to-moment clarity.
🗺️ World Design & Tooling
Blocked out initial environments using Unreal’s landscape tools.
Planning to shift to World Creator and Polygonflow to procedurally enhance terrain and biomes, ensuring:
Performance-optimized foliage placement
Modular level design patterns that favor reuse and layered verticality
Takeaways & Industry Readiness
Building Fantastic Frolic solo has refined not just my creative skills, but my studio-ready technical skillset:
✅ Intermediate-to-Advanced Blueprint Scripting
✅ Deep familiarity with Unreal Engine 5 systems (animation graphs, root motion, actor components, replication foundations)
✅ Effective use of third-party tools (AGR V, Ultra Combo System, Character Creator pipeline)
✅ Experience presenting at industry events (Animaverso)
✅ Solid grounding in design patterns, UI/UX, and world building tools
✅ Organized workflow with version control, documentation, and modular pipeline strategy
Other game design projects
Explore associated projects
Load More
