Grant Aring

Unity, Unreal, GODOT
3d artist, concept artist

SYNTHETIC : MECHA VR

VR MECH BULLETHELL
playable on low-end vr
SKELETON-REMESH builder
modular weapon system

• Steam Page

• About game

Lonely team deathmatch

unity p2p lan multiplayer

• About game

Skeleton Remeshing

this method makes it easier on the artist. allowing them to focus on the design and overal model instead of proper skeleton seperation, exporting, file management, custom-animations, etc.can take in any number of skeletons, in any state or condition (entire set, single limb, etc.) and remap it to a singular skeleton.
next to no preparation required other than joint bones for limb seperation as well as seperated meshes.using a singular skeleton enables easier animations, ik, bone_attaching.
it also allows abnormal skeletons, some may have fewer fingers, no head, or more than two arms.

It was a personal project originally made in unity.

The original scope was a physics based mech fighter. with enemys who would respond to physics in a engaging way and realistic way. the main inspiration was boneworks.

this unfortunately caused issues, as my main focus was on making a system ground-up, not considering how each system would work together. and was unfortunately stumped when my physics-based player i made couldnt work with any other mech system.

another problem was an art style. I was taking inspiration from too many things.
I was indecisive. some were low-poly ps1 themed. and others were high-poly mechs with no personalized textures. the original game was interesting but loose.
it was a treated as a personalized hobby, not a portfolio piece or actual game.

however after the unity controversy, i rescoped, and moved into godot.
restarting the project meant redesigning what exactly i want from the project.

i decided early on that the art style was to be based off the original Armored Core, old horror games, and ultrakill.
with its blocky designs, repeating textures, etc.
it made it an easy style to make and produce.
it also allowed lower-spec hardware to be run it.

a large inspiration was ultrakill, not just in a visual design. but their main idea of a FUN game. one that had such style you couldnt help but enjoy every moment of it.

code-wise, instead of focusing on the pilot. i focused on the mech.
making the mech's cameras first, then its arms, then sitting. weaponry and movement and thrusters.
no other vr mech game had been made like this. they didnt have arms, they didnt have the player leave the mech.
i had to make sure the idea was fun and good, so i focused on a tech demo

the doom project
it handled weapon systems and ai. and was abandoned and replaced later by a newer design
itch.io page

the main project
it handled the vr systems. grabbing, arms, sitting, head. the mech itself.
itch.io page

^{i had an entire cockpit filled with buttons and joysticks. but they were only cosmetic.}

when i was done, the first demo was completely based on the mech itself. its movement, weaponry, and AI. acculminating in a arena gamemode i showed around GDC2024.

it was a high school project, a demo of what we learned in the class.
and I wanted to challenge myself.

it was a splitscreen FPS, and connections managed through a P2P using Internet Ports.
I presented a demo, and moved on.

the game was called Lonely Team Deathmatch, because the teacher had concerns about the Schools firewall stopping anyone from playing!

then came the Lanier Regional Technology Competition
i decided to attend, cleaning up the edges, player improvements, win states, scoring, adding in an arena level, and other refinements.

I didn't win unfortunately,A multiplayer game takes time and gimmicks.
time I didn't have.
and gimmicks I didn't have time for.the Judges were interested in a game with interesting Gimmicks, not a learning experience.the winner was a hockey game where players took turns. not as interesting under the hood, but far more fun.