TT Games

26th February 2019

Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame is the most recent shipped/announced project that I’ve had the pleasure of working on. Due to various changes of plan at the company we found ourselves with an 8 month gap in the schedule for one of the game teams. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring the soon to be released “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” to PC and consoles. Evidently we didn’t have enough time to develop a full-priced and full-sized game so we went for the budget market. It was also an opportunity to do something a little different from our usual tie-ins. Loosely based on the LEGO Worlds style we made a lot of changes to our familiar LEGO formula.

The mechanics I was handed for this title mostly consisted of the invisible object scanning tool and the prop discovery tool. I also created mechanics that required writing AI behaviour trees, displaying post-effects and ones that needed implementation of UI, SFX and VFX.

8 months on a project is very hectic, but we managed to complete it to a fantastic quality and we are very proud of it. Sadly public opinion was extremely divided concerning the game. Receiving 8 or 8.5/10 where critics were appreciative of our shaking up of the formula. However, we also received plenty of low scores (including a 2.8/10) with the main criticism being that it wasn’t the familiar LEGO game that people were expecting.

15th June 2018

Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

After the release of Pixar’s “Incredibles 2”, the next project we undertook was to create a game covering the events of both the new film and it’s prequel “The Incredibles”. Not only did we get to handle this well loved IP, but we also got to delve into the history of some of the lesser known supers and even included a few Pixar characters from other franchises. Taking place in the areas of Metroville and New Urbem the game serves as a comprehensive companion to the Pixar property.

As part of the newly created game mechanics team in the Wilmslow studio I was charged with implementing a couple of new mechanics, bringing over and maintaining/updating legacy mechanics and helping others with their mechanics. A list of which can be found below. This is the project where I started taking on more responsibilities towards training the new member of staff that joined our team.

New:

• Blizzard Paint – A mechanic similar to temperature reforms to previous games, however, the structures will only progress with directional input from the user. Usable as a main story mechanic by Frozone/Lucius Best.
• Teleport – Similar to the teleport mechanic used in LEGO MARVEL Superheroes 2 and LEGO Dimensions, the one in this title took a different route by being activated via projectile or nearby user input by specific characters.

Legacy:

• Dig – Characters can uncover items from piles of dirt.
• Illuminate – Characters light up dark areas.
• Remote Control – Characters produce a remote pet/drone which can enter pipes only they can access.
• Repair – Characters repair broken technology.

Helped Out:

• Psionic – Violet Parr can create a psionic sphere around herself that acts as a protective bubble and a magnet to psionic LEGO pieces. I implemented the VFX when deflecting lasers and fleshed out the psionic build functionality.
• Call-In – Characters can call in a rideable buddy. I fixed up the button prompts with this mechanic.
• Crawl Hatch – Small characters can enter vents leading to a different part of the level. I again fixed up the single and multiplayer button prompts with this mechanic.

22nd September 2017

Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Following the events of The LEGO Ninjago Movie, we follow the ninjas and their teacher, Sensei Wu in their quest to stop Lord Garmadon from destroying Ninjago City.

Returning to working with the code base for a full project my main tasks were working on the battle arena multiplayer mode, UI and freeplay elements such as quests, races, AI navigation meshes and collectables. However, I did get to work multiple mechanics such as temperature reforms, parkour and switches. This latter work greatly influenced my decision to join the newly created Game Mechanics team near the end of this project.

At the risk of repeating myself we also found the team short of scripters mid-project onwards. Due to my experience with scripting on LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens I was asked if I could help out with the freeplay scripting. This actually turned out to be almost the entirety of the freeplay scripting, so along with code workload I had a lot going on. Time management (and long hours) were vital.

7th March 2017

Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Prior to beginning work on this project I was promoted from Junior Gameplay Programmer to Gameplay Programmer.

Like with LEGO Jurassic World I worked on LEGO Worlds in the downtime between the projects I was scheduled to work. And unlike on LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens I was working on code with the console engine rather than script.

I was only on this title for about 2 months, but while I was I integrated a 3D navigation algorithm created by the simulation team to enable flying creatures to traverse through the skies and fish to traverse through the seas. I handled the take off and landing behaviour of flying creatures too.

28th June 2016

Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Wii U

The official LEGO game of the extremely popular latest Star Wars offering. Following the story of a rebellious Stormtrooper named Finn and a force-sensitive scavenger named Rey as they discover their destinies.

After working purely on handheld projects previously for TT Games and while at Spiral House, I requested a chance to move onto the console team as the Wilmslow office was requested to develop this promising title.

Unlike on the handheld titles where scripting was done by the construction designers, console scripting is done by the code department. The script team were short of staff for this project so I was asked to take responsibility for numerous story levels and a majority of the freeplay mission scripting. I think the original idea was for me to get used to the in-house console engine as it was greatly different tech from the handheld engine, however the scripting workload because so vast I didn’t get the opportunity.

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the #1 best selling game in the UK for 5 consecutive weeks.

26th January 2016

Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita

Following the release of the MARVEL cinematic universe film “Avengers: Age of Ultron” our next project was to bring the film to game form alongside it’s prequel “The Avengers”.

Now a familiar part of the team I was entrusted with implementing the designs for the boss fights including fighting an enraged Hulk with the Hulkbuster and taking down Loki while Captain America and Iron Man bicker. This was the first time I worked on something for the entire project at TT Games.

I worked on various other parts throughout the project on top of this, including but not limited to freeplay, hub, combat, projectiles, mechanics and general bug fixing.

12th June 2015

Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita

TT Games usually have a number of projects on the go at any point as detailed by their release history. In the downtime from LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin and before development of LEGO MARVEL’s Avengers took off fully I was asked to help tackle the bug list so the team’s coders could continue to work on mechanics and features. This title was also created for the consoles, however, I worked solely on the handheld SKUs.

This was only maybe a couple of months work, but during my time on the project I resolved many pressing issues. I mostly worked on combat, character ability, collision and AI navigation issues.

27th March 2015

Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita

Ronin steals the memories and powers of the familiar Ninjago team from the popular TV series. Play through a variety of levels in an effort to regain the team’s memories, one by one and combine once again at full power to take down Ronin.

My first project with TT Games, I started as a junior gameplay programmer with the Wilmslow office where development of the handheld titles occurred.

I was eased into full time development by picking up the simpler, less involved tasks to begin with and as such worked on many parts of the code base from UI to AI and combat to boss fights.