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GERMÁN LÓPEZ

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Game Developer specialized in Unreal Engine

MY NAME IS GERMÁN LÓPEZ,
TECHNICAL DESIGNER.

Since 2017, I have been developing different video games and tools in both Unreal Engine and Unity, some of them launched in platforms such as UE Marketplace and Google Play Store, enhancing my skills as a Game Designer, Technical Designer and Programmer.

Nowadays, I am working at Bohemia Interactive as a Regular Technical Designer, gaining more professional experience.

Are you interested in my work?

Design skills

Game Design

  • Mechanics and gameplay design

  • Level design, dialogue systems, enemy encounters, and cinematics

  • Menu layout, design and implementation

  • Combat system, balance and programming

  • Intuitive user interface

  • Clear and concise visual design documentation

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Software & Languages

  • Blueprints Visual Scripting & C++
  • Unity C# (HDRP & URP)
  • Microsoft Office & Google Docs
  • Adobe Photoshop, Premiere & AE
  • Visual Studio, Eclipse, Rider, VS Code
  • Excel & Spreadsheets

Engines

  • Unreal Engine 4/5

  • Unity

  • Other

    • GameMaker Studio
    • Phaser 3
    • Android Studio

I HAVE BEEN iN

Demo Reel

Take a quick look at most of my featured projects in a short video demonstration.

Portfolio

Below are the most recent projects I have worked on.

DOCUMENTS

Howl of Iron – Data-Driven Sound System
(English)

Howl of Iron – Data-Driven Character System
(English | Spanish)

Howl of Iron – Data-Driven Character System [EXCEL] (English)

Howl of Iron – Main Mechanics
(English)

The Design of Into the Cave (Spanish)

Character-Player Interaction [TFG]
(Spanish)

The Design of Revenge .44 (English | Spanish)

The Design of Cathartic Future (Spanish)

A visual analysis – Bloodborne
(Spanish)
Orickgins – GDD
(Spanish)
Orickgins – Script
(Spanish)
Disconnect – Game Treatment
(Spanish)

UE CONTENT

Fixed Camera System

Free

Graph Dialogue System

Free

Custom In Game Console

Free

Bullet Hell Editor

Free

Weapon FOV & Clipping Fix

Free

Procedural FPS Animations

Free

Blog

My personal blog.

Awarded Best Game Design at PS Awards

Hi! Great events have happened this month! 😄 Last December 14 the latest project I have worked on as Game Designer, Howl of Iron, gained Best Game Design Award at the PlayStation Awards 2022. This...

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The BIG Conference Experience 2022

Hi! Great events have been happening this month Last November 18-19 I attended the Bilbao International Games Conference to show the world the latest game I’ve been working on, Howl of Iron. This event was...

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Asset showcased in the UE Marketplace

Hello! I have some great news that happened last month. I have been publishing assets on the UE Marketplace since April, and last June 24 I received the following email from Epic Games: So, my...

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The Door Problem in Game Development

Hello! I’m Germán López, Game Designer, and today we’re going to talk about one of our favorite topics. We are going to talk about Level Design. When you think about a game, many things come...

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Description

I worked as Game Designer and Technical Designer on this game as my Master’s Degree Final Project.

Howl of Iron is a Third Person Adventure game that mixes Action and Stealth genres. Made with Unreal Engine.

My Contributions

  • Designed and prototyped most of the core mechanics and systems, including, among others:
    1. Data-Driven Character System: The first version for the character creation system.
      1. This system consisted of generating the different characters of the game around data instead of around inheritance.
      2. This method was prototyped, but excluded from the final version of the game due to the low quantity of characters needed for this project.
      3. The entire documentation about this system can be read here.
    2. Combat System: This system was implemented by using Gameplay Ability System (GAS).
      1. Light and Heavy Attacks: Montages and transition between attacks.
      2. Impacts (UX related): Camera Shake, Particles, blur.
      3. Attack Effects (flyback, pushback, etc.).
      4. Magnetism between attacks to get closer to the enemy.
    3. Cutscene System: Made custom triggers to play cutscenes during the game (after executing an enemy, after reaching a place, ect.).
    4. Save Game System: Used Game Instance and Save Game object to save the player data during the game.
    5. Subtitle System: Used sequences to call static functions that show subtitles on viewport.
  • Designed and Implemented the User Interface (UI):
    1. Worked pair to pair with programming members.
    2. Implemented main menu: Title Menu, Buttons (New Game, Continue, Settings, Credits, Quit), responsiveness.
    3. Implemented the tutorial and a Tooltip System to show videos and tips during the playthrough.
  • Made multiple Tools for Level Designers & Artists: During the project, as a Technical Designer, I developed multiple tools to enhance productivity of team members.
    1. Mesh Distribution Tool: This tool allowed level designers and artists to place objects in a faster way. Its applications can be seen here.
    2. Mesh Replacing Tool: This tool allowed the artists to replace the scenario proxies by the final mesh selecting the old one and the new one.
    3. Custom Trigger Tool: This is the tool used for all the triggers in the game. Every trigger has a list of listeners and events that are called when a actor overlap it and executes custom functions.
  • Successfully pitched the game to different stakeholders.

Project Details

  • Studio: 16 Gears
  • Genre: Third Person Adventure
  • Platform: PC
  • Duration:
    1. Core design and prototype: February 2022 – May 2022
    2. Pre-Alpha: May 2022 – July 2022
    3. Alpha: July 2022 – September 2022
    4. Beta: September 2022 – October 2022
    5. Gold: Early October 2022 – Late October 2022
  • Team Size:
    1. 6 Game Designers
    2. 5 Programmers
    3. 5 Artists
    4. 1 Producer
  • Engine & Tools used: Unreal Engine 4.27, Maya, Substance Painter, ZBrush
  • Other: During this project I was mentored by industry professionals.

Description

I worked as Game Designer and Technical Designer during the full development of this game.

Into the Cave is a Isometrical Rogue-Lite with multiplayer elements. Made with Unity.

I employed this opportunity to improve my pitch and design skills, managing a fully development process.

My Contributions

  • Designed and implemented all the game mechanics and systems, including, among others:
    1. Locomotion and exploration mechanics involving movement, attacks and weapons.
    2. Data-Driven spawn system, involving enemies and items (made by reading CSV files).
    3. Rigging and Animations by using Blender.
    4. Procedural Dungeon Generator.
    5. Game progression between dungeons.
    6. Dialogue System.
    7. New Game+ mode.
    8. Player inventory (Weapons & Items).
    9. Character customization (appearance).
  • Designed and Implemented the Main Menu and UI.
    1. Multiplayer, Settings and Credits menu.
    2. Healthbars, damage information and alerts.
  • Implemented multiplayer mode with Photon Pun 2.
    1. Online save data.
    2. Fully playable dungeon with a companion.
  • Successfully pitched the game to different stakeholders.

Project Details

  • Studio: Gold Pillow Games
  • Genre: Rogue-Lite
  • Platform: PC, Mobile
  • Duration: November 2020 – January 2021
  • Team Size: 5
  • Engine & Tools used: Unity, Blender
  • Awards & Recognition: The game was positioned in fourth place in the New & Popular section of itch.io.

Description

I solo developed this fan prototype of the popular Insomniac Games Franchise: Ratchet & Clank.

This project was developed in one week by using Unreal Engine. The source code is available on GitHub.

The reason of this development was to improve my Technical Design and Game Prototyping skills.

My Contributions

  • Designed and implemented all the game mechanics and systems, including, among others:
    1. Locomotion and exploration mechanics involving platforming, attacks and weapons.
    2. Data-Driven spawn system, involving enemies and items.
    3. Rigging and Animations by using Blender.
    4. Level Design by implementing a test arena and fully playable level.
  • Posted the entire development process on social networks like Twitter and Instagram and a Development Reel for YouTube.

Project Details

  • Genre: Third Person Adventure
  • Platform: PC
  • Duration: December 12 (2021) – December 18 (2021)
  • Team Size: 1
  • Engine & Tools used: Unreal Engine 4.26, Blender

HOWL OF IRON

Gameplay Design Contributions

OVERVIEW

During the development of this project I carried out the following Gameplay Design tasks:

  • I helped design all the systems related to the movement.
  • I helped design all the enemies in the game.
  • I designed and implemented the camera system.

DESIGN & Documentation

DESIGN

1. Main Gameplay Mechanics

I designed how the main character’s core mechanics.

2. Camera System

I specified how the camera would work.

HOWL OF IRON

Technical Design Contributions

OVERVIEW

During the development of this project, as a Technical Designer, I carried out the following tasks:

  • I made multiple tools and carried out prototyping labor to simplify the work of my colleagues and to visualize what we wanted to implement in the game.
  • I coordinated the design and programming departments.
  • I documented game systems.

TOOLS

1. Mesh Distribution Tool

This tool allowed level designers and artists to place objects in a faster way.

2. Mesh Replacing Tool

This tool allowed the artists to replace the level proxies by the final mesh selecting the old one and the new one.

3. Custom Trigger Tool

This is the tool used for all the triggers in the game. Every trigger has a list of listeners and events that are called when a actor overlap it and executes custom functions.

DESIGN & Documentation

DESIGN

1. Data-Driven Character System

I designed how the characters would be implemented in the video game. My proposal was to orient the character generation to a Data-Driven system.

2. Data-Driven Sound System

I specified how the sound would be implemented in the project.