THIRD PERSON SHOOTER
ONLINE PVP
3D
SCI-FI
NETWORK SECURITY
⏱️ 2 months
👥Team of 6
⚙️Unreal
Unreal CheatNet is a collaboration project between the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, IRISA and the CNAM ENJMIN. We were tasked to, based on the Unreal Lyra Framework, create a multiplayer online shooter game with cheats disguised as abilities. The game will serve to collect data on cheat networks' impact, since well-known video game cheaters' data are not publicly available, to help find more efficient ways to counter those attacks.
🙋♂️ What I did :
-Turn the cheats into abilities & powerups
-A feedback document
-Level designing the map from scratch
-The game onboarding
-Balancing the game
🧩 What I've learned :
-A lot of stuff about network security
-Level design tools of Unreal (landscape tool, texture painting etc...)
According to this, one of the first design decisions was to split the cheats into two categories:
Abilities: Cheats impacting the network (lagswitch, fixed delay, DoS) that are chosen at the start of the match by each player. Each ability is tied to a cooldown and can be changed during respawn. We made it this way so those cheats can be used as often as possible, being the most important ones from a data standpoint.
Powerups : More classic cheats (aimbot, wallhack, hit redirection) that were less important from a data standpoint, so we made them one-use pickable powerups, spawning at set locations. Players can have their main ability and a power up at the same time, both can be used in combination for deadly result, which is frequently the case in real cheating scenario, a lagswitch being often combined with an aimbot for example. Since we went with a mix of sci-fi and fantasy we decided to portray the power ups as magical books.
Abilities selection mockup
Main tasks regarding the cheats:
-Transpose them as gameplay "superpowers", with the constraint of not changing how a cheat works e.g: a DoS should be able to target someone from anywhere on the map.
-Think about feedback to make the different cheats clearer for players, since most of them are confusing by nature.
I.Game design
a.Cheat as abilities & power ups
b. Cut designs
One nice to have feature was to let players control the duration & power of the different abilities e.g: influence the duration and packet loss of a DoS. It was mostly evoked as a way to collect more varied data.
The idea I've come up with was an energy bar, where the amount of energy spent on an ability would determine its duration and power. Each ability has 3 levels of effectiveness based on the energy invested.
UI with energy bar mockup
Using one energy bar level
This design was finally cut due to time constraints, so I went with a more classical cooldown system like explained earlier.
Another idea that was scrapped was an toggle able shield that players could use, if well timed, to protect themselves from a lag switch, aimbot or hit redirection, cheats which are by nature undodgeable. It was thought to create interesting mind games between players and avoid the frustration of being "insta-killed".
Due to time constraints, to reduce the frustration of having cheats involved, I made the respawn time really short and put the emphasis on a fast-paced game, so dying felt way less punishing & unfair.
Halo inspired drop shield
I.Level design
a.Lyra expense map
Using Lyra we already had some maps, our first tests were on the map Expense, however the map was too small, 3v3 felt really crowded and made spawn kill prominent, it also featured few covers, which were required for having fun with lagswitch, fixed delay or wallhack. So I started by editing the map, making it a bit bigger, adding covers, and fantasy elements to have the mix of fantasy of sci-fi we wanted.
Editing the map allowed me to gain knowledge about Unreal and determine some first design pillars (bigger map, more covers etc...) I wanted my own level to follow.
Before designing the map I searched some Arena shooter level design tips, watching videos about Quake and Unreal Tournaments. I got some tips on where to place the different powerups, create chokepoints, make the map traversal smooth etc… The main inspirations for my map were the Sanctuary & Guardian levels from the Halo series.
b.Research & references
Sanctuary has a central structure that can be accessed by two bridges on the side. I wanted a similar structure to hide the best powerup, the hit redirection, so players would fight for control of the location. I also wanted a ruin aesthetic to match the fantasy cross sci-fi aspect we wanted. Sanctuary Is also symmetrical, which I wanted for putting both teams on equal ground.
The map Guardian also features a central structure, but what I took most inspiration from were the different man cannons that can launch players far away.
Research and previous tests allowed me to define some pillars for my level:
-Having a central area to control
-Being symmetrical for balance purpose, each side has a distinct color.
-Lot of covers so players can hide during a lagswitch, or see through them with the wallhack.
-Being bigger than the Expense Lyra map, to allow 3v3 and more.
-All areas being reachable via multiple paths, to avoid camping and allowing catching people lagswitching.
-Ruin & temple aesthetic
c. Early map sketch
Making the sketch gave me an idea of map structure and where to place the different weapons/powerups, For the powerups I decided to place two of each except for the hit redirection, who would throne at the center of the map, creating an important conflict location. It also gave me the idea of using rocks, both as cover and a platform, to give players an alternate pathway to reach higher parts of the map.
d. Level production
