MENNO MARKUS - GAME PROGRAMMER
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Bit-Buster

Description:
​Bit-buster is a local multiplayer coop game, in which you have to pass a shuriken around to kill all the evil spirits. The entire game is made out of voxels to allow for mayhem and destruction! 

Duration: February 2019 - June 2019
Roles: AI programmer, programming lead (8 weeks)
Engine: Custom C++ engine
Platform: Windows 10, PS4 (dropped mid development)
Team size: 9 programmers, 9 designers, 7 artists, 1 producer
Contributions:
• Creating a 3D path-finding system for a large dynamic voxel world, capable of handling many enemies.
• Working together with designers to implement all the enemy A.I. behaviors and part of the gameplay.
• As the programming lead I was responsible for keeping the vision for programming, solving problems the programmers had within the team and working together with the other leads in project management.


Website
Dynamic Pathfinding
I implemented a flow field based method called continuum crowds, which helped reduce the impact of agent count on performance. A specific advantage of this technique is also that it has agent avoidance and works well with slopes in terrain.

I implemented multiple performance optimizations in order for the pathfinding to efficiently respond to changes in the world. A custom job system was used to generate the pathfinding grid and flow field in parallel.

I had to work with the PS4 SDK and make sure my code adhered to the TRC. Which meant I had to ensure multi threading compatibility with the PS4.
Custom Engine
Bit-Buster was developed using our own custom-made C++ engine called Voxagine. Voxagine was build with a custom editor which exposed our entity component system to add behavior to our world. The editor allowed for rapid iteration and testing.

As the AI programmer I was responsible for working together with designers to implement all the enemy behaviors. By using Voxagines entity component system, I could split enemy behavior into components, which allowed for reusable behavior that could be applied to multiple enemies.
Picture
Large Multidisciplinary Team
We spend 8 weeks on building the engine after which artist and designers were added to the team to work on the final game for another 8 weeks. During these last 8 weeks I became the programming lead.

As a lead I contributed to the high level planning and organized the planning for programming. Most importantly I was responsible for keeping the vision among programmers and communicating the needs and feedback of the programmers to the team. This also resulted in me giving multiple presentations on how to use the engine and established pipelines to other disciplines. This meant they could start producing assets and gameplay that adhered to the engine restrictions.
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