05 · Open-World Steampunk Fantasy RPG, Narrative Companion Adventure & Battle Royale
Earthlings
Role
Lead Game Designer and Animator
Engine
Unreal Engine, Animation Blueprints, State Machines, Blender, World Partition
Platform
Desktop & Mobile (Cross-Platform)
Gallery
Fynn & Raya - Animation Sequence
01
Project Overview
Earthlings is an expansive cross-platform steampunk fantasy universe set 400 years in the future across a 460-square-kilometer reimagined map of Europe. At the heart of this world is Finn & Raya, the core narrative and character-driven experience that introduces players to the lore, creature companionship, and traversal mechanics of the Earthlings ecosystem, alongside town ownership economies, airship exploration, and a family-friendly Battle Royale mode.
02
My Role & Core Responsibilities
Serving in a dual leadership role as Lead Game Designer and Animator across Earthlings and the Finn & Raya experience, I unified macro-level world systems with frame-by-frame character animation:
- Designed the core gameplay loops, companion interaction mechanics for Finn & Raya, and open-world quest progression across the 460 km² map.
- Directed and authored the 3D character and creature animation pipeline in Blender and Unreal Engine, building custom rigs, locomotion blendspaces, facial/body acting beats, and combat state machines.
- Architected the ruleset, pacing, and non-lethal combat balancing for the family-friendly Battle Royale mode across desktop and mobile.
- Built steampunk gadget and airship boarding interaction systems that tied character animation timing directly to spatial level metrics.
03
From Idea to Implementation (Behind the Scenes)
Bringing Finn & Raya and the wider Earthlings world to life required treating animation and game design as a single discipline. Whenever we conceived a new interaction, whether coordinating dual-character traversal between Finn and Raya, boarding a moving airship, or executing a gadget ability in Battle Royale, I started by blocking out the spatial metrics and camera framing. I then keyed the anticipation, active, and recovery frames in Blender and wired them into Unreal Engine Animation Blueprints, iterating inside playable test gyms until the synergy between the two protagonists and the environment felt responsive and alive.
04
Key Challenges & How I Solved Them
Challenge 1: Synchronizing Dual-Character Companion Feel (Finn & Raya) with Open-World Scale
The Problem: Designing companion interactions and narrative beats for Finn & Raya inside a massive 460 km² open world risked either clunky AI following behavior during exploration or disconnected traversal pacing between settlements.
The Solution: I engineered context-sensitive companion locomotion states and paired interaction triggers alongside a hub-and-spoke world layout. During local exploration and puzzle encounters, Raya's movement and animation cues dynamically respond to Finn's proximity and camera focus, while long-distance regional travel is streamlined through scheduled steampunk airship corridors and landmark-driven roads.
Challenge 2: Unifying Expressive RPG Animation and Battle Royale Responsiveness on Mobile & Desktop
The Problem: Narrative quests with Finn & Raya require weighty, expressive character acting, whereas the multiplayer Battle Royale mode demands instant input response and strict mobile memory budgets.
The Solution: I built a modular Animation Blueprint architecture using layered pose blending and motion warping so upper-body gadget and combat actions fire with crisp anticipation without stalling lower-body movement. To maintain smooth frame rates on mobile devices, I configured skeletal LODs and animation budget allocators for crowded towns and multiplayer matches.
05
Responsibilities
- Planning animation beats and camera moves for the cinematic sequence.
- Setting up character animation and timing within Unreal Engine.
- Recording and refining animation sequences and in-engine cinematics.
- Importing and organizing assets to support the narrative and visual style.
- Grey boxing and level layout to stage the animated scenes effectively.
- Lighting the environment to enhance mood, depth, and animation readability.
- Performance optimization to keep the sequence smooth and responsive in real time.
Elevate
Interactive Real-Time 3D Architectural Experience & Virtual Showroom · Unreal Engine 5, Pixel Streaming, Blender, CAD / Datasmith Pipeline, Lumen & Real-Time Lighting