ZACH VON ZEBRA PROJECT
CHANGE LOG: 28.12.23
First video I could find of the project back in 2023, The Idea was to create a game that could be used as a teaching resource, showing students how to use unreal engine with a colaborative project. Ive been working on it on and off for the last few years now and what to start using it more in class. Another aspect of the project is using gamification "Literally", creating levels that explain level design principals and other concepts that student have misconceptions about, for example many people who are new to 3D modelling and texturing dont understaand the difference between detail created with Normal maps and actual geometry. An interactive session could allow them to explore the topic of PBR materials in a more engaging way than say a quiz.
CHANGE LOG: 25.02.24
At this point I had created the character and had a vague idea of the lore i wanted to create. I knew that I wanted a mascot character similar to Sonic, Crash Bandicoot, Link etc... By now I had spent some time working on some interactive elements, also using the project as a learning opertunity, as I had mainly used Unity until 2021 when I switched to UE4. I started trying to create more modular blueprints with things like buttons being assigned in the editor rather than hard coding everything like I had been doing.
CHANGE LOG: 23.04.25
I took a bit if a break from working on the game for a while just working on it now and then as I was working on getting qualified as a teacher. When I got back to it, I wanted to incorporate more of the story that had been floating around in my head. I had started playing Jet Set Radio and the sequal JSRF. I knew I wanted a character that would explain the world and what was happening so I used Elevenlabs to generate some voice lines as placeholders. Im of the opinion that AI should be used for rapid prototyping and eventually replaced before shipping, I think this is a pretty balanced approach that gets the best out of AI as a tool while still giving opertunities to people like voice actors and musicians. (Im not that musical)
CHANGE LOG: 23.07.25
I've started to work on the Intro Level again, added a skip cutscene option. Added some better looking buildings as well as some tweaks to enemies. Updated the UI.
First video I could find of the project back in 2023, The Idea was to create a game that could be used as a teaching resource, showing students how to use unreal engine with a colaborative project. Ive been working on it on and off for the last few years now and what to start using it more in class. Another aspect of the project is using gamification "Literally", creating levels that explain level design principals and other concepts that student have misconceptions about, for example many people who are new to 3D modelling and texturing dont understaand the difference between detail created with Normal maps and actual geometry. An interactive session could allow them to explore the topic of PBR materials in a more engaging way than say a quiz.
CHANGE LOG: 25.02.24
At this point I had created the character and had a vague idea of the lore i wanted to create. I knew that I wanted a mascot character similar to Sonic, Crash Bandicoot, Link etc... By now I had spent some time working on some interactive elements, also using the project as a learning opertunity, as I had mainly used Unity until 2021 when I switched to UE4. I started trying to create more modular blueprints with things like buttons being assigned in the editor rather than hard coding everything like I had been doing.
CHANGE LOG: 23.04.25
I took a bit if a break from working on the game for a while just working on it now and then as I was working on getting qualified as a teacher. When I got back to it, I wanted to incorporate more of the story that had been floating around in my head. I had started playing Jet Set Radio and the sequal JSRF. I knew I wanted a character that would explain the world and what was happening so I used Elevenlabs to generate some voice lines as placeholders. Im of the opinion that AI should be used for rapid prototyping and eventually replaced before shipping, I think this is a pretty balanced approach that gets the best out of AI as a tool while still giving opertunities to people like voice actors and musicians. (Im not that musical)
CHANGE LOG: 23.07.25
I've started to work on the Intro Level again, added a skip cutscene option. Added some better looking buildings as well as some tweaks to enemies. Updated the UI.
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