TIAN YU XIE

Lawless X Heaven

Video Game Developer With Focus on UI/UX Design & Engineering

Game Design Projects

The following are all of the solo projects & group projects I have completed & worked on so far.

Multiplayer Battle Royal Shooter

Bakusou Zombie

Capstone Project, 2023

VR Shooter

Forest Invasion VR

Solo Project, 2023

Third-Person Platformer

Bloom & Grows

Global Game Jam, 2023

Exploration/ Discovery Tour

Under the Bay

University of Baltimore, 2022

Multiplayer Third Person Platformer

BallRun

University of Baltimore, 2022

First-Person Shooter

HWHAP

University of Baltimore, 2022

VFX Demo

Sound Bar & Cubes

Solo Project, 2023

HLSL programmed Shader

Unity Custom Shader

University of Baltimore, 2023

First-Person Shooter

One Way Out

Montgomery College Solo Project, 2021

3D Platformer

If You are a Robot You'll Climb Up

Montgomery College Solo Project, 2021

3D Modeling

Environment Design

About Me

Hello! I'm Tian Yu. I recently graduated from the University of Baltimore with a focus on game development, especially in gameplay and UI engineering. I'm also exploring VR development. I aim to create games that support and inspire others, much like how games have been there for me.

My Story With Video Games

My name is Tian Yu, and I am proud Alumni from the Simulation and Game Design program at the University of Baltimore. Born in the Dominican Republic, I spent my childhood moving between China, the Dominican Republic, and the United States. Interestingly, video games didn't play a significant role in my life until after high school.For personal and familial reasons, I had to leave my initial four-year university, feeling adrift while watching my high school peers progress in their lives. Seeking a reprieve, I turned to the world of video games with my PS4. Titles like Assassin's Creed Odyssey/Origin, Persona 5, Fallout 76, and Monster Hunter World provided me with an escape from the challenges I faced. In those moments of isolation, video games were my lifeline, and I was struck with a newfound purpose: I wanted to create games that could inspire and uplift others during their most trying times. With this in mind, I began my journey in game design at Montgomery College, eventually joining the University of Baltimore to further my aspirations in the gaming industry.

My Platinum Trophy Obsession started with the Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Between 2018 - 2023 I accumulated 60 platinum trophies, and I enjoyed the process of completing a game 100%. Some of the most notable ones are:- Elden Ring
- Darksoul 2 & 3
- AC: Odyssey & Origin & Valhalla
- Outward
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Fallout 4 & 76
- Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- The Surge 1 & 2
- Bloodborne & Sekiro
- Nier: Automata & ReplicantGetting a platinum trophy means a lot to me. It shows I respect the game's developers. By doing this, I see all the hard work they put into the game. I've made it a hobby to fully complete games I like, and it also proves I'm good at them.

Why Lawless X Heaven?

The name Lawless Heaven came from one of my favorite Anime 91 Days. The story is set in the fictional form of America during the last years of Prohibition in 1932. Lawless Heaven is the name of a whiskey brand that thrived under strict prohibition law. Like myself, despite all the hardship I have faced, I want to thrive in this industry and inspire others.

Mech Spider

Made in Autodesk Maya

Skeleton Guy

Made in Autodesk Maya

A Small House

Made in Autodesk Maya

Low-Poly Desert Graveyard

Made in Autodesk Maya

If you are a robot you'll climb up

Project Link: https://lawless-heaven.itch.io/if-you-are-a-robot-youll-climb-up

Design by: Tian Yu

Video Presentation:

What Have I Completed In The Game:

  • Collectibles; such as hearts, coins.

  • particle effects for all the collectibles.

  • health and collectible system.

  • Breakable crates that will drop coins once it is broken.

  • Traps: Spinning Saw, retractable spikes, spikes.

  • fully animated enemies with attack animation and death particle effect.

  • a fully animated player with its own death particle effect.

  • moving platform.

  • Timer.

  • BGM and sound effects are applied throughout the game.

  • Interactive items. A door that will open when the button near it is pressed down by the player.

  • checkpoint system. When the player dies, the player will respawn from the last checkpoint they touched instead of restarting the level.

  • A working pause menu that can adjust BGM volume and SFX volume.

Screenshots:

Concept Map vs Actual Map:

One Way Out

Project Link: https://lawless-heaven.itch.io/one-way-out

Design by: Tian Yu

Video Presentation:

What Have I Completed In The Game:

  • A working game

  • Fully functional UI

  • Enemy NPC

  • A Boss

  • 5 weapons in total( 4 guns and 1 rocket launcher)

  • Bounce Pad (Launch player to the air)

  • Ammo pick up

  • Health Pick Up

  • Enemy Turrets

  • Double Jump

  • Sound Effects implemented throughout the game

  • Particle Effects

  • Post-processing visual effects ( Motion Blur, ambient occlusion, Bloom, Chromatic Aberration).

Screenshots:

Concept Map vs Actual Map:

Under The Bay

Developed using UNITY

Role: UI Designer & Engineer, Game Programmer

Project Link: https://lawless-heaven.itch.io/under-the-bay

Video Presentation:

Technique Used:

  • C#

  • Unity Canvas

  • PlayerPrefs to store Options Menu Information

Overview:

Under the Bay is an exploration/Discovery Tour style game that takes place in the Chesapeake Bay. In the course Game 477 Community Based Game Design, we are tasked to work with a client from another field of study and create a game based on their needs. Our goal this year was to develop a game to educate K-12 students on the transitions from the estuary to the coastal ocean ecosystem and the importance of Mysid shrimp to the coastal food webs.

My Role - UI Designer & Engineer

The difference between Game 477 to the other classes is that we are representing our University & program to work with real clients to develop a product that fits their needs. Our targeted Audience is K-12 students, and as the UI Engineer of this project, my work would be the first impression they'll experience.
My Goal is to make everything as visually pleasing as possible. Since we are working with a game that focuses on the ecosystem, I wanted to make the Main menu "Alive" and fun rather than just plain sight. Also to facilitate students learning of the audio files we prepared, I added subtitles for the students to follow along.

Main Menu

Subtitles

For this project, I worked on the Options menu which provided players with some basic accessibilities such as resolution adjustment, full-screen toggles, and volume adjustment. (This menu is also accessible in the In-Game pause Menu)
I also implemented a loading screen at the beginning of the game that will randomly give the student a short fact to learn. Lastly, although, I did not make the radar system, I was able to secure one with a license from the Unity asset store and implement it in our game with ease.

Setting Menu

Ending Scene

IMAGE GALLERY:

Click to view Full-Size Image

HWHAP

Developed using UNITY

Role: UI Designer & Engineer, Game Programmer

Project Link: https://lawless-heaven.itch.io/hwhap

Video Presentation:

Technique Used:

  • C#

  • Unity Canvas

  • PlayerPrefs to store Options Menu Information

  • Post-Processing

  • Nav-Mesh Tool

  • Unity built-in Animation Tool

Overview:

HWHAP (Houston We Have A Problem) is a first-person shooter game set in an abandoned space station. The story begins with our player, an astronaut with his ship malfunctioned. In a desperate attempt, he was able to land his spaceship in an abandoned space station. The player must traverse through the abandoned space station, use his arsenal to fight horrendous alien enemies, and find a way to escape.

My Role - UI Designer/Engineer & Gameplay Programmer

For this project, I was tasked with UI Design and Engineering, main gameplay programming, and designing the first level of the game, Cafeteria. For this project, I was tasked with UI Design and Engineering, main gameplay programming, and designing the first level of the game, Cafeteria. I worked with my classmate Jack Mcpherson to create the level. We wanted the environment of our level to tell the story and went with a corridor-based design to make the entire scene feel more clustered and full.

Cafeteria Level Screenshots

Shooting

I also worked on the UI of this project, Including:
- Main Menu: Granting players access to start the game, the setting menu, View Credits, and quit the game
- Setting Menu: Including Basic Accessibilities options such as Screen Resolution, Full-Screen Toggle, and Sound Adjustment.
- In-Game UI: Health Display and Ammo Display
- Pause Screen: Pause the game and grant access to options such as the settings menu, go back to the main menu or quit the game.
- PlayerPref: Store the player's health information between levels and which level the player last played. If the player quits the game in level 3, the game will store this information, and in the main menu, the player will have a continue option to resume their last played level.
- End Scene

Continue Option

Enemies

For the Programming part I was responsible for:
- Character Controller
- Player Health & Enemy Health
- Shooting Mechanic & Bullet Behavior
- Health, Weapon & Ammo Pick up
- Enemy Behavior
- Levels Nav-Mesh

Image Gallery

Click to view Full-Size Image

BallRun

Developed using UNITY & Photon Pun 2

Role: UI Designer & Engineer, Game Programmer

Project Link: https://lawless-heaven.itch.io/ballrun

Video Presentation:

Technique Used:

  • C#

  • Unity Canvas

  • Unity built-in Animation Tool

  • Photon Engine

Overview:

BallRun is a multiplayer platformer game developed using Unity and hosted using the Photon engine. Currently, it allows 20 Concurrent Users in the server and 6 players per room. Inspired by Rocket League and Fall guy, the game's goal is to push the ball to the goal and compete to see which side can score the most !!!

My Role - UI Designer/Engineer & Main Programmer

I mainly worked on the Main Menu and Multiplayer gameplay programming for this project. One of the challenges I constantly faced was wiring the logic of the multiplayer game and how to make the user experience as smooth as possible. I focused on player feedback starting from the main menu. The menu system is responsive the moment player opens the game. From letting the players know they are connecting to alerting them if they are trying to create a duplicate room.

Main Menu

Screen Shots

For the UI Part I worked on the:
- Main Menu: Granting players access to find rooms, create a room, the Setting Menu, view Credits, and Quit the Game.
- Setting Menu: Including Basic Accessibilities options such as Screen Resolution, Full-Screen Toggle, and Sound Adjustment.
- In-Game UI: Display the Timer and Team Scores.
- In-Game Menu: Granting access to the setting menu, the ability to go back to the main menu, and Quitting the game.

Emotes

Players with Name Tag

For the Gameplay Programming, I mainly worked on the following:
- Character Controller.
- Ball pushing Physics.
- Player Name Tag.
- Player Emotes.
- Multiplayer object instantiation.
- Timer.
- Scoring mechanic.
- Using Photon Network Raise event to synchronize the Score and The time to all the users.

Image Gallery

Click to view Full-Size Image

Bakusou Zombie

Project Link: https://lawless-heaven.itch.io/bakusou-zombie

Developed using UNITY & Photon Pun 2

Role: Project Lead, Gameplay Programmer, UI Engineer & System Engineer

Video Presentation:

Technique Used:

  • C#

  • Unity Canvas

  • Unity Physic System

  • Unity Built-in Animator

  • Photon Pun 2 Network Coding

  • Photon Pun 2 Multiplayer Engine

Overview:

Bakuzou Zombie is a Multiplayer Battle Royal game set in a post-apocalyptic world. The players will take the roles of survivors and zombies to battle each other to determine the ultimate winning side.
Start the game as the survivor, scatter around, and find weapons and shelters. Whether you want to group up or not is up to you, but do keep in mind when the zombified hour hits, one will turn into a zombie, and that one might be right next to you.

My Roles - Project Lead

As the Project Lead, my primary responsibility is to manage the schedule and oversee other programmers and artists in the team. Organize weekly meetings and QA/Public testing for our project. Acquire assets license as well as music license for the project. I also helped members behind with their progress and assisted them in completing their tasks by the deadline. If there is anything a group member does not understand or lacks the skill to do, I will research and learn the necessary skill and fill in the role that our team needs. For example, I am responsible for all the animation & music elements in the project. I also assisted with level design by designing the Highway level and polishing the Abandoned Store level.

My Roles - Gameplay Programmer

As one of the main Gameplay programmers in the team, I mainly focused on Network Coding to ensure our project's multiplayer function worked as intended. Bakusou Zombie is hosted using Photon Pun 2, a multiplayer engine with its own CSCS. For the Project gameplay, I programmed the following:
- The main spawning system of the game where players can spawn and get synchronized over the network.
- Damage, Death, and respawn system.
- Match Manager that manages the overall functionality of the game, such as Game States, Timer, Timed Events, and Player in-game information.
- Character Movement system. Integrated Unity Starter Assets with Photon so it works over the network.
- Player health, Mana & Stamina functionality.
- Main Weapon System & Bullet Behaviors.
- Weapon & Health Pick Up.
- Jump Pads.

Each weapon in the game has its unique trait. In total, six weapons are available for the players and one for the zombies. I designed five weapons and programmed all of the weapon in the game.
- Junk Spear: The starter weapon for all the players. Shoots individual harpoon.
- Petite Dragon: Can shoot automatically by holding the left mouse button. Shoots fireballs that burn enemies. The enemy takes slow burning damage as long as the debuff is active.
- Precision Gun: It has a four-second shot cooldown, the bullet traveling speed is faster than most other guns, and it marks the enemies upon impact. Enemies marked will spawn an explosion on them after five seconds damaging them and their nearby allies.
- Ice Bow: Can shoot automatically by holding the left mouse button. Shoots ice arrows that slow enemies 20%.
- Forbidden Grimore: Official Zombie Weapon. It is the only way for the zombies to perform range attacks. Shoots slowly but deals high damage with a chance to kill the survivors instantly.
-Thunder Spear: Fastest weapon in the game with the lowest mana cost & accuracy.
- Void Wand: Shoots slow with high cooldown. Does High damage and its impact deal Area damage upon impact to all enemies near the impact. The impact also creates screenshake.

My Roles - UI Engineer

As the UI Engineer of the project, I'm responsible for the Menu system of the game, the in-game UI, the Options menu that includes basic accessibility to the players, and the room lobby chat & emotes system.

Menu System

Screenshots

Main Menu System
- Allows players access to find rooms, create a room, the Setting Menu, view Credits, and Quit the Game.
- Includes Error screen just in-case if Photon Related error occurs. For example, each room must have a unique name, if a player attempt to create a room with the same name, the error screen will display.
- While in a room a Chat system is available for players to communicate with each other. Players can also hide the chat by pressing the TAB button.
- The Setting Menu allows players to change the current game's resolution, V-Sync, mouse sensitivity, and adjust the music volume.
- Status bar on the bottom to show player connection status

Sound Bar & Cubes

Project Link: https://lawless-heaven.itch.io/sounds-bar-cubes

Developed using UNITY & Feel Engine

U

Video Presentation:

Technique Used:

Overview:

A solo project made to test out Feel-Engine in Unity. The goal is to use its feedback system to make any Unity project feel more alive and interactive. In this demo, it manipulates post-processing effects, Camera movements, particle effects, and Sounds.

Bloom & Grows

Developed using UNITY

Role: UI Designer & Engineer, Project Lead

Project Link: https://globalgamejam.org/2023/games/bloom-grows-8

Video Presentation:

Technique Used:

Overview:

Bloom & Grows is a third-person exploration platformer game. It is developed in a week during the Global Game Jam. The idea behind the game is to grow plants & bring hope back to a desolate place. As the player traverses through the environment plants will randomly and procedurally generate around the player. At the end of the game, a top-down view will show all the plants the player grew.

My Role - UI Designer & Engineer

Besides managing all the team members for this project, I worked on the Main Menu UI, Main Gameplay programming & Implementing animation for our playable character. To challenge myself to design & Engineer a more interactive UI, instead of using Canvas Screen Space - Overlay, I used Screen Space - Camera, where the UI elements are affected by the camera settings. Also, instead of using UI color-tint transitions, most of the UI transitions are done by using Animations.

Main Menu

Main Menu UI Animation & Functions

For the UI Part, I worked on the:
- Main Menu: Granting players access to Start the game, access the options menu, view the credit panel & quit the game. Also, the general layout design & all the UI animations.
- Setting Menu: Including Basic Accessibilities options such as Screen Resolution, Full-Screen Toggle, and Sound Adjustment.
For the other parts I worked on:
- Implementing Player movement
- Setting up character animation using built-in animation options & blend trees.

Image Gallery

Click to view Full-Size Image

Forest Invasion VR

Developed using UNITY

Solo Project

Project Link: https://lawless-heaven.itch.io/vr-solo-project

Video Presentation:

Technique Used:

  • C#

  • Post-Processing

  • Oculus Quest 2

  • Unity XR

Overview:

Forest Invasion VR is a VR Shooter game developed using Unity and Oculus Quest 2. In the game, you play as a magic knight in charge of defending the main gate from the invasion of forest creatures. Due to some unknown reason, they started attacking the kingdom. It would be best if you did not allow any creature into the gate behind you; shoot them up with magic weapons available around you and stop the invasion by any means necessary.

What I have completed:

Forest Invasion is a solo project I completed at The University of Baltimore. It was a great learning experience to develop a VR game using a VR headset, how UI worked in VR, and how to implement haptic feedback with Oculus Quest 2 controller. For the project, I have completed:
- 5 weapons, each with a different bullet, muzzle flash, and VFX.
- Timer .
- Post-processing feedback when player gets hurt.
- Player Health System.
- Player Score Keeper & High Score Keeper.
- Interactive UI Menu and Weapon Ammo display UI.
- Enemy Spawner.
- Simple Enemy AI nave mesh agent.

Weapons

VR UI

Screenshots:

Click to view Full-Size Image

Unity Custom Shader

Developed using UNITY

Solo Project

Video Presentation:

Burning Shader

Whirlpool Shader

Shine Shader

Overview:

All the shaders from this project are programmed with HLSL and developed using Unity.

Screenshots:

Projects

Bakusou Zombie

Developed Using Unity

University of Baltimore, 2023

Forest Invasion VR

Developed Using Unity

University of Baltimore, 2023

Custom Shader

Developed Using Unity

University of Baltimore, 2023

Bloom & Grows

Developed Using Unity

Global Game Jam, 2023

Sound Bar & Cubes

Developed Using Unity

Solo Project, 2023

Under the Bay

Developed Using Unity

University of Baltimore, 2022

Ballrun

Developed Using Unity

University of Baltimore, 2022

HWHAP

Developed Using Unity

University of Baltimore, 2022

One Way Out

Developed Using Unity

Montgomery College, 2021

If you are a robot you'll climb up

Developed Using Unity

Montgomery College, 2021

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