Mortal Kombat Onslaught

MortalKombat Onslaught is a strategic team-based collection RPG for mobile devices
While on the Onslaught team, I designed and implemented twelve characters using blueprint to create character abilities and features.
I combined character and prop animations with vfx and audio cues into UE4's montage system. I also spearheaded the research and integration of prop and animation systems designed to increase player interest on loss and victory.

If you'd like more specific information, please keep scrolling.

In Mortal Kombat Onslaught, all characters battle automatically but cycle between passive and active abilities. The higher the rarity of a character, the more abilities a kit has. Once enough energy is gained through kombat, ultimate abilities are activated and aimed by the player to create player-driven moments of gameplay that turn the tide of the fight.

Here are some highlights of the characters I've designed and implemented:

Arktica Sub-Zero (5-Star)

This special variant of SubZero was the poster child for a new PvP meta team we were creating. The focus was on creating more interesting meta directions than just damage. So Arktica Sub-Zero specializes in draining opponents' energy to delay their ultimate use and intercepting damage that would hit nearby allies, and taking it himself.

NoobSaibot (4-Star)

The biggest challenge for Noob was creating a summonable character that pulls from the primary characters stats while operating independently one spawned in.

Black Dragon: Firestarter (3-Star)

For this character, I created a new debuff and an enhanced version of an existing DOT that synergized together:
Greased, which slows attack speed, and GreaseBurn, which doubles the DOT tick rate of fire attacks.

Kung Lao (3-Star)

Designed as a tank that dodges attacks instead of taking a lot of damage, the biggest challenge was timing attack sequences so Kung Lao could dodge and return without breaking the combat sequence. Kung Lao also had enhanced versions of his abilities that we locked behind certain level requirements.

Curious about the remaining characters? Feel free to ask me in an interview.

Relics function as an amped up item that adds an entirely new passive ability to the equipped character. Most relics had direct synergies with specific factions or character classes. Below are some notable Relics I implemented.

SuperStar Boom Mic (Epic)

This Relic boosts stats depending on the number of other Special Forces teammates that are part of the  team and doubles that boost if the teammates are a Sonya Blade type character. Has a chance to apply a random debuff to an enemy from a unique pool when triggered. My main goal with this relic was to create something that captured the showboat energy of Johnny Cage while incentivising players to incorporate more of our Special forces roster.

Datusha Kris (Rare)

Wielder's basic attacks ignore a percentage of defense and deal extra damage. The focus of this design was to give players a choice for higher frequency, higher damage, especially for assassin class characters

Kirehashi Blade (Rare)

Provides a stacking critical chance buff after winning initiative (Speed stat comparison when encountering new enemies). With this relic we wanted a relic players would want to use in our wave-based modes so I added the stacking buff to increase damage output the more new enemies a character encounters.

Montages

Characters in MK:O animate off of UE4 montages. Every recycled or mocapped animation had to be requested from our animation team. Once in engine it was the job of designers such as myself to keyframe props, vfx, sfx, and gameplay triggers to each animation in game. This required a lot of back and forth with artists and designers to make sure moves were hitting with enough impact for several different rigs. At minimum every new character would require 10 animation montages which were hooked up to character abilities via blueprint

VFX

I collaborated heavily with our VFX artist to create modular effects we could apply to several characters to improve performance. Visual clarity was essential for the gameplay experience, so several iterations were performed to make sure information was delivered to players effectively.

Prop Physics

I was the primary designer on a subsystem of prop physics designed to make cutting down hordes of enemies more satisfying. I created a system with support from our engineers to have selected props ragdoll on death. After several weeks of refinement, we furthered the system to support more realistic physics to fit the tone of the game and coupled it with slow-motion modifiers on the finishing blow of a level.