OVERVIEW
Project Summon is a couch co-op hack and slash game where you and up to 3 other players fight waves of deadly foes in order to escape a dangerous research facility. All of the combat in the game takes place on a central platform which rises as the game moves between its 3 levels, seamlessly loading and unloading to allow for maximum detail while preserving the game's performance.
The game was made by me and one other person over the course of a few months.
Development
Jan 2026 - June 2026
Completion Date
June 13th 2026
Game Engine
Unreal Engine 5
Platform
PC
Roles
Environment Artist, Designer
Tools I Used
Blender, Unreal Engine 5, Substance Painter
About
Project Summon throws players into a hectic fighting arena giving the player minimal downtime between the game's bursts of intense action. Project Summon is playable by 1 or up to 4 players simultaneously on controllers or keyboards. The game does not use split screen, instead the game's camera expands and contracts following the players as they move closer or farther apart. Since the game takes place entirely on a moving platform this works excellently for the game.
The game was made by me and my friend over the course of two months. While we did have some help on the game's music and game cover art, and the playable characters 3D models, the rest of the game was created by the two of us.
If a player dies (which happens often) the other remaining players must collect data points, which are dropped by enemies upon killing them, if players earn enough data points they can respawn their fallen companion.
Since the player does not control the game camera themselves, I had to pay close attention to the environment design. I structured the world to give it a sense of depth and visual interest without obscuring the players' vision or confusing them. I believe invisible barriers are really lame in video games, so the player is able to move off the platform at any time; however it will kill them. The game was designed to be easy to pick up and play without the need for any tutorial or on-screen UI. The ultimate goal was to have the game's information be delivered to the player in an entirely diegetic manner, but play testing showed that having zero on-screen guidance led to a worse experience compared to giving players minimal hints about their goal that pop up intermittently.
My Role
Main Roles:
Environment Artist, Level Designer, Technical Artist, Game Designer
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Created full asset pipeline from 3D modeling in Blender, texturing in Substance Painter, asset management in Google Drive to final implementation and setup in engine
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Created the game's artistic vision and visual style 3D modeling and textured 25+ game assets (environment assets and props)
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Laid out all environment asset and scene lighting along with various VFX effects to enhance game visuals
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Worked with the other developer on every part of the game's design, from core mechanics to camera behavior, music, narrative, and art direction
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Designed the game to be easily understandable and intuitive allowing players to pick-up-and-play with no tutorial and minimal UI
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Went for fully diegetic information delivery at first, then added minimal on-screen hints after playtesting showed that zero guidance made the experience worse
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Iterated on the environment layout continually based on play tester feedback