PvPool

Physics & Player Mechanic Programmer

Made in Custom C++ Engine

About PvPool

PvPool is a Billiards-inspired rogue-lite developed by HopeCore as a year-long student project in a custom C++ ECS style game engine.

Evil pool balls have invaded your table! Take control of the situation by using a custom physics simulation to shoot your own pool balls to send enemies into the pockets. Beware, the evil pool balls grow in power and numbers every round, but so can you too! Spend earned cash at the shop to enchant your pool balls with special attributes and upgrade the stats of your team. Fight against the swarm and save your table!

My contribution

My main role on the team was Physics & Player Mechanic Programmer.

My responsibilities included:

  • Implementing the ECS structure of our custom C++ game engine

  • Creating the transform and physics components for our engine

  • Building the collision-handling framework of the engine

  • Using complex kinematics to engineer a semi-realistic Billiards physics simulation

  • Programming player input, selecting, and shooting mechanics

  • Collaborating with the developer of the particle system in our engine to create VFX for enchantments

  • Using FL Studio to produce the music and SFX

Takeaways

This project was my first deep-dive into using C++. This project was also one that had the most changes throughout its development, including a complete rework halfway through.

Although our team endured through multiple different weeks of crunch, I enjoyed programming the physics simulation and found it incredibly satisfying to see the math of Newtonian Kinematics come to life in our game.

I’m proud of the contributions I made for HopeCore to make our idea become a reality. I believe the product we made was genuinely fun, and watching play-testers replay the game after beating it filled me with a sense of accomplishment.