Gameplay Engineer
Unity • C# • C++
A directional resistance system that made sword strikes feel lodged, weighty, and physically connected to the target.
Our design team's goal was to make weapon penetration feel substantial and slow instead of allowing the player to immediately repeat attacks. My goal was for the sword to remain embedded after impact, and lightly resist the player's attempt to pull it free.
The penetration system heavily relied on my custom centralized player-feedback pipeline to coordinate sound, visual effects, haptics, debris, and decals. Their creation and cleanup were all managed by this system, so every impact was delivered consistently, with full lifecycle peace of mind.
I dynamically adjusted pull-out resistance according to the direction and angle of the player's pull. Pulling back along a plausible exit path was easier than forcing the weapon sideways through the target.
The system was expanded so the player could even rotate the weapon while it remained embedded. This preserved physical interaction without locking the hand to a rigid awkward pose.
I developed the feature in close collaboration with the design and AI teams, then validated it on a basic enemy agent. The interaction was inspired by the weight and satisfaction of embedded weapons in The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, while remaining fully dynamic rather than relying on authored stab points.
The same approach was extended beyond stabbing into slash behavior and then connected to production AI. The result was a more expressive, systemic weapon interaction that worked across multiple attack types.