Deepcover
Deepcover is a mobile title created in collaboration with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a collective of universities around the United States called DART. The title offers a collection of engaging minigames while teaching players methods for detecting and avoiding common online scams.
“Deepcover is a fun collection of familiar puzzle games with an interesting story and a unique hidden agenda.”
Major Systems
Bit-Cipher
Similar to games like Candy Crush, Bit-Cipher is a Match 3 minigame featured in Deepcover that functions much the same way as other titles in the genre. Some of its custom features implemented include:
Story-driven tutorialization
Unique power up effects driven by the game’s “Secret Agent” themes
Optimization of Board Generation to support the post-story Endless Mode
Photo Mode
The Photo Mode feature allows users to generate their own images to save or share online. It allows users to:
Select any location background from across the application
Select, place, and resize assets from either a pool of stickers created for the feature, or from all of the characters available in the game, including the custom Player Character
Character Customization
The Character Customization system allows users to mix-and-match various cosmetics obtained via story progression or through store purchases. It allows the user to change not just their clothing, but also a variety of facial features. I designed and developed this system to:
Dynamically display cosmetics based on assigned body shape and skin tone
Filter and categorize over 2000 potential combinations
Communicate with the player in the event that specific items were incompatible with each other
UI Programming
There are a number of areas in the game where I took on a UI Programming role. These include:
Player Profile
Where the User can see their current rank in the game, their customized character, their name, and what agent they have assigned as their liason. This is also where they can access Character Customization, Agent Selection, and the other Profile pages: The Badges Menu the Enemy Lockup Menu
Agent Selection
Where the User could select their liason for the game. This agent is who would communicate with the player during dialogue moments. Selections on this screen were made available based off of player purchases and specialized codes input in the game’s store.
Badges Menu
The Badges Menu displayed the player’s progress within given dossiers. Depending on how well users performed in the given dossiers, different badges would be provided and would display here.
Enemy Lockup Menu
The Enemy Lockup Menu acted as a repository for all villains caught as the story progressed. It displayed any crimes committed by the specific perpetrator, as well as a counter to record player progress in Endless Mode following the completion of the original story.
Miscellaneous Responsibilities
Developing the Initial Application Framework
Incorporating a modular Video Player with a dynamic reward system
Responsive UI Implementation
Incorporating an accessibility-focused design on a system level
Working directly with QA to track and eliminate bugs as they occurred
Reevaluating resource optimization to account for older devices
Creating and maintaining a code system for users to input to unlock certain items as desired by the client.
Development
Team Size: 10 by initial project completion (2 Programmers, 3 Artists, 1 Designer, 1 Producer, 2 QA, 1 Accessibility/UX Specialist)
Status: Year One - Complete
Duration: 14 months (Oct 2022 - December 2023)
Engine: Unity
Platforms: Android and IOS
