I learned a lot and gained valuable experience in both design and art. The amount of time spent on arting the levels, even before testing, really put pressure on the importance of having a solid blockout from the start. One thing I wish I had done differently was having the courage to organize playtest sessions specifically for new blockouts. Making adjustments after the art pass was definitely more time-consuming, and cutting game modes along with maps wouldn’t have been as costly. On the upside, while I wasn’t very experienced in arting levels at first, I most definitely am now. That experience will come in handy in the future.

Working with inhouse engine proved to be a blessing and a curse when comparing to something like UE5. Especially in the early days even missing features like local/global orientation modes. But over time while working together with the engine team we were enabled to request new tools that sped up the worklfow, and with some UI adjustments these features really fell into place.

I am very grateful to the team, and overall, I think the game turned out great. The flow we achieved in the matches was exactly what we aimed for—giving the game a tense and fun competitive feel while providing players with opportunities for freedom of movement. Unfortunately, the release was disappointing, and in my humble opinion, this was partially due to tight timeframes and budget constraints. I believe that with a bit more polish and a tad more content, it could have been a gem.