Dillo’s Dilemma is a graduate Capstone project developed in Unreal Engine at the University of Central Florida’s Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (UCF FIEA). Built over two semesters by a team of 18 graduate students, the project brought together a multidisciplinary team of software engineers, technical designers, level designers, 3D artists, technical artists, and project leads. I served as the Lead Programmer, overseeing core systems development, tools, and team coordination on the engineering side.

The game is a physics-driven platformer starring Dillo, a heroic armadillo who uses rolling momentum and pinball-inspired mechanics to battle invading rats and rescue his kin. Players must strategically place interactive objects to keep Dillo’s speed high and clear out enemies in fortified rat strongholds. Between missions, Dillo explores a vibrant overworld filled with secrets and collectibles.

Role & Features Owned

• Lead Programmer

• Jenkins Integration

• Steam Pipe

• User facing level editor

• Network Multiplayer

• Pinball Object Interaction

• Spline bridging tool

• Developer menu

I designed and implemented our network architecture using a client-host model, with one player acting as the server. I networked the player controller and inventory system using Unreal Engine’s client-server RPCs, and integrated Steam Sockets to enable peer-to-peer connections without port forwarding.

Build Mode

This is a planning stage in our game, once the player enters a Fort they will be instructed on how to beat the fort and then presented with the Build Mode. Here the player can place intractable Pinball style objects around the map (Blinko’s)

I worked closely with the Tech Design team to define the correct mathematical approach for applying forces to our pinball-style objects, called Blinko’s. I implemented the Bumper Blinko, which applies a horizontal force along its local axis to the player. Additionally, I created an adjustable force curve system that lets designers set minimum and maximum force values and scale the force based on how many Blinko’s the player has hit within a recent time window.

Spline Bridging Tool

A Blueprint tool built using Unreal Engine’s spline system, actor instancing, and spline meshes. It allows designers to quickly create bridges and paths by placing instanced actors along a spline, with the option to generate a smooth collision surface using spline mesh components.

Developer Menu

A suite of in-game tools built to streamline development and debugging:

• Pause and resume gameplay

• Reset player position

• Reload the current map

• Load map list (generated at runtime)

• Visualize projectile paths for tuning and debugging

• Teleport system with map filtering

• Save local teleport points