Perihelion

What it is

Perihelion is a rocket-engine simulation game I founded and lead at Tritium Softworks, a three-person team. It’s built in Unity with C#, with part data driven through JSON. A teammate owns the physics math and simulation model; I built the rest of the game around it.

What I worked on

• 3D modeling. I did all of the modeling in the game.
• Team lead. I set scope, plan milestones, and coordinate a team of 3 through to a Steam release.
• Data-driven content. Each part is designed to be as modular as possible. 1 main root class handles the entire part structure.
• Adaptation to input. Each player input makes a meaningful change to the engine’s output. Plume structure, output data, and failure rate all respond to even the most minuscule input.

Hardest problem

Attaching parts together was the biggest challenge this game faced. Initially, parts were setup for a drag and drop approach, with the hierarchy mainly contained in transform parenting. That started to break down once features like save/load were added, so I tore it down completely. I rebuilt it around a 2-click setup (one click to pick up, one to attach), with the data held in a list of Part classes designed for universal compatibility.

Results

166 wishlists ahead of release.