Swipe Out - Competitive Multiplayer Shooter
Co-founded indie game studio and served as Lead Game Developer for "Swipe Out", a competitive 3D multiplayer platformer shooter combining fast-paced gunplay with advanced parkour mechanics. Built complete game systems from scratch using Unity/C# and Unreal/C++, including AI behavior trees, procedural level generation, dynamic UI, and robust multiplayer networking. Architected authoritative server architecture using Photon Engine supporting 32 concurrent players per match with client-side prediction and lag compensation. Designed scalable backend infrastructure using Node.js, PostgreSQL, and Redis for player authentication, matchmaking, leaderboards, and persistent progression. Achieved 50K+ downloads across Steam and itch.io platforms with 4.2/5 average rating. Optimized game performance through custom event-driven architecture and object pooling, improving FPS by 35% from 40 to 60+ on mid-range hardware. Led agile team of 4 developers and 2 artists through 12 major content updates over 2-year development cycle.
Project Details
Key Features
- Authoritative multiplayer server architecture supporting 32 concurrent players with anti-cheat mechanisms
- Advanced parkour movement system with wall-running, double jumping, sliding, and momentum-based mechanics
- Client-side prediction with server reconciliation ensuring smooth gameplay on high-latency connections
- AI behavior trees for bot opponents with difficulty scaling and tactical decision-making
- Procedural level generation creating infinite unique map variations
- Weapon progression system with 15+ customizable guns featuring unique stats and upgrade paths
- Real-time matchmaking with skill-based rating (ELO) and balanced team composition
- Player progression system with XP, unlockables, and cosmetic customization
- In-game voice chat with spatial audio and push-to-talk
- Spectator mode with replay system and killcam highlights
- Cross-platform play between PC (Steam) and itch.io clients
- Comprehensive analytics tracking 50+ gameplay metrics for balance and engagement insights
Challenges
- Synchronizing fast-paced parkour movement across high-latency networks (100-300ms)
- Preventing cheating in client-authoritative physics while maintaining responsive gameplay
- Optimizing complex physics calculations for smooth 60 FPS on mid-range hardware
- Balancing weapon stats and movement mechanics based on player feedback and data
- Managing state consistency between 32 players with hundreds of networked objects
- Implementing fair matchmaking with limited player pool in indie game ecosystem
- Scaling dedicated game servers cost-effectively for peak concurrent players
- Debugging race conditions and state desync issues in multiplayer environments
Solutions
- Implemented authoritative server architecture with client-side prediction and lag compensation
- Built custom interpolation and extrapolation algorithms for smooth remote player movement
- Designed event-driven architecture with object pooling reducing garbage collection by 60%
- Optimized physics calculations using spatial partitioning and collision layers
- Created comprehensive telemetry system feeding A/B testing for weapon balance iterations
- Deployed containerized game servers on AWS EC2 with Kubernetes auto-scaling based on player demand
- Implemented server reconciliation detecting and correcting client prediction errors
- Built distributed tracing system for debugging networked gameplay issues
- Developed custom profiling tools identifying performance bottlenecks in real-time
- Established continuous feedback loop through Discord community with 2K+ members