Interview with student Jiří Vojtěch: Creating a Sailing System for Unreal Engine 5

Can you describe the project you worked on? 

Jiří: ‘I worked on a solo project for my block B year 2 assignment. The project brief was to select any game you like and replicate one of its features as with a tool for other game developers, and then present a pitch on how to approach the project along with some ideas and the feature's scope.’ 

‘I chose a pirate game as a reference, “Sea of Thieves”. I focused on the sailing system, including how the wind and sail usage affected the ship. The other students and I were very passionate about our projects because we picked games we enjoyed.’  

‘The end product was not a game but rather a tool for developers to incorporate into their games. It is easy to purchase and modify through the Unreal Engine marketplace, where developers can buy assets or packages to add to their games.’ 

Find the sailing system that Jiří build in the Unreal Engine marketplace: https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/sailing-system  

Can you tell us about the development process?  

Jiří: 'Initially, I had a project with a broad scope, but I had to narrow it down to make it more manageable. Once I had refined the project, I made sure that the tool would be user-friendly for others and considered scalability. I also took into account the developers' interactions with the system, created documentation to assist with its usage, and thought about how to integrate the water and boat components effectively.' 

'I collected feedback on my tool from other designer, artists and programmers trying to make the tool easy to use for them. This way I could iterate on it and make it easy to use' 

'After testing, I adjusted a couple of things to publish it in the Unreal Engine marketplace, and it's now completed. Perhaps I'll update it in the future.' 

'Publishing your work is crucial, and my system in the Unreal Engine marketplace serves as a portfolio piece for me. I've seen the projects of my classmates, and I am more than certain that they achieve the quality to be published as well. My advice? Publish your work. You will always find something that is not perfect on your project. Find a platform that works the best for your project and let the industry know that you exist.' 

What are your plans for the future? 

Jiří: 'To create tools or work on gameplay, with the ultimate goal of making games and being part of game development.' 

'I aspire to work for a triple A studio as a technical designer, as it is my dream job to be a game developer. I have no specific dream job in mind, but it would be awesome to work at a company like Rare (known from the game "Sea of Thieves").'