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Michael Connelly
Technical Game Designer
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TECHNICAL DESIGN INTERNSHIP
Duration: June 2024 - August 2024
​As an intern working on Funcom's Conan Exiles’ new season, Age of Heroes, I contributed to various tasks in the Exiles Unreal Engine 4 editor, developing projects for the upcoming update.
MY TASKS:
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Created new AI logic
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Designed a new AI event system
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Programmed reusable functions
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Debugged assigned issues
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Used Funcom's in-house source control & Unreal Editor
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Developed AI behavior trees
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Created AI behavior tasks
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Modified NPC, Weapon, and Player Spreadsheets
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Pitched design ideas with the rest of the team for the next release
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implemented Exiles' new dialogue system
DISCLAIMER
The ideas and prototypes for Conan Exiles shown on my website were developed during my internship with Funcom, Inc. in the Summer of 2024. These features were not all included in the game's recent updates and are not currently planned for future inclusion. All content is for demonstration and educational purposes only. Funcom owns all rights to the game’s intellectual property.
TAVERN BAR FIGHTING
My main project was to create a new and unique mechanic in the game with the new Tavern Bar buildable just added in the last update. I came up with adding bar fight mechanics and AI events!
TAVERN BUILDABLE?
In short, the Tavern buildable can be placed by players, allowing NPCs to spawn, sit, drink, and hang out nearby. An example is on the right!
Below are me and my mentors whiteboard concept ideas to start the design process of the unique bar fight mechanic. I designed it to trigger randomly by NPC's, players, or a new NPC type—the 'Tavern Drunk'.
With the game being in a barbaric Conan-style world, bar fights seem to fit well!
PROTOTYPING
TAVERN NPC FIGHTING ISSUE
In Exiles, every NPC is assigned to a "tribe," causing endless attacking with each other if they aren't in the same tribe. Tavern Patron NPCs had combat disabled to ignore this system. If I just reenabled it, they'd attack everyone!
MY WORKAROUND
My task required working around the above NPC system, which hadn't been done before. I prototyped multiple ideas to maintain functionality without breaking other elements.
THE TAVERN "DRUNK"
I designed my new "Tavern Drunk" NPC to talk trash to players when near, provoking a fist fight! To the left I was debugging the AI logic.
MODIFYING PLAYER CALLS
Upon accepting the Drunken Patron's call, a fair bar fight wouldn’t involve weapons. I modified the main player’s class to auto dequip weapons and equip fists when the event triggers.
ADDING PLAYER CHOICE
What if the player wants to cheat the fist fight and use weapons? I solved this in the next section by creating the "Brawl Minigame." Want it to be more than a 1v1? Check the "Tavern Bar Fights" section!
WITH TIME, MORE IDEAS CAME TO BRING EVERYTHING TOGETHER!
THE BRAWL MINIGAME
THE RULES
Upon accepting the Tavern Drunk's brawl, as mentioned before, both pawns unequip weapons & use their fists!
WINNING THE GAME
I binded the Drunk Patron's health component on the event trigger to when it is less than 15%, they point at the player who he was targeting, say some rude dialogue, and or run away! This is through his custom Behavior Tree
BREAKING THE RULES
If the player wants to end the fight quickly or take it to a barbaric finish, they can. Equipping a weapon prompts the Drunk to shout and draw a broken bottle weapon, turning it into a fight to the death.
NOW WHAT IF PLAYERS HIT ANOTHER PATRON, ACCIDENTALLY OR ON PURPOSE?
FULL TAVERN BAR BRAWLING
ITS IN THE NAME
I added a 'brawling' subtree to the Tavern NPC's behavior tree and modified the Patron NPC's class and spreadsheet list. Never done before in Exiles, this allowed NPCs to fight—regardless of tribe—then calmly return to their seats once the fight is over, resetting to their Patron state as if nothing happened!
HOW DOES IT BEGIN?
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Randomly through a low chance timer that "increases aggression" in NPC's
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If a player attacks a non brawling Patron
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If an already brawling Patron punches another non brawling Patron
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If the "Tavern Drunk" Patron randomly pushes a non brawling Patron
GROWING THE FIGHT
As the fight progresses, I created the "Brawl Manager", an invisible actor that spawns at the start of a brawl expanding over time. Patrons within radius gain aggression eventually joining the fight and escalating chaos!
THE TAVERN DRUNK
When the Tavern Drunk spawns, he has two states: one being the 1v1 minigame shown earlier, and the other where he pesters other patrons, eventually pushing them and starting a fight!
ENDING THE FIGHT
I implemented two ways for fights to end. The first occurs after a random duration, usually a few minutes. The second triggers if a player or patron draws a weapon—after a few deaths, the patrons call it quits. When the fight ends, they laugh, chug beer, or cheer before returning to their seats.
REFERENCE LETTER
Below is a reference letter from my awesome mentor at Funcom, Robert Gaither, Senior Technical Designer. I’m beyond grateful to have learned from him and the company to gain insight in AAA game development , as well as his support in sharing this on my site and LinkedIn.
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