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Aariz Abdul

A solo 3D platformer sequel rebuilt from the ground up to improve on play. 

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Unity, C#, Unity Shadergraphs, Adobe Mixamo, Blender, GitHub, Audacity

Overview

  • A sequel to the first 3D platformer I built a year earlier. The goal was to take something I'd already made and build a better designed game.

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  • A full linear level with traversal, combat, enemy AI, and a multi-wave boss fight, released as downloadable Windows and Mac builds on itch.io.

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  • I owned everything: design, programming, character art, shaders, and polish.

Role & Impact

  • Solo developer covering gameplay programming, level design, 3D character art, and technical art.

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  • Used the original game as a benchmark: I identified what held it back and rebuilt with game feel as the top priority.

Problem

  • The first Marty Poppers worked, but it felt stiff. The camera was fixed, the hand-made animations were limited, combat options were thin, and the level didn't have a deliberate rhythm.

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  • A year later, with more experience, I could see that the issue wasn't missing content. The game just wasn't satisfying to control.

What I Built

  • Expanded moveset — Move, jump, glide, ground pound, spin attack, and an ultimate ability. I prioritized mechanics first so the core loop felt responsive before building content on top of it.

  • Character pipeline — Modeled, retopologized, textured, rigged, and weight painted 3 character models, then used Adobe Mixamo animations instead of hand-animating. This gave me much smoother animation than the first game and freed up time for gameplay.

  • Shaders & polish — Wrote a custom cel shader applied to every model and added outlines for a cohesive stylized look. I dedicated a full week only to polish, tuning how the game feels moment to moment. Used Post Processing to get colors and environments to pop out

  • Multi-wave boss fight — A full boss encounter structured in waves that tests the abilities the player has learned along the way.

  • Level design — Designed a full linear map around flow and pacing, using spikes, jump pads, doors and keys, heals, collectables, and checkpoints to control difficulty and give the player breathing room between challenges.

(Pre polish screenshot compared to cel shaded, outlined, and post processing global volume)

  • Enemy AI — Built enemies on NavMesh Agents with patrol, chase, and attack states, so they find and engage the player across the level.

Movement

Glide

Strike Attack

Ground Pound

Spin Attack

Ultimate

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Attack 1: Targeted Fist

Attack 2: Fist Barrage

Attack 3: Crow Summon

Damage Boss

Pre Polish

Post Polish

Improvements From Original

(UI Elements for Attacks)

  • Player-controlled camera — Added full camera control, one of the biggest improvements over the original's fixed camera.

  • Improved Handling — Recreated the controls to improve physics behind the umbrella mechanic, creating a more supported experience for the player.

  • Remodeled player — Created a new character model for the player that makes use of Adobe Mixamo animations for a more compelling experience.

What I learned:

Overall, this was an incredible insightful experience to see how much I can improve upon a project after a year of gaining more development practice. The biggest improvement I would say is on overall functionality and creating a useable experience for the player.

itch.io Page: https://aariz-crtl-06.itch.io/marty-poppers-2

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