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Ascendant

PROJECT DETAILS

About the game

Ascendant is a stealth-action adventure game set in a dystopian cyberpunk city where mega-corporations rule with iron control. Players step into the role of a skilled operative tasked with infiltrating hostile districts, eliminating key targets, and dismantling corporate tyranny from within. Equipped with advanced abilities like grappling, teleportation, hacking, and invisibility, players must outsmart surveillance systems and execute missions with precision and strategy.
Each level challenges players to adapt — combining stealth, parkour, and tactical planning to survive in a city where every shadow hides danger. Ascendant delivers a high-stakes, atmospheric experience that rewards creativity, patience, and mastery of movement.

Development Time:

May 2022 - Jul 2023

Project Role:

Game Programmer/systems Designer

Project Details

TEAM SIZE:

6 (Alpha) | 2 (Launch)

Engine Used:

Unreal Engine 5.2

Genre:

Third Person Stealth Parkour

Platform:

PC

Tools Used:

UNREAL ENGINE 5 | Blueprints/C++ | Blender | GIT Version Control System
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP | Adobe ILLUSTRATOR | FIGMA | Adobe Audition
Confluence | TRELLO | DISCORD | Google Sheets | Google Docs

Gallery

MY ROLE

The project was developed under the mentorship of Gamer2Maker, using Unreal Engine 5, where I was responsible for both technical implementation and gameplay design direction.

Lead Developer

  • Established the game’s core framework in Unreal Engine 5, creating a modular architecture that supported stealth, parkour, and ability systems.

  • Designed the state machine system that handled transitions between gameplay states such as Idle, Dash, Grapple, Invisibility, Hacking, and Assassination.

  • Implemented key player movement systems, including wall climbing, sliding, and teleport dash, ensuring fluid traversal across the dystopian environment.

  • Built responsive enemy AI systems for patrolling, detection, and combat states using behavior trees and blackboards.

  • Optimized Blueprint code for performance and scalability, ensuring stable framerates during complex AI interactions and ability usage.

Game Designer

  • Authored the Game Design Document (GDD) outlining stealth, traversal, and enemy AI interactions, supported by mission design principles inspired by Metal Gear Solid and Dishonored.

  • Collaborated with the team to define core gameplay loops focused on infiltration, intel retrieval, and escape sequences.

  • Designed level objectives and mission triggers for the first playable prototype: Disable Alarms → Acquire Keycard → Access Terminal → Escape the Zone.

  • Defined difficulty scaling logic, ensuring enemy awareness and resource availability adjusted across districts.

Tools and Technologies

  • Unreal Engine 5 (Blueprints, State Machines, Behavior Trees)

  • Blender (Environment Block outs, Asset Integration)

  • GitHub (Version Control)

  • Confluence (Design Documentation)

  • Discord (Team Communication)

  • Figma & Illustrator + Photoshop (UI/Texture adjustments)

Concept Doc

Workflow Summary

  • Pre-Production: Defined narrative and stealth system flow → drafted GDD and technical documents.

  • Prototype Development: Built and tested core systems (state machine, AI, parkour).

  • Testing Phase: Iterated on level flow, alarm systems, and enemy AI behavior.

  • Look Dev & Lighting: Applied cyberpunk aesthetic and visual consistency.

  • Final Build Optimization: Debugged transitions, refined performance, prepared for playable demo.

GDD Document