Dogs Of War

Unreal Engine

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Dogs of War is an open-world survival game that pushes the boundaries of the genre with realistic survival mechanics, player-driven interactions, and emergent gameplay. Unlike traditional survival games with story-driven objectives, Dogs of War places players in an unforgiving world where the only goal is to survive as long as possible against relentless threats, including zombies, hostile players, and the environment itself.

What sets Dogs of War apart is its unique protagonist: players take on the role of a hybrid canine-human, a genetically engineered warrior built for combat. This distinctive approach blends the best of intense PVP combat with the immersive scavenging, crafting, and base-building elements seen in survival classics like DayZ and Rust.

Survival isn’t just about fighting off enemies; players must navigate a harsh, ever-changing landscape, contend with environmental hazards, and battle fierce wildlife. Whether raiding enemy camps for resources, reinforcing a base against intruders, or forming uneasy alliances with others, every decision shapes the player’s fate in this hostile world.

With its striking character designs, deep survival mechanics, and high-stakes PVP encounters, Dogs of War delivers a fresh and thrilling take on the genre, where adaptability, strategy, and raw combat prowess determine who thrives and who perishes.

Creating an immersive and expansive open world was a key focus in the development of Dogs of War. We crafted a massive 40km landscape consisting of four distinct islands, each featuring unique biomes, environmental challenges, and dynamic survival elements.

Our world began with Gaea, a powerful terrain generation tool, to sculpt a diverse and natural landmass complete with mountains, lakes, and winding rivers. Each of the four islands supports a variety of biomes, including:

• Grasslands – Lush, open areas filled with tall grass and scattered trees.
• Desert – Arid regions with sand dunes, dry riverbeds, and sparse vegetation.
• Forest – Dense woodlands teeming with trees, underbrush, and wildlife.
• Tundra – Cold, wind-swept plains with a mix of hardy vegetation.
• Snow – Frozen landscapes with thick snow cover and harsh conditions.

Once the heightmap was imported into Unreal Engine, we developed a custom auto-material system to bring the world to life. This system dynamically textures the terrain based on biome type while also supporting additional layers such as rocky rivers, roads, and mud.

To enhance realism and gameplay depth, we implemented a variety of interactive world elements:

• Surface-Based Interactions – Every terrain type includes physical surface data, allowing players to hear distinct footstep sounds depending on the material. Players also leave behind footprints, giving others clues about nearby activity.
• Biome-Specific Foliage – Using procedural generation, we spawn rocks, grass, plants, flowers, and debris appropriate to each biome.
• Resource Nodes – With Unreal Engine’s PCG (Procedural Content Generation) system, we spawn mining nodes, choppable trees, and collectible stones based on the terrain's biome and heightmap data.
• Scattered Loot & Points of Interest – Items and interactable objects are dynamically placed throughout the game, ensuring a fresh experience each playthrough.

Our world isn't just natural landscapes—towns, buildings, and settlements are also procedurally generated using PCG-driven construction systems.

• Each building is unique, using data asset tables to swap out window styles, room layouts, and item placements.
• Textures and materials adjust dynamically to fit the biome and town aesthetic, ensuring variety across settlements.
• PCG also enables us to manually place or paint splines to define roads, rivers, and other key landmarks.

With such a vast world and a small development team, PCG was crucial in streamlining content creation. To maximize efficiency, we built:

• A custom heightmap tool for non-destructive terrain editing, allowing easy modifications to elevation and topology.
• A manual & procedural PCG toolset for flexible world-building, including:
  • Spline-based road, lake, and river painting
  • Automated biome transitions
  • Dynamic audio placement along water bodies

Through a combination of Gaea-generated terrain, procedural generation, and custom toolsets, Dogs of War delivers a living, breathing world filled with emergent gameplay opportunities. Every biome, town, and environmental detail has been carefully crafted to create a dynamic and immersive survival experience.

The Dogs of War gameplay systems were designed to create an immersive and dynamic survival experience, blending deep player interaction with strategic mechanics. From survival essentials like inventory management, crafting, and base building to advanced systems for combat, AI, and procedural interaction, every system was carefully developed to enhance both PVE and PVP gameplay.

Core Survival System

• Inventory System: A fully networked inventory supporting drag and drop, stacking, and weight based limits for a realistic survival feel.
• Crafting System: Players can craft weapons, tools, and consumables using resources gathered in the world.
• Hotbar System: Quick-access slots for equipping weapons, tools, and consumables seamlessly.
• Building System: A modular building system enabling base construction, structural integrity mechanics, and upgrades.
• Loot chests & vendors: interactive containers for randomized loot and a vendor system for trading.
• Interaction System: context-sensitive interactions allow players to engage with the environment dynamically.

World Interaction

• Interactive Foliage: grass, bushes, and trees react to player movement, enhancing immersion.
• Choppable Trees & Mineable Rocks: Players can harvest wood, stone, and minerals, leaving behind physical remnants.
• Farming System: Players can grow crops and manage food production for long-term survival.
• Fishing System: A fully interactive fishing mechanic with biome-based fish species.
• Swimming System: Supports diving, stamina drain, and underwater effects.
• Footstep System: Surface-based audio feedback and footprint tracking to leave clues for other players.

Combat Systems

• Combat Framework: Supports melee, ranged, and weapon durability mechanics.
• Humanoid AI: AI with roaming, pathfinding, and aggression mechanics.
• Animal AI: Includes hunting, fleeing, and pack behaviors.
• Boss AI: High-threat enemies with unique attack patterns and abilities.
• Ragdoll System: Physics-based reactions for realistic combat deaths.

Character Systems

• Attribute Manager: Tracks health, stamina, hunger, thirst, and cold resistance.
• Respawn System: Customizable spawn logic for players after death.
• Equipment Manager: Handles armor, weapons, and clothing slots.
• Locomotion: Features sprinting, crouching, climbing, and vaulting.
• Voice Manager: Integrated proximity-based voice chat for in-game communication.

Networking

• Replication Subsystem: Ensures smooth server-client synchronization.
• Global Save System: persistent player progress, world state, and inventory across sessions.
• Party System: Allows players to form alliances and share objectives.

To support these complex gameplay mechanics, Dogs of War features a range of engine customization and utilities:

Framework

• AsyncMixin: Manages asynchronous loading operations.
• Gameplay Message Subsystem: Facilitates communication between unrelated gameplay objects.
• Replication Graph & Significance Manager: Optimizes networked entities for large-scale multiplayer.

Player Experience

• GameSettings: Allows customization of graphics, controls, and audio settings.
• Game Subtitles: Supports in-game subtitles for media playback.
• Menu & Gamepad System: Ensures seamless UI navigation across mouse/keyboard and controllers.

Performance

• Performance Tools: Debugging utilities for network traffic, FPS tracking, and load testing.
• Physics System: Custom collision channels and physical material properties for accurate environmental interactions.
• Replays & Debugging: Tools for game replays, cheat management, and AI debugging.

Torchlight was widely praised for its engaging gameplay, vibrant art direction, and smooth combat mechanics. The game was seen as a spiritual successor to Diablo, largely due to its development team consisting of ex-Blizzard North members. Its success led to the development of Torchlight II (2012) and later Torchlight III (2020).

My contributions during the early stages of Torchlight helped set the foundation for the franchise's success and established a solid technical framework for the studio's future projects. The game remains a fan favorite for ARPG enthusiasts and continues to be a benchmark for indie-developed hack-and-slash titles.

Dogs of War is an open-world survival game that pushes the boundaries of the genre with realistic survival mechanics, player-driven interactions, and emergent gameplay. Unlike traditional survival games with story-driven objectives, Dogs of War places players in an unforgiving world where the only goal is to survive as long as possible against relentless threats, including zombies, hostile players, and the environment itself.

What sets Dogs of War apart is its unique protagonist: players take on the role of a hybrid canine-human, a genetically engineered warrior built for combat. This distinctive approach blends the best of intense PVP combat with the immersive scavenging, crafting, and base-building elements seen in survival classics like DayZ and Rust.

Survival isn’t just about fighting off enemies; players must navigate a harsh, ever-changing landscape, contend with environmental hazards, and battle fierce wildlife. Whether raiding enemy camps for resources, reinforcing a base against intruders, or forming uneasy alliances with others, every decision shapes the player’s fate in this hostile world.

With its striking character designs, deep survival mechanics, and high-stakes PVP encounters, Dogs of War delivers a fresh and thrilling take on the genre, where adaptability, strategy, and raw combat prowess determine who thrives and who perishes.