My Contributions
As the sole developer, I implemented:
Spherical Planet System - Custom gravity, camera orientation, and player movement that adapts to a globe where “down” is always at the core.
NASA ETOPO Integration - Python pipeline converting real-world elevation data into binary Unreal can read, bi-linear interpolation for smooth terrain
Truncated Cube Core - 14 face Archimedean solid geometry solving the convergence problem when players dig toward the planet center
Multiplayer Networking - Session hosting, player synchronization, and chunk replication across clients
Voxel Terrain Generation - Marching cubes mesh generation with chunk based loading/unloading around players
Hierarchical AI Pathfinding - Custom voxel based navigation system replacing traditional NavMesh for spherical terrain
This project is currently in development and represents my most technically ambitious work to date.
Technical Details
Built With:
Unreal Engine 5
C++ programming
Python (heightmap preprocessing)
Multiplayer Networking
NASA ETOPO 2022 Data
VoxelWorlds
A multiplayer voxel survival game set on a fully spherical planet using real NASA elevation data. Players explore, mine, and survive on actual Earth terrain wrapped around a globe with proper gravity and compass navigation.
Genre: Survival / Adventure
Platform: PC (Windows)
Engine: Unreal 5
Language: C++
Status: In Development “To Infinity and Beyond!”
Role: Solo Developer
Show Your Work
Loading Screen Games: While the world streams in, players get a small playable mini-game instead of staring at a bar. Built so loading never feels like dead time!
Player Controller & smooth animations: Character controller with blended movement animations that run, turn, and transition cleanly, paired with a custom camera that reorients to the sphere so "up" and the horizon stay correct anywhere on the planet.
Custom AI Pathing on sphere: 40 AI agents dropped onto the planet and navigating it at once, using my own voxel based pathfinding since NavMesh doesn't work on a sphere.
ETOPO Data using Python for Unreal integration: A Python pipeline that takes NASA ETOPO 2022 elevation data and converts it into a binary format Unreal reads to build the terrain.
Settings & Sounds: Full settings menu with audio controls, wired up so changes apply in real time and actually persist between sessions.
UI HUD with custom GRID chunk based system: In-game HUD that shows the chunk grid loading and unloading around the player, tied directly to the world streaming system.
The Foundation
Island Escape (Capstone Project)
VoxelWorlds grew from the technical systems I built for my capstone - a single-player voxel survival game featuring chunk-based terrain generation, procedural dungeons, and destructible environments. The core challenge of generating and managing voxel terrain at runtime became the foundation for VoxelWorlds' far more ambitious goal: wrapping that same technology around a sphere using real-world elevation data.
