Bet'N'Die
June 2022
Game/UI Programmer
Context
Bet’N’Die was my graduation project at Isart Digital.
It was developed on a custom version of Unreal Engine 4.26. We built this custom version to allow deployment on AWS, as our servers were hosted there thanks to a partnership between AWS and Isart Digital.
For version control, we used Perforce. The project was structured like a small studio production and lasted about 10 months, with clear milestones:
- POC
- 3C
- Alpha
- Beta
- Gold
Tech
- Unreal 4 - Engine
- C++ - Blueprint - Language
- Figma - Screen references
- Perforce - Versioning
- AWS - Servers
- Wwise - Sound Engine
Team
- Gameplay Programmers and Pitchers - Clément VIEILLY, Enguerran COBERT, Joël VOIGNIER
- Engine Programmers - Adel HALES, Baptiste RIMETZ, Nathan LEPEC, Théophile SCHAFFNER
- Music & Sound Design - Baptiste DENOUX, Mattéo SISCARO
- Game Design - Jean CHOUPAY, Jonathan BERGOZ, Martin ROSSEL, Natacha LEONARD
- Game Art - Edwin VORNG, Marion BLIN, Roman DUVIVIER, Victor LOPEZ, Zoë CHAPLAIN
- Producer - Tristan DEROCHE, Maxime PERRIN
- Voice Actors - Pierre-Alain de GARRIGUES (FR), Lemmy CONSTANTINE (EN)
- Musicians - Thilo GOLUZA (Piano / Keyboard), Régis MOREAU (Saxophone)
Screenshot
Trailer
Gameplay
The initial idea was to merge poker with a first-person shooter. Over time, the poker aspect faded, but the casino theme remained. In this game, simply eliminating opponents does not provide much reward; it is mainly a strategic way to slow opponents token progression.
The real key to victory lies in bets, such as:
- All opponents die within X time (kills from any player count).
- Find the watermelon: a watermelon spawns in the arena, and players must shoot it. Others can destroy it to force it to respawn elsewhere.
- And more…
To win, players must accumulate tokens and deposit them in the vault, a shared location accessible to all. Tokens kept in your pocket don’t count! But since the vault is a high-risk spot, eliminations there are frequent.
My Role
I was part of the team that originally pitched the project.
Between June and September 2021, we explored the idea of merging betting mechanics with FPS gameplay. Our USP (Unique Selling Point) became the Bet Shot, a feature allowing players to place bets during matches. I developed the prototype for the Bet Shot, which was later expanded by other programmers for networking and additional parameters.
At the same time, I was responsible for the game flow, including:
- From the main menu to the start of the match.
- Waiting for all players via networking.
- Lobby system.
- Triggering cinematics at the right time.
I also created our debug menu, a user-friendly alternative to console commands. This tool allowed us to restart matches, swap weapons, adjust runtime parameters, and more. It became widely used by the entire team, and I later reused some of its features in the final game options menu.
Most of my contribution was focused on menus and UI, such as:
- A fully 3D main menu.
- A Fortnite-style lobby.
- The betting machine interfaces.
- For UI, I worked closely with a small team of 3: an UI artist, an UX designer, and myself as the programmer.
Unfortunately, the game is no longer playable since the servers are no longer available.
Links
Conclusion
This project is still the most meaningful one for me.
It reminds me that my true goal is to create games as part of a team, not alone.
I also learned a lot about myself, especially how I communicate with others. My approach wasn’t always the best, but through this project, I learned to let go, trust my teammates, and collaborate more openly.
It wasn’t just a graduation project, it was a human experience that forged lasting friendships and taught me what true teamwork means.
Thank you to my team for believing in this project when we first pitched it, and for all the dedicated work we accomplished together.