Harvest Nuke
Game Overview:
Harvest Nuke is a post-apocalyptic farming simulation where radiation is both a resource and a curse. Players take on the role of a “Numan,” a survivor-turned-harvester who cultivates mutant crops and extracts energy from irradiated soil to rebuild what’s left of humanity. Balancing survival and industry, players battle hostile factions and manage dwindling purity as their harvests reshape the wasteland around them.
Engine: Unity
Platform: PC
Type: IP Jam
Team size: 5-8
Duration: 2 Weeks
Tools: Unity, GDocs, Github
Role: Technical Designer
Build: Itch.io
My contributions to the team:
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Designed and implemented a trigger-based dialogue interaction system that displays text UI when the player interacts with world objects to communicate objectives.
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Implemented a modular questing framework supporting Location, Collection, Kill, and NPC Interaction objectives to enable a wide variety of missions and level pacing.
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Implemented ScriptableObject-backed quest data so designers can author, tweak, and add quests without code changes, reducing handoffs and iteration time.
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Refactored enemy AI into a priority-driven behavior model to replace brittle pathing and ad-hoc decision logic, producing predictable, tunable enemy responses.
Snapshots
Gameplay & Features:
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Nuke ability Area damage that provokes enemies, so players can create risk/reward bait scenarios.
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Contextual dialogue + quest triggers, so players get immediate guidance at points of interest.
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Quest types, Location, Collection, Kill; NPC interaction, so designers craft diverse objective loops.
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Enemy behavior: Goal-priority targeting; aggro cooldowns — so AI decisions feel readable and fair.
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Design UX: Rapid tuning via inspector fields — so iteration velocity increases during QA.
Design & Development
Dialogue Interaction
I designed a raycast-based interaction system that casts from the center of the player’s screen. When it hits a valid object, a pop-up appears to prompt interaction. This approach keeps interactions intuitive and consistent across all interactables, setting a clear standard for how players engage with the world.
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Raycast detection from screen center
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Clean popup prompts for interactables
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Unified interaction logic across all objects
Quest Framework & Editor
I built a modular quest system that supports multiple objective types and a custom editor for streamlined designer workflows. This ensures quests are clear for players in-game and easy to author behind the scenes.
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Clear on-screen quest notifications when objectives begin
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Dynamic updates as objectives are completed or advanced
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Consistent UI placement for health, radiation, and quest text
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Immediate feedback when interacting with NPCs or world objects
Custom Quest Editor
The quest editor is a simple script I made that displays the correct variables for different types of quests, so you can dynamically click between them and see the requirements for the scriptable object.
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Supports multiple quest types with minimal setup
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Custom inspector fields for quest name, type, and requirements
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Linked follow-up quests for multi-step progression
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Dropdowns for resource types and objective categories
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Visual organization of quest chains to reduce confusion
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Designer-friendly workflow with minimal coding required
Enemy AI
The original enemy system was unreliable and difficult to tune, so I rebuilt it using a switch-case state machine. This gave me control over priority logic—whether enemies target objectives or the player—based on context. The refactor made enemy behavior predictable and responsive, supporting tactical gameplay like aggro manipulation through the nuke ability.
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Rebuilt pathfinding and targeting for smoother pursuit and fewer stuck states
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Priority-based decision flow between attacking objectives and chasing the player
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Enemies react to damage events, shifting aggro when hit by the nuke
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Clearer combat readability — enemies commit to chosen targets instead of erratic switching