Lenda do Carcará

Project overview

Lenda do Carcará is an action prototype developed in Unreal Engine 5 as a university project for the Serious Games and Simulations course at Instituto Metrópole Digital - UFRN.

The project explores combat and atmosphere through a setting inspired by Northeastern Brazilian culture, with references to the caatinga biome, regional identity, and local imagery.

Rather than presenting educational content through direct exposition, the prototype was designed as a serious game experience where cultural themes are expressed through environment, tone, context, and gameplay direction.

My role

I developed the prototype solo, working on game design, gameplay programming, level design, Unreal Engine systems integration, and publishing.

My responsibilities included:

• defining the action prototype concept;
• implementing movement and combat behavior;
• studying and applying Gameplay Ability System concepts;
• organizing the gameplay loop;
• creating the level structure;
• integrating assets and placeholder visuals;
• preparing the project for course evaluation;
• publishing the build on Itch.io.

Prototype goals

The goal of Lenda do Carcará was to build a playable action prototype that could connect combat mechanics with a regional cultural identity.

The project was influenced by action games such as God of War in terms of combat structure and presentation, while keeping a much smaller academic scope. The focus was to create a functional prototype that demonstrated movement, combat, and atmosphere rather than a full game.

What I learned

This project helped me understand how cultural themes can be integrated into a game beyond text or direct explanation.

It also changed the way I think about serious games. Before developing this prototype, I associated serious games mostly with educational or instructional formats. This project helped me see how serious games can also use tone, setting, mechanics, and audiovisual direction to communicate ideas in a more engaging way.

On the technical side, the project gave me practical experience applying Gameplay Ability System concepts in a personal prototype and adapting course knowledge into a playable deliverable.

Result

The final result is a short action prototype published on Itch.io as a PC build.

The project was useful as both a technical study and a design exercise, especially in combat implementation, scope control, and connecting gameplay with a cultural theme.

Future possibilities

In the future, the prototype could be expanded with new areas, enemies inspired by Brazilian folklore, creatures based on the caatinga biome, additional combat abilities, and a more refined visual direction.

For now, the project remains a compact university prototype and an important step in my exploration of action games with Brazilian cultural references.