Multiplayer Dragon PvP Game - 1M+ Plays

Co-founded and helped develop a multiplayer dragon PvP game on Roblox that attracted over one million plays and fostered an active online community.

Quick Stats

  • 1M+ game plays

  • Revenue generated through in-game purchases

  • Co-founded and developed with a team of three creators

  • 1,000+ member Discord community

Project Overview

This project focused on creating a multiplayer dragon PvP experience where players could battle and explore within a shared online world based off the Wing of Fire book series. Developed by a small team, the game grew into a successful community-driven experience that reached over one million plays.

Throughout development, player feedback played an important role in shaping updates, balancing gameplay, and improving the overall experience. The project provided valuable insight into collaborative game development, community building, entrepreneurship, and creating engaging experiences for a large player base.

Software Used

Roblox Studio

Maya

Blender

ZBrush

Photoshop

My Roles

  • Co-founded the project and helped shape its overall vision and direction

  • Collaborated on game design, feature planning, and gameplay development

  • Created and refined 3D models, environments, and visual assets

  • Developed animations and contributed to the game's visual presentation

  • Assisted with world building and content creation throughout development

  • Participated in testing, balancing, and gameplay iteration

  • Created promotional artwork and marketing materials
    Managed and moderated the community Discord server

  • Engaged directly with players and gathered community feedback

  • Helped plan updates, events, and community engagement initiatives

  • Collaborated closely with teammates across all areas of development except programming

Process

Concept & Planning

The project began as a collaborative effort to create a multiplayer dragon PvP experience where players could explore, customize, and battle as dragons. During the early stages, our team focused on defining the game's core gameplay, visual style, and long-term vision.

Character & World Development

I contributed to the creation of dragons, environments, and visual assets used throughout the game. This involved creating 3D assets, rigging, animation, and refining visuals to fit the game's art direction while remaining optimized for real-time gameplay.

Originally I rigged within Roblox Studio, but I didn’t have much flexibility with skinned meshes.

I switched to rigging in Maya after finding a pipeline to bring rigs & animations into Roblox studio

Testing Hard Shading vs Soft Shading

Dragon model posing & renders in Maya

Planning accessory locations & attachment points, accessory modelling, and accessory testing.

Early map creation and testing

Final version of the map shape, and height map progress

Sky view of final map

At first, the foliage I made for was too detailed Roblox’s performance (see. leafy trees). I switched to simplifying complex shapes and adjusted texture workflows to balance quality and performance (see. evergreen trees).

Over one hundred in-game items

Gameplay Iteration & Testing

Once the core gameplay systems were in place, we began an internal alpha testing phase involving the three developers and a small group of trusted friends. This allowed us to identify major gameplay issues, balance concerns, and technical problems before expanding testing to a larger audience.

After the alpha phase, we launched a public beta testing program and invited players to apply for access. Selected testers joined a dedicated Discord server where they could play together, discuss features, submit bug reports, and provide feedback directly to the development team.

Over the course of a two-month beta period, player feedback helped shape gameplay improvements, balance adjustments, bug fixes, and quality-of-life updates before the game's public release.

Testing for lag with lots of players in one place, and lots of players with many items on the ground.

Making a game trailer together with our beta testers

Screenshots from the bug report channel in the beta tester Discord server

Alongside development, I helped manage and grow the game's Discord community, which became an important source of player feedback and engagement. Community discussions helped shape future updates and identify areas for improvement.

Community Building

Update Channel

Development Channel

Event Channel

Community Suggestion Channel

In addition to development, I played an active role in promoting the game leading up to its release. Leveraging my existing YouTube audience, I created several videos to build awareness and excitement within the community, including a sneak peek trailer, a launch trailer, and a behind-the-scenes development video.

The development video documented the project's journey from initial concepts to playable game, showcasing the creation of dragon models, development challenges, problem-solving processes, and the collaborative effort involved in bringing the project to life. These videos helped communicate the team's vision and provide transparency into the development process.

Alongside video content, I contributed to community engagement efforts through Discord announcements, updates, and player communication, helping maintain interest throughout development and leading up to release.

Marketing & Launch

Sneak peek trailer

Launch trailer

Behind-the-scenes development

Game Link
Player's Guide

Reflection

Co-founding and developing this project gave me firsthand experience balancing creative, technical, and community-focused responsibilities. Because I was involved in nearly every aspect of development outside of programming, I learned how interconnected different disciplines are within game production. The experience strengthened my ability to collaborate, manage long-term projects, and make decisions that supported both the game's vision and the needs of its players.