GOL RUSH

3D ARCADE / SPORTS

ROLE SOLE PROGRAMMER

ENGINE UNREAL ENGINE 5

PLATFORM PC

TEAM 2 DEVELOPERS

DEVELOPMENT JUL — NOV 2025

ABOUT THE PROJECT

TABLE FOOTBALL. REIMAGINED.

GOL RUSH is a 3D reinterpretation of classic table football developed in Unreal Engine 5. Designed as a local competitive experience, the project brings the precision, nostalgia and fast-paced nature of traditional foosball into a digital arcade game.

MY ROLE

SOLE PROGRAMMER.

I was responsible for the complete programming of GOL RUSH, including player controls, ball physics, goal and scoring systems, match flow, victory conditions, menu logic, camera, lighting and audio implementation. Visual design and artistic production were handled by my teammate, while game design decisions were made collaboratively.

PROGRAMMING

Complete implementation of gameplay systems, mechanics and game logic using Unreal Engine 5.

GAME DESIGN

Collaborative design of the gameplay rules, controls and overall competitive experience.

PROGRAMMING BREAKDOWN

THE MATCH. BUILT IN CODE.

PLAYER CONTROLS

Foosball bar movement and local player input implemented with joystick controls.

BALL PHYSICS

Physical ball behaviour and collision interactions designed for responsive table football gameplay.

GOAL & SCORE

Goal detection, scoreboard updates and automatic match reset after each goal.

MATCH FLOW

Core match logic and victory conditions based on each player's score.

Main menu flow and transition into the local competitive match.

PRESENTATION & AUDIO

Camera setup, lighting implementation and sound integration throughout the experience.

TECHNICAL CHALLENGES

PROBLEMS WORTH SOLVING.

Built in Unreal Engine, with the gameplay and physics logic written in Blueprints.

CHALLENGE 01

Two movements, one analog stick

PROBLEM: A real foosball rod moves in two ways at once: it slides across the table and spins to kick. Both have to come from a single controller.
SOLUTION: The analog stick's axes are mapped separately: one axis drives the rod's translation and the other sets the rotation angle of its players.
RESULT: Players slide and kick at the same time with one stick, close to the feel of a physical table.

CHALLENGE 02

A fast ball that never passes through the rods

PROBLEM: At high speed the ball can travel further than a rod's thickness in a single physics step and tunnel straight through it.
SOLUTION: Continuous Collision Detection (CCD) on the ball's sphere collider, plus physics sub-stepping so collisions are resolved in smaller steps than the frame time.
RESULT: Hard shots hit the rods consistently instead of ghosting through them.

CHALLENGE 03

Goal detection and a clean kickoff

PROBLEM: After a goal the match has to restart fairly, with no stray input and no leftover momentum.
SOLUTION: A trigger volume in each goal pauses player input, resets the ball to the centre of the field with zero velocity, and starts a timer that resumes play for the kickoff.
RESULT: Every point ends and restarts the same way, and the previous play can never leak into the next kickoff.

// Goal flow (Blueprint logic, summarized)
GoalTrigger.OnBeginOverlap(Ball)
    → Disable player input
    → Update scoreboard
    → Ball: move to centre, velocity = 0
    → Timer → Enable input → Kickoff

TEAM