The independent studio AdHoc, with a team of about 30 developers, created Dispatch, a narrative video game that mixes resource management with the superhero world. Inspired by the tone of comedy series like The Office, the game focuses on managing shifts in a dispatch center, answering calls, and deciding which hero to send on each mission. For this project, the team chose Unreal Engine 4.27 as their technological foundation.
Blueprints and a Fixed Setting: Keys to Development in a Small Team 🛠️
The decision to use Unreal Engine 4.27, and not migrate to UE5, was made to maintain stability. The Blueprints system proved essential, allowing designers and artists to collaborate directly on the game's logic without always depending on programmers. To control costs and complexity, the setting is a fixed location, similar to a sitcom. Even so, they imported selective functions from UE5, such as improvements to the user interface and controller support, to polish specific aspects.
Saving the World from a Cubicle, Without the Budget for UE5 😅
The true heroism in Dispatch isn't in flying or shooting rays, but in managing shifts with a living spreadsheet and deciding whether to send the guy who controls the weather or the one who lifts weights. The engine, faithful to its 4.27 version, demonstrates that sometimes innovation isn't about changing the number, but about using well what you have. After all, when your office is the epicenter of global catastrophes, the last thing you need is for the engine to decide to update itself.