Out of Joint -- kinetic FPS with parallel realities

Take Quake and then gave the player the ability to slip in and out of different realities to gain advantage over enemies. Sort of like some concepts from Bioshock Infinite but in an unscripted, integral game mechanic.

My present purpose in working on this game is to learn (currently I am developing it as a college student for an independent study). That may change in the future, depending on how able and willing I am to follow this to an actual end. That being said, the idea is in abstraction currently. I hope to develop it according to wherever my current learning interests lie. Currently, I aim to learn about programming shaders and technical art design in Unreal Engine 4, coming from a 3D art background.

The utilization of my skills in 3D in game engines is sparse, so my process won't be driven by any planned or 'good' design until I really have my feet underneath me.

My short-term goal: Make a game that utilizes some sort of visually distinct and altogether different environments that I could craft using different materials and post-processing effects in Unreal. The different visuals will correspond to a different gameplay element or mechanic that will be later decided.

Long-term: I want to create a first person shooter that's got that nice early FPS feel. Lots of bunny-hopping, run-and-gun sort of gameplay (and as I like it, little plot). I'll be playing a lot of design decisions by ear, so with that in mind I'd also love to incorporate some roguelike elements on the macro design for this project.

With all of that established, I hope to learn a lot from the community. I'm currently a student and haven't worked in any professional setting, so I hope that there's a lot that I can glean from you folk.

If any of you just passing through see anything in my updates that contain some sort of misguided conception of mine or if you have any tutorials or resources I can consult, feel welcome to post. I'd love any input or advice that you're willing to give me.