Design Iteration
Responsibilities
Arena Designing
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Brainstormed and designed various prototype
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Worked on City Level (Level 2) with 2 other designers
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Designed, worked, and iterated on City Level Section 1 (originated from the paper prototype) throughout the milestones
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Implemented the arenas in Unreal Engine using assets from artists and programmers, and adjusted through iteration
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Gameplay balancing including flow, pickups and cover placement
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Helped to adjust other sections in City level
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Playtested all the arenas
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Iterated the design based on player testers' feedback
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Reported bugs through JIRA
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Communicated with teammates and leads for potential solutions
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The arena focuses on creating circular flows for the player in the combat
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Created various path options available for the player at most moments, maximizing the potential of the player's move set (double jump and dash)
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E.g., Used jump pads to remove potential dead ends
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Used verticality to create multiple layers of the arena, creating interesting combat play and increasing the fun of letting the player "parkour" around the arena, allowing the player to reach any location in the arena smoothly
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Placed statues as high covers as well as landmarks
Environment Building
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Communicated with artists and used their assets to create and decorate the city
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Placed conveyance elements such as signs and lighting to improve player experience
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E.g., Placed the iconic clock tower and the long staircases, and adjusted their locations. Both act like a landmark to create an authoritarian atmosphere and help the player to navigate
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Combat Planning
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Used blueprints from programmers, such as spawn manager, group manager, wave manager, and other triggers, to set up the combat encounter
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Set up enemies to drop from airships, and land in proper positions
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Adjusted the amount, location and timing of enemies, and wave spawn to create tension and release
Game Researching
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Researched various games in the similar genre in early development
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Created a chart of various shooter games, and how various elements may affect pacing to determine the pacing for this game
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Created the spell chart for the game with various parameters to help balance the spells
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Created a list of various elements that make spellcasting fun for the player
Postmortem
Experimentation
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Used UE blueprint to implement and test out parallax with potential 2D background
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Used UE blueprint to create a simple jump pad for action block, which ends up in the game
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Experimented with setting up airships to loop around the city level, which makes the background more dynamic
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Used UE sequence to set up cutscenes for gate opening and airship arrival
Reporting
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Summarize and report daily progress of the group to the level design lead
What Went Well
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Steam Launch. The team was able to create a shippable game on Steam.
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Map Design. Levels look distinct from each other and fun in their own way.
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Spellcasting. Casting spells on enemies look cool and fun to toy with.
- Communication with Leads. Discussed issues and solutions with leads more often compared to the previous project, which increases the work efficiency
What Went Wrong
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Repetitive Works. Certain parts of the level are redone several times by multiple members of the group without much progress as the goal of the design changed frequently and eventually cut from the game.
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Fixated on Realism. While being authentic can attract certain players, the requirement creates both constraints in asset creation as well as level design, limiting what can be done.
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Cross-Discipline Communication. Different disciplines have different priorities, which sometimes creates conflicts in design.
Even Better If
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Cut Early. If any parts of the game did not work out and it is not a crucial part of the game, it should be cut as soon as possible rather than wasting too much time to salvage it.
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Set up priority. In early development, the team should discuss and come to an agreement on which the priority of the game should be: realism or gameplay, aesthetics or design. While those aspects do not have to conflict with each other. A priority helps the team to come up with the right decision if conflicts do occur.
Game Summary
Conjury Revell is a Spellcasting FPS for PC set in a Steampunk world. Traverse through different environments and using your arsenal of spells to create mayhem on enemies!