Game Overview
- Summary: 2D top-down action with a medieval setting
and a disturbing theme - Roles: Game Designer, Level Designer and Programmer
- Project Type: Academic
- Software: Unity
- Duration: Nov 2021 - April 2022
- Team Size: 3
Initially the idea was to create a very difficult game with a strong narration component. Unfortunately the project was downsized after the fourth team member decided to leave the academy and his narrative designer role. As result we decided to mainly focus on the combat gameplay, repurposing the narrative material to create a lore.
I designed most of the combat system, like the interaction between the various combat mechanics and the enemies behaviour. For example, I enhanced the fast-paced combat by increasing hit knockback, in order to force player to repositioning after each attack. I designed also the first game scenario as a sort of safe playground where players can experiment with game mechanics without being punished.
I wrote in C# most of the game scripts, excluding only part of the UI system. The most difficult challenge was to manage the hitboxes to make them match the animations. For example, the damage hitbox had to appear only at a certain point during the attack script.
The onboarding phase is crucial.
The combat was fun and compelling when we played it, but other players could not experience it to the fullest because we failed to teach properly how the combat mechanics worked.
Without the right HUD the player is lost.
We tried to make a diegetic health system, but the result was that players didn't understand when they were close to the Game Over.
Take into account unexpected problems during the developing time.