Exorcism
Game Designer
Hectic Bite-Sized Twin Stick Shooter, where player life is constantly depleted at an increasing rate. Keep killing enemies and changing weapons to survive as things become more hectic and time alive less.
Big Text (P1)
Hectic/bite sized
Project Info
Genre: Arcade Twin Stick Shooter
Project Type: Solo
Timeline: 8 Weeks - 2023
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Key Responsibilities
Designed and Implemented: Core Gameplay Loop & Combat Dynamics.
Designed and Implemented: 3 Unique Enemies fulfilling different design intentions.
Designed and Implemented: Meta-Progression, reinforcing a Bite-Sized experience.
Designed and Implemented: Onboarding & Audio-Visual Communication.
Designed and Implemented: Local Multiplayer Mode.
Designed and implemented: UI/UX.
Core Game Loop
What
I produced the initial concept for a Twin Stick Shooter game, that merges Super Crate Box’s randomized weapons and arcade-like structure with the continuous action and health drain from Post Void, in a hectic and bite-sized format.
Gif of uninterrupted gameplay
The player constantly loses health. This is caused and scaled by a resource called “Exorcism”. This serves as a difficulty scaler, which also influences enemy spawning.
Killing enemies restores health but consumes limited ammo.
Kills in rapid succession reduce Exorcism slightly.
Weapon Crates provide a random weapon with full ammo while restoring health and increasing Exorcism.
Zubek / Onion / Types of Fun
*Chaos Crystals is the name given to the Weapon Crates.
{Talk about strongly intertwined loop?}
Early Design Breakdowns
Do the Work
The player performs 3 main Verbs: Shoot, Move, Dash.
Actions are kept simple to allow players to focus on positioning and moment-to-moment decision-making.
Tiny Title (H4)
How
I started with research, followed by creating a prototype in machination, breaking down the concept, and validating the loop for a rapid prototype implementation.
Gif of Early prototype
Early In-Engine Prototype
Machination has been a key tool to support the development of the core loop. It enabled me to visualize issues and connections within the tightly intertwined resource loop before the in-engine implementation, making iteration more nimble and time-effective.
It also served as a platform to test out the balancing and tuning of the systems, thanks to a clear visualization of the flow of resources.
Replace “Chaos Crystals” with “Weapon Crate”
Why
Player Experience
Hectic:
The player should constantly be on their toes, and be required to make split-second decisions.
Bite-Sized:
A round should not last more than 3 minutes, while still providing a meaningful experience to the player.
Kinds of Fun
Following the “8 Kinds of Fun,” these elements facilitated enjoyment:
- Challenge
- Sensation
- Fellowship
I used this to help understand the player’s motivation and narrow down the audience which provides a clearer picture of how “fun” is going to be delivered.
This helps as an additional guide for design decisions and prioritization.
The ever-depleting health system and all the interactions around it build a sense of insecurity and short-term objectives that create hectic game states where quick thinking is the only tool for a successful outcome.
Hectic Gameplay Gif
The difficulty scaling and progression are reminiscent of the balancing of classic arcade games, keeping the interaction loops concise and delivering the experience in a bite-sized format where the mechanics shine.
Hectic Gameplay Gif
Section Title (H1)
What/Why/How (Sub Title) (H2)
Standard Text (P2)
Tiny Title (H4)
Section Title (H1)
What/Why/How (Sub Title) (H2)
Standard Text (P2)