Einar - Design Vision Changes
This page contains a rework of the overal game design, that I did when I joined the project.
This page contains a rework of the overal game design, that I did when I joined the project.
Overview
Here follows a short version of the changes I made. The full presentation is included below that.
Upon joining the project after a semester of work, I received 2 major documents to help me understand the project: The Game Design Design and a Combat document.
Here follows a short version of the changes I made. The full presentation is included below that.
Upon joining the project after a semester of work, I received 2 major documents to help me understand the project: The Game Design Design and a Combat document.
The Problems:
- These 2 documents described a very different game vision from one another. The vision of the GDD described a fast-paced, hack and slash game. Combat flow was a core aspect. The combat document described a slow-paced, action game, that had a lot of similarities with Dark Souls. Slow, tactical gameplay was key as well as complex enemy designs with intricate behaviors.
- There are 3 fighting styles (God Modes) that Einar uses: fast attacks, heavy attacks and ranged attacks. The player could switch between these to choose what they wanted, but there wasn't any form of interplay between them, which stands in contrast with the combat flow mentioned earlier.
- These 2 documents described a very different game vision from one another. The vision of the GDD described a fast-paced, hack and slash game. Combat flow was a core aspect. The combat document described a slow-paced, action game, that had a lot of similarities with Dark Souls. Slow, tactical gameplay was key as well as complex enemy designs with intricate behaviors.
- There are 3 fighting styles (God Modes) that Einar uses: fast attacks, heavy attacks and ranged attacks. The player could switch between these to choose what they wanted, but there wasn't any form of interplay between them, which stands in contrast with the combat flow mentioned earlier.
Snippet from the full presentation describing the interplay problem
The Solution:
- Decided on 1 vision, which was the GDD's vision. That was the goal that the Team Lead wanted to achieve. This meant the game design had to be adapted to this specific vision.
- Each god mode has it's own defined strengths + weaknesses. The Heavy Mode is strong but only has a risky defensive roll. The Fast mode now has a shield, giving the player a safe defense mode, but it does reduce their damage output significantly. The Ranged mode has CQC quick attacks which stagger enemies and thus interrupt their attacks.
- Enemies received simplified behavior to fit the faster gameplay.
- Decided on 1 vision, which was the GDD's vision. That was the goal that the Team Lead wanted to achieve. This meant the game design had to be adapted to this specific vision.
- Each god mode has it's own defined strengths + weaknesses. The Heavy Mode is strong but only has a risky defensive roll. The Fast mode now has a shield, giving the player a safe defense mode, but it does reduce their damage output significantly. The Ranged mode has CQC quick attacks which stagger enemies and thus interrupt their attacks.
- Enemies received simplified behavior to fit the faster gameplay.
The new combat vision