Turn the Tides in this Original Computer Game
role
Team
4 Designers
4 programmers
timeline
3 months
Service
game Design
game description
Fight your way to the throne after Triton, ruler of the sea, mysteriously vanishes.
Armed solely with one spear, players must defeat a plethora of undersea opponents to claim the throne and unravel the mystery behind Triton’s disappearance. Check out the game here!
brainstorming
Building a computer game full of adventure and made for everyone!
During our research phase, we did a competitive analysis on games like Cuphead and ITTA to analyze level design, core game mechanics, and the overall player experience. My team's finalized game concept was a twist on traditional boss-rush and bullet-hell games, where players additionally had to focus on resource management and offensive styles.
game mechanics
We wanted to balance satisfying game progression with genre transforming mechanics.
In each level, the player initially spawns into bullet hell-esque gameplay, where they must avoid fish that foreshadow a boss’ mechanics. Once they navigate into the boss arena, the main boss will appear and the boss battle will begin.
Ammunition Collection
Our unique ammunition collection system consists of small fish that are originally enemy ammo! To collect ammunition, players must dash and skewer fish, which can then be launched at an enemy. However, if the player collides with a fish without dashing, they lose health. Additionally, this ammunition is finite, as they are only able to hold a limited number of fish at a time before they must fire.
Range and Melee Combat
While our core mechanic is collecting and shooting ammo for ranged attacks, players will also be able to attack any enemies within close range using a spearing mechanic. This additional attack style will allow players to do cost-benefit analysis on the reward of more potential damage given, accompanied by a greater risk of defeat.
nondigital prototype
Testing our game using discrete methodologies helped us find meaning behind player strategies.
We translated these ideas into a non-digital prototype to help test and analyze our core game mechanics for better playability. Each individual within the team created different level designs to breakdown player difficulties and game constraints.
key insights
Playtesting showed players were spontaneous in their decision making— and so, our game would be created to support them.
Here are some things we learned through out players:
Players plan ahead when forced or all else fails
Constraints should be evenly distributed
Bullet pattern foresight helps in decision making
Larger hitbox prevents enemy charging
level design
Our bullet pattern design process allowed for quick setup and customization of future levels.
When deciding the bullet patterns for each enemy amongst each level, we focused on three main forms. Rotationally symmetric, fixed angle, and aimed— with modifications such as arcs that can be added to each of these. Generally, patterns should be composed of some static and some aimed components as we introduce different types of both, as well as different combinations, to create interesting patterns and levels.
character design
I assisted the character design team in drawing and animating multiple characters within the game.
The environment, sprites, and assets of Seas the Throne will be pixel-art to replicate the retro feel of shoot-em up games like Space invaders. Here are some character designs that I helped animate through movement, attack sequences, and deaths.
ui design
As the sole UI designer, I developed an adaptable color palette and assets suitable for the changing backgrounds of the game.
Due to the environment's changing color palette- which is based on different ocean zones- the coloring for the in-game UI should have high contrast against the background. This means the UI assets will either be pure black or white, with an outline of the opposing color so the interface doesn’t blend into the scene. Simple, but bright colors will be used to add detail within the outlines of the boss and player health bars.
final game
Ready, set, play! — The award-winning game launched, and release was a success.
Seas the Throne debuted at the annual GDIAC (Game Design Initiative at Cornell University) showcase, where both web-based and mobile games from the semester's classes are played by the public. Our team won audience favorite within the web-based games! My team also went on to develop a mobile strategy game.
