Cosmosis
Overview
You’re an apprentice mage, sent on your final trial.
Sent into the void, you must defeat the demon lord inside using your magical grapple, and even the voids own power.
Language
C#
Duration
6 Months
Team Size
9
Platform
Windows
Engine
Unity
Role
Producer, Mechanic Design, Level Design
Game Play Video
Detailed Info
Level Layout
Production Details
This was the final project for my game design course that took place over 7 months.
Our goal from the beginning was to make a game with few mechanics and a small area to focus on quality over quantity, being essentially a vertical slice of what could possibly of been a bigger game.
This was still a difficult task as the type of game we chose had a lot of complicated mechanics and design choices that took a lot of time to work on.
Core Pillars
At the start of the project the team worked out some core pillars to design our game around and to make these pillars as strong as possible. We ended up on three.
1. Movement - Dynamic movement that gives the player the ability to easily get around in the game.
2. Combat - Engaging combat that worked well with the players movement, encouraging them to constantly be moving.
3. Mastery - A game that is difficult at the start, but gets easier and better the longer you play and master the player controller.
Level Design
The level design for this was very challenging.
Our lead programmer finished a prototype of the player controller early on, which allowed testing of the level early on in development.
From the start I had a basic idea of the lay out but struggled early on to create an area that was fun to swing around. Eventually I ended up on the small glowing rocks to float around for the player to swing off, but it was difficult to place them around without the area feeling cluttered.
We added floating platforms to give the player some rest time during the combat, and the chains where an addition later on to have something else to swing off and give a the feeling of a prison.
Overall this made the game play more fun, but the level lost a lot of its composition and from afar it looks a bit messy. If I would do it again I would make the area leading up to the main area less cluttered, and use the broken environment models to lead up to the arena with the intact, tall pillars.
The hardest part was teaching the player the mechanics before the boss fight, as we where treating this like a vertical slice there was a lot for the player to learn. Creating a small tutorial like section before the boss to let the player learn how to swing properly, while also introducing the beam attack. I also placed a statue of the boss early in the level that teaches the player how to rip the heart out from the boss.
Player Feedback
The thing that we tested and improved on the most throughout the entire project was player feedback. We noticed early on that it was difficult for the player to notice when they had latched on to something so we added some screen shake, particles and sound effects. We improved the crosshair, letting the player know when they where in range.
We required the use of a lot of particle effects in the game to help the player know when certain abilities hit and where effective.
Level Design
Design the level layout
Organised testing throughout the project to get feedback and implement changes based on feedback
Set dress the game, aiming to help guide the player.
Mechanic Design
Concept, design, test and balance the player controller
Concept, design, test and balance the boss attacks
Work together with the lead programmer throughout the project to iterate and polish.
Production
Set up documentation for the project.
Set up Hack n Plan task tracking to keep the project on track
Work closely with each team member to keep them motivated
Decide on cuts that need to be made after talking with the team when we fall off schedule.
Playtesting, feedback and iteration
Conduct tests with other students studying Game Design and Game Art.
Implement changes based on feedback.