This section of my portfolio is dedicated to current works in progress. Here I will be putting on display recent work and concepts I am trying out.
Chimera
Chimera is a endless runner with a twist that I have designed for the mobile platform. The player takes control of a robot (the chimera) and must use its abilities to traverse the hostile environment that surrounds it.
The twist comes in the form of the multiple abilities that the player will be able to use, these are:
-Charge / Jump
-Shield
-And Heal
Abilities have a global cooldown so you can only use one every three seconds. Player's must be careful in which ability they choose for the approaching situation, in most cases if you misjudge which ability you use; you will just loose a bit of health, but there are a few cases where it can cause the death of the character. Chimera is a fast paced game but those who are able to remain observant and keep a cool head will be the ones who score the highest points.
At first it may seem weird to have both a shield and a heal ability but they are both for different purposes. The shield will block incoming projectiles and will allow you to safely break through obstacles such as gates. Whereas the heal works as a heal over time, if you make a mistake during gameplay and take damage (which will happen) you can use this ability to slowly heal yourself back up. The danger of using the heal though comes from the global cooldown, if you rush to heal and then notice a fast approaching chasm; you will most likely plummet to your death. Healing allows for player's to make mistakes, but those who can better manage there resources will get the most out of this ability.
It is also worth mentioning this example to help give a better idea of how things work: Shield will break through a gate and will stop the Chimera taking damage but this will take longer to do, due to this the player could be pushed off screen or could be shot at by enemy units, these shots will affect the player if the shield runs out as soon as the gate is broken. The other option is to use the charge ability, the Chimera will then instantly break through the gate but will take damage in doing so; this will also allow it to travel a greater distance due to the speed.
Art: George Woodford, Pieter Jollans
Programming: Pieter Jollans
Design and Balancing: Aaron Moss
Note: This project came to a close at the start of the year.
The twist comes in the form of the multiple abilities that the player will be able to use, these are:
-Charge / Jump
-Shield
-And Heal
Abilities have a global cooldown so you can only use one every three seconds. Player's must be careful in which ability they choose for the approaching situation, in most cases if you misjudge which ability you use; you will just loose a bit of health, but there are a few cases where it can cause the death of the character. Chimera is a fast paced game but those who are able to remain observant and keep a cool head will be the ones who score the highest points.
At first it may seem weird to have both a shield and a heal ability but they are both for different purposes. The shield will block incoming projectiles and will allow you to safely break through obstacles such as gates. Whereas the heal works as a heal over time, if you make a mistake during gameplay and take damage (which will happen) you can use this ability to slowly heal yourself back up. The danger of using the heal though comes from the global cooldown, if you rush to heal and then notice a fast approaching chasm; you will most likely plummet to your death. Healing allows for player's to make mistakes, but those who can better manage there resources will get the most out of this ability.
It is also worth mentioning this example to help give a better idea of how things work: Shield will break through a gate and will stop the Chimera taking damage but this will take longer to do, due to this the player could be pushed off screen or could be shot at by enemy units, these shots will affect the player if the shield runs out as soon as the gate is broken. The other option is to use the charge ability, the Chimera will then instantly break through the gate but will take damage in doing so; this will also allow it to travel a greater distance due to the speed.
Art: George Woodford, Pieter Jollans
Programming: Pieter Jollans
Design and Balancing: Aaron Moss
Note: This project came to a close at the start of the year.
Hivemind
Overview
This game is a combination of a 2D brawler and a card game. Players will fight in the traditional brawler sense (think Samurai Gunn or Towerfall) but with the additional mechanic of using cards (such as buffs or re-equips). The point behind this is to add another layer of strategy and chaos to the brawler genre.
There isn't much of a story behind the game but to sum it up: Advanced insects are fighting to become the next leader of the "HiveMind"
This would be an online game.
Cards
Players will have decks of cards that they will setup in their own time via a card builder screen, when a match begins and they have selected their character; four random cards from their deck will be added to their hand. These cards will be mapped to the directional buttons on a controller for ease of use. It will be up to the player to remember what cards they have and when to best use them, as they can turn the tide of the battle if used correctly.
Character set-up
There will be a selection of characters for people to choose from; each character will have a modifiable equip load that can be used to tune the champion to your specifications; things such as weapons and armour will be changeable here (it is worth noting that equipment will also be dealt with in card format). One thing that will not be changeable will be the champions’ trait, such as; a hover ability or dual wield capability.
Levels
The levels within this game are fairly interesting as they are heavily based around environment interactions. For example; below you can see a level with a Venus flytrap located in the centre, this is the levels interaction as it is possible for players to be eaten by this plant. This will add a strong danger element to gameplay as it is something that people will always need to take note of.
As well as it having that dangerous function, its leaves serve as platforms for players to jump on. They aren’t just normal platforms though, they also increase characters jump height as they are fairly bouncy.
It's worth mentioning on-top of the prior statement, that they can possibly be the source of players demise; if someone is on a leaf when the interaction is triggered they will be stunned and then possibly eaten by the flytrap.
Other
Below you can also see two examples of buff cards (no text on them yet), these cards are:
"Eclipse"- The background grows dark making the other players stand out, while the person who activated this card becomes invisible for a small time period.
"Instant level interaction"- This one is fairly straightforward; instead of waiting for an interaction to activate you can instantly trigger it to occur.
Notes
I will be adding more to this concept in the near future, what I have currently posted is fairly vague as I intend for it to serve as a basic summary of the idea. There is currently a fair bit more written down on this concept but I have yet to go over its finer points; on-top of that I have yet to create any more art for this.
Side Note: As it currently stand this is a solo project
This game is a combination of a 2D brawler and a card game. Players will fight in the traditional brawler sense (think Samurai Gunn or Towerfall) but with the additional mechanic of using cards (such as buffs or re-equips). The point behind this is to add another layer of strategy and chaos to the brawler genre.
There isn't much of a story behind the game but to sum it up: Advanced insects are fighting to become the next leader of the "HiveMind"
This would be an online game.
Cards
Players will have decks of cards that they will setup in their own time via a card builder screen, when a match begins and they have selected their character; four random cards from their deck will be added to their hand. These cards will be mapped to the directional buttons on a controller for ease of use. It will be up to the player to remember what cards they have and when to best use them, as they can turn the tide of the battle if used correctly.
Character set-up
There will be a selection of characters for people to choose from; each character will have a modifiable equip load that can be used to tune the champion to your specifications; things such as weapons and armour will be changeable here (it is worth noting that equipment will also be dealt with in card format). One thing that will not be changeable will be the champions’ trait, such as; a hover ability or dual wield capability.
Levels
The levels within this game are fairly interesting as they are heavily based around environment interactions. For example; below you can see a level with a Venus flytrap located in the centre, this is the levels interaction as it is possible for players to be eaten by this plant. This will add a strong danger element to gameplay as it is something that people will always need to take note of.
As well as it having that dangerous function, its leaves serve as platforms for players to jump on. They aren’t just normal platforms though, they also increase characters jump height as they are fairly bouncy.
It's worth mentioning on-top of the prior statement, that they can possibly be the source of players demise; if someone is on a leaf when the interaction is triggered they will be stunned and then possibly eaten by the flytrap.
Other
Below you can also see two examples of buff cards (no text on them yet), these cards are:
"Eclipse"- The background grows dark making the other players stand out, while the person who activated this card becomes invisible for a small time period.
"Instant level interaction"- This one is fairly straightforward; instead of waiting for an interaction to activate you can instantly trigger it to occur.
Notes
I will be adding more to this concept in the near future, what I have currently posted is fairly vague as I intend for it to serve as a basic summary of the idea. There is currently a fair bit more written down on this concept but I have yet to go over its finer points; on-top of that I have yet to create any more art for this.
Side Note: As it currently stand this is a solo project
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