Escalation

Introduction :

The Escalation project, undertaken in the 5th year at ICAN, aimed to create a hack’n slash game on the Unreal Engine 5. Within our team of three, I was responsible for game design and level design, with the mission to design a game level concluding with a Boss battle to be won by the player.
 

Project Context :

The project's development primarily took place at ICAN. Numerous meetings were organized to discuss different stages of the project, covering aspects such as art direction, design, programming, etc. Our professors played an essential role in guiding us throughout the development process, offering diverse perspectives to solve potential problems.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project Objective :

The project objectives were clear and focused on three main intentions:

Implementing fluid and dynamic gameplay mechanics to challenge the player's reflexes.

Integrating a system of evolving patterns increasing in complexity as the player progresses.

Ensuring a gradual learning curve with mobs possessing patterns similar to those of Bosses, providing players with a preview of upcoming challenges.

 

Respective Theses:
Within this project, each team member was tasked with addressing specific points related to their respective thesis topics. My own topic, "The Role of Frustration on Motivation in Games," explored Souls-like aspects with demanding and motivating challenges generated by opposing patterns.
The second axis, "Video Games as a Learning Source," implied that players should learn the patterns and behaviors of enemies, with a Boss featuring multiple phases offering new patterns and skills.
Lastly, the axis "Video Games and Health" addressed gaming as a study tool via neuroscience, with a hypothesis on improving concentration and spatial perception. Spatial logic exercises were planned before and after gameplay to assess any developments.
 

Project Description :

The player takes control of a humanoid avatar with several abilities, including a cone attack, thrust attack, heavy attack, and a dash with multiple charges. These abilities offer the player different strategies to defeat enemies and diversify their tactical approach. Each ability has its own personal and general cooldown time (CD and GCD difference), aiming to avoid a chaotic sequence of abilities, thus preserving the gaming experience in line with our intentions.

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Gameplay Experience:
Overall, the player faces increasingly powerful opponents throughout their adventure. Initially, opponents have a single ability, then two, and so on. The sub-boss's abilities, although more powerful, follow the same patterns as those of lesser opponents, allowing players to anticipate them. The learning curve follows a pyramidal model where each opponent introduces an ability that the player will encounter in more powerful enemies. The final opponent combines several sub-boss abilities, offering a unique challenge in each encounter.
If the current constraints of the prototype were surpassed, the idea would be to create three different wings (minions, lieutenant, sub-boss) with the same logic to provide the final opponent with a broader range of abilities. Introducing a talent tree and equipment system could diversify player strategies and tactics while maintaining the essence of the difficult game where each mistake is punitive. Thus, the game would remain a die-and-retry experience.

 

Enemies and Abilities :
Throughout the adventure, the player faces various enemies with multiple abilities and characteristics. To reinforce learning, each enemy's abilities and characteristics are found in more powerful enemies. This pattern aims to introduce players to different patterns and teach them how to counter them. Starting game enemies are weak, allowing players to make more mistakes before succumbing, fostering deeper learning. Each enemy has an invisible aggression zone around them. When the player enters this zone, enemies converge on them, triggering combat. If the player leaves this zone, enemies return to their original positions and regenerate their health.

 

Level Design :
The level design I developed aims to create progressive learning in players by dividing it into different sections. In the first section, located in the desert, the goal is to learn the minions' skills, their attack timings, and their patterns. This allows the player to understand when to counter-attack and when to use their various abilities. Since minions inflict little damage, the player has a greater learning margin, remaining in the game longer before being eliminated.
The first arena before the complex, introducing a Lieutenant, features a combination of patterns. The Lieutenant retains minion abilities with some variations. The Lieutenant also has unique abilities, renewing learning and creating a new challenge. The player must manage their windows of opportunity, timing, and adjust their strategy to defeat this opponent.

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Next, I introduce traps that will be combined with other opponents later. The second Lieutenant appears with a group of minions, presenting a different skill to renew learning once again. Finally, I combine traps with minions, then place the player in front of a corridor with new traps reintroduced during the sub-boss phase. Thus, the player has learned how these new traps work and must adapt to an opponent possessing all previously seen abilities, as well as a new one, and a combination of known enemies.
 

 

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Issues Encountered and Solutions Implemented :

Being our final project after five years of game design studies, we were able to apply our skills and habits to quickly design a functional game. Some minor organization issues emerged but were swiftly resolved by creating new methods to better organize our points and renderings.
 

Conclusion :
Escalation proved to be one of our most successful projects in terms of design and organization. We encountered very few problems at all levels. Production progressed smoothly, our project presentation at the defense was well-received, and we were able to evolve certain aspects of the design based on jury feedback.