Design breakdown

Nimble Hunter

One of the most important design aspect that I wanted to replicated from our references was the fluid player movement systems. It was very important that the player could roll out of any dangerous situation. It was also very important that the player could crouch in case for any instance that would require the player to do so. I accomplish this fluid movement by using a combinations of blueprints and animation montages.

Failed Ambushed

Another thing that I wanted to further develop was telling a narrative across the levels. In this level the player passes over a trigger box that alerts them that a combat section is coming up. Upon killing an enemy another dialogue box appears to show more of the connection between the two cultist. After the two cultist have been dealt with the player will find a note that will guide them to go back to the village. As the player progresses through the remaining levels they will notice that the tone of the conversations between the cult members will will gradually shift as they learn that capturing the player is proving more challenging than they would thought it would be.

Skilled marksman

When it came to developing the AI I wanted to improve their navigational skills and allow them to fight back. They use a combination of black boards, black board task, and blueprints to switch between states. Once they get into a range where they can attack the player they take a swing and at that point it’s up to the player to try and dodge the attack. The player can fight back by using throwing knives to inflict damage on the AI.

Learning to fly

When designing the grappling hook my thought process was very similar to how it was for Mardi Gras madness but there was a few changes that had to made due to the change of perspective. The most important change that had to be made was adding a little jump at the end of the transition. This was a needed change because the player wouldn’t always be able to clear a grapple point. Speaking of grapple points, the way that I approached them for this project was changed as well. Instead of using in game lighting to mark grapple points I opted for using UI elements that would highlight them for the player.

Close quarters

My thought process for the boss fight of this game was to repurpose the melee AI and tweak the values a bit to accommodate a tougher opponent. For instance the regular enemies move pretty quick and do little damage. For the boss I wanted the player to feel like this was tougher challenge with little room for error. I also wanted to fight to take in a enclosed area where the player could run into things if they weren’t careful.

A game design document can be found here