HBAA Game Design project thesis, 2019, PC
"How might we make a combat game where the player doesn't attack?" was the design challenge our five-friend-strong team explored in the final eight months at Sheridan's Game Design program.
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In Shattered you play as Po, a one-armed monk whose commitment to peace won't stop him from protecting what he loves. After the temple's ceramics are possessed by an evil sorcerer, Po must leverage his acrobatic abilities to dodge and direct enemies' crushing abilities against themselves.
Showcased at:
Process
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During the project, my role moved fluidly from conceptualizing the broad-strokes design alongside my peers (apparently we're all 'closet appreciators' of Ming Dynasty ceramics) to implementing the nitty-gritty details which made the play come to life. As with most small teams, we wore many hats- most days mine was Developer or Designer.
We extensively prototyped and playtested the second-to-second experience, eventually finding the fun in a 'puzzle-arena' where players would manipulate living ceramics into destroying themselves using the environment.
We were very proud of the final in-engine look for Shattered!
Contributions​​​
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Developer, Designer
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Prototyped a variety of mechanics until we 'found the fun​'
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Developed fundamental systems incl. Shattering VFX, State Machine, Player Character, AI behaviours, Level-design editor tools based on team needs
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Pitched to dozens of industry guests and personnel
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Playtested and compiled external & internal feedback
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Planned daily, weekly workload using scrums
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Fostered positive, openly-communicative studio environment
Greybox, prototyping the player's locomotion abilities
Reception
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Shattered rose and earnestly met the question how might we make a combat game where the player doesn't attack? We were deeply pleased with the vertical slice we'd produced, and had opportunities to share our work at events in the Toronto games community:​​​
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2nd place in Canada-wide ESAC competition 2019.
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3rd place in art at Level Up 2019.
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3rd place in people's choice at Level Up 2019.
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Visited Ubisoft Toronto for a design feedback session.
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Visited Oakville's public library for a local arts showcase.
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What a blast! Love to my friends Jesse, Josh, Ian, and Nathan.
Thanks for reading :)
One of the key visuals that unified the vision!