Design Process

SACRED BLAZE - Tutorials don't need to suckRole: Creator

Video game tutorials are sometimes notorious for being a slog, too wordy, not having enough information, and many other things. I've always appreciated it when a game "did it right". I was given direct instructions on certain controls or moves and the levels eased me into using that action or even broadening my understanding of it's use.I'll use both Celeste and ULTRAKILL as references for good and direct tutorials that keep the player engaged while making them learn the foundations of the game and I'll show how I used similar methods in my tutorial level.

Here we see Celeste's climbing tutorial. The player is given exact instruction on how to use it and is then forced to use it twice in this screen to clear the challenge. Even having platforms below the climbable walls lowers the risk in experimenting with the action and reinforces that the player should climb when they see tall walls. It's minimal and unintrusive.ULTRAKILL on the other hand is very direct. But when a mechanic is so important, such as regaining health, or central to the theming of the game, giving a short and direct explanation can clear up any confusion the player might have if the text didn't exist. Here the player has to kill all the enemies using their only combat option at the moment, a melee attack, and through that action regains health. This repeated action reinforces that being in close combat is imperative to staying alive.

In my level, the player is given direct instruction on how to use gun abilities, the first one being a dash, to cross a gap.Once that has been established, the second image later on challenges players to then combine that knowledge of the dash with a jump to get past a larger gap.Finally, that concept is tested through multiple jump dashes to cross the various gaps to progress as shown in the final image. The idea that dashing can be used in various ways for traversal has been reinforced through the level design.Here, I gave players short and easy to understand instructions and created sections of the level to let them apply that newly gained knowledge to future platforming challenges. Many playtesters had no issues understanding the mechanics and noted how intuitive it was to learn.

And just when you thought you beat the level, there's a hidden challenge that flips all of what you learned on its head. How do you cross all those gaps without a single dash?
Try it for yourself using the link below :)

Level Design and Game Architecture - Final Project OverviewRole: Producer & Level Designer

In this course, we created weekly levels focused on vertical slices of concepts based on game design patterns that we identified and using fundamental principles of architecture to keep them focused and whole.- Used the floor plan to create the graybox in Unity

- Created more models
- New table design to fit the cyberpunk aesthetic
- First incorporation of central leaf design. Designed by artist and I.

- Echoed leaf design above the bar, on the pillars, and for the vases to keep the space grounded and whole
- Connected cubic chandeliers to the tables to indicate a place of social gathering
- Removed table plants as it crowded the table space- Balanced workload between members using a trello board (seen below)
- Applied time estimate and logged actual time spent on tasks
- Each of the four members would spend around 7-8 hours on average per week

Frogmageddon - Game Modes and Balance
Role: Lead Designer

After the success in the 2024 GMTK Game Jam as a Top 40 Most Rated game, we wanted to expand the gameplay variety through various game modes. As a designer, I needed the tools to quickly create and balance any game mode in a way that was scalable and easy to manage.The programmer and system designer created scriptable objects to store various aspects of a game mode and make it customizable for me to use.

- Enemy SO and Enemy SO List store a wave of snakes and a list of waves respectively- Since new players were struggling to survive, I balanced the beginning of the game to lower the initial amount of enemies and slowly increase the spawn rates as the player grows their army

Since our target audience was more casual to mid level, this helped keep players invested when we went to various events such as GDC and PAX East as they learned the ways of the frog.