Project Type:
Competition Placement:
Project Duration:
Primary Role(s):
Software Used:
Languages Used:
Competition - Solo Project
Finalist
3 Months
Designer, Programmer, UI Artist
Unreal Engine 5
Blueprints
About
Disorderly Combat is a First Person Movement Shooter about energy manipulation. This game was created for the Grad In Games 2023 'Search for a Star' competition. I am currently in the final with the winner to be announced during the summer. From the selections of briefs available, I picked the Design brief. This brief required participants to design, develop and prototype a unique mechanic. Entrants must submit a game design document detailing their core mechanic and must also create a prototype using the Unreal Engine. My mechanic was the 'Entropy System', a system that allowed players to absorb energy from their surroundings and to fire it back as 'Entropy Weapons'. This project served as a test for all the skills i picked up during my time studying BA Game Design
Disorderly Combat Mini-Trailer
Here is a short gameplay trailer I created to showcase the gameplay of Disorderly Combat!
Disorderly Combat Overview
Here is the submission video that explains Disorderly Combat in great detail!
Conceptualisation
Conceptualisation was the first stage of the project. In this stage I focused on developing the initial concept for the game's core mechanic.
The core mechanic I designed was called the "Entropy System", which is a mechanic that allows the player to manipulate energy around them. The player can use the "Entropy System" to absorb energy to refill their own, but they can also release this energy in the form of "Entropy Weapons".
During this stage I documented:
-
An Initial concept for the mechanic.
-
An Executive summary for the game.
-
A Core Loop for the mechanic.
-
Design pillars focusing on the mechanic.
-
A detailed description of the mechanic and its use cases.
Further Design
Further Design was the second stage of the project. In this stage I focused on fleshing out the "Entropy System".
I focused on designing objects that will interact with the "Entropy System" as well as interesting enemies that will test the players use of this core mechanic. I also designed a variety of "Entropy Weapons" that each have their own unique playstyle and feel.
During this stage I documented:
-
Detailed list of objects that will be found in a level, including obstacles and hazards.
-
Detailed design of various enemies.
-
Detailed design of different 'Entropy Weapons.
Numerical Design
During the "Further Design" stage, I decided to take everything I designed and created a numerical design document to help balance the values and stats of each object, enemy and "Entropy Weapon".
Numerical Design was useful as it helped me balance values such as "Entropy Weapon" damage and player speed. This proved even more useful once I reached the prototyping stage.
Level Design
Level Design was the third stage of the project. In this stage I focused on designing a level to showcase the full use of the "Entropy System"
The showcase level was split into paths and arenas, paths tested the player with movement challenges, while arenas tested the player with combat challenges. Each path would introduce new objects and enemies, with arenas containing multiple enemies.
I started by first creating level mockups in photoshop. I then created some greyboxed levels using the mock-ups as a basis.
UI Design
UI Design was the fourth design stage of the project. In this stage I focused designing the UI of Disorderly Combat.
It was important that the UI designed conveyed all information that the player needed to know, including the their total energy or the current Entropy Weapon held.
Like my approach to Level Design, I first did a UI mock-up in Photoshop. I then created a higher quality version using Photoshop.
Prototyping
Prototyping was the final stage of the project. In this stage I focused on implementing my design into Unreal Engine 5.
The prototyping stage lasted for four weeks. To help productivity I created a Trello board to track progress.
This prototype would showcase a small snippet of the various objects, hazards, enemies and "Entropy Weapons" I've designed.
