This post is WIP, come back in a byte.

About

As I read Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy (Era 1, no spoilers please) I kept thinking that the combat and magic parkour scenes using its magic system, Allomancy, sounded like an amazing concept for a 2D Action Side-scroller. So I decided to prototype it.

My goal was to translate the magic system's powers in a faithful enough way that understanding it could serve as progression in the game, mimicking the way it serves to understand the actual events of the novels as you're reading them. All this, without sacrificing the fast-paced action presented in the books.

So far the prototype only includes the more platforming-specific powers, but designed with consideration for the inputs needed to eventually add the other elements and their respective powers.

Features

• Montage-driven action system for quick iteration.
• Coin throwing, pick-up and inventory.
• Fully comprehensive iron/steel push/pull mechanics.
  • Blue lines highlight nearby metals.
  • Player can push or pull any metal object in the level, the weight relationship and ability to move of the targeted metal defines the result of the push.
  • Affordances built into each mechanic for ease-of-use while keeping the gameplay dynamic (this took the most iteration). For example:
    • Aiming and throwing a coin temporarily disables gravity to keep dash path predictable uppon initiating the throw mechanic, allowing time to push the coin.
    • Pushing a coin checks if there's a nearby surface it can stick to, allowing the player to still dash away if the coin wasn't already all the way stuck at a surface.
    • Coins freeze for a moment after hitting a wall, giving players time to push off of them.
    • etc.
• Basic Locomotion
  • Running, jumping...
• Ledge Hop
  • If the player barely misses a ledge, the character detects it and leaps over it, reducing the need for precision and allowing more dynamic platforming.
• Pole Stand
  • If the player lands near/on a thin pole or level element, it is detected and the player sticks on top of it, facilitating landing on precise targets.
• Basic Camera
  • Inspired by Metroid Dread's camera, it follows the player ahead of where they are running, further the faster they are moving, allowing more space and therefor time to react to the new environment as they quickly progress through the space.

About

"unBEATable" was a portfolio project developed by a group of my colleagues from u-tad's Game Design and Game Programing master's shortly after we graduated. At its core, "unBEATable" explored turning hack 'n slash combat into a rhythm game, turning every combat into a pseudo-turnbased pattern memorization and reaction game at the beat of an original soundtrack.

Contributions

• Beat System
  • Worked with the team's other designer and programmers to design the underlaying beat system that the whole game would be built on.
  • Every action would be buffered and executed on beat, using fmod events to ensure the game would stay in sync throughout.
  • Time windows would define the "quality" of the timing, and an affordance was given for a slight late hit, keeping everything parametric to allow fine tuning.
  • Every action and gameplay feature could reference the BPM, signature and measure of the currently playing song to scale accordingly.
    • Every action and gameplay feature was measured in beats (e.g. An enemy's anticipation may last 2 beats for a strong attack, this would scale with the song).
• Core Movement
  • Implemented the player's core movement using UE4's movement component.
  • Designed and implemented the Jump and Dash mechanics to work around the beat-based gameplay.
• Art & Tech Art
  • Built hologram shader for on-beat effects and world dressing.
  • Built a tri-planar projection "display" shader that allowed for on-beat visuals espacially y alligned across displays decorating the level.
  • Stablished a paragon-style material pipeline for cheap, quick iteration.