Lost Magic

Solo DigiPen project January - December 2022

Overview

Somewhat similar to Castlevania, Lost Magic is a 15-minute platformer with an emphasis on hack and slash combat and boss battles. The game allows players to tackle challenges by either platforming over them, or slashing down everything in their way with their sword. The most varied encounters are the game's boss battles, requiring the player to strategize in new ways and using the skills they learned throughout the adventure.

Lost Magic also has narrative components, featuring some basic character development, dialogue, and a narrative catharsis. The ultimate climax has the player's companion betray them and become the final boss, taking away the player's projectile attack. This possibility is foreshadowed throughout the adventure, and because of this boss battles are a large emphasis to sell the narrative climaxes of the game.

Skills Honed

Narrative

Unity

Encounter Design

Level Design

C#

UX

Gameplay Design

My Contributions

Designed 3 levels, each with player choice of method: platforming or engaging in combat.
Created 3 unique and challenging boss battles.
Designed 10 enemy types.
Provided players smooth-feeling controls with fast movement through roll and enemy jump off abilities.
Designed play for two playstyles: combative and platforming.
Fine-tuned quick and seamless slashing attack for use while moving.
Designed captivating narrative arc spanning 15 minutes of gameplay and resulting in catharsis.

The first level has the burden of teaching
the player the various mechanics of the
game. Planning to avoid unnecessary tutorial dialogue, I had it pop up only if the player actually fell into the pit. Those who successfully rolled over on their own were not burdened with the dialogue.

Avoiding unnecessary dialogue

Constantly teaching the player

With a playtime of only 15 minutes and many gameplay mechanics to introduce, the tutorialization should never really stop.

Design Work

Rather than having the companion character awkwardly describe controls in his dialogue, I simply had him describe the attack while a picture of the needed button showed up next to his dialogue. This method helped keep the narrative moving while simultaneously drawing much more attention to itself.

Instructing the player without breaking the fourth wall

Preparing the player for future encounters

I made use of expansions and evolutions in my level design so that the player would have an
idea of what was coming next, rather than merely a bunch of random obstacles placed one after
another. I would introduce something, then show marginally harder versions of it going forwards,
while mixing in additional elements.

Telegraphing new mechanics

As boss battles were the most impressive assets I produced for the game, it became important to design levels around mechanics to introduce boss fight mechanics. For example, because a primary attack of the final boss is making portals to summon enemies for quick destruction, I placed many portals in the previous level for the players to acquaint themselves with. In this way, players developed ways of dealing with portals successfully before encountering them in the final battle.

Recognizing the need to teach all techniques

Although the level 2 boss requires the player to run and attack simultaneously, many playtesters ran forwards into the boss hacking and slashing mindlessly since that method worked well previously. At first, I made the mistake of simply thinking these were bad players, only later realizing that I had never taught the behavior to defeat this boss encounter. When I showed players the required technique, they were able to beat it easily. Knowing that, I added battle tips in the dialogue as well as an earlier enemy
whose defeat required the same technique.

Post Mortem

The two playstyles of jumping and using the sword added variety to the game with multiple ways to play. Players can go riskier and attempt to jump over all enemies, or take the safe way of fighting everything one by one.
The boss encounters were very memorable for everyone who played them, especially with the design that went into the level sections before them.
Well paced and consistent narrative progression ended in a satisfying climax.

Some assets that were designed were never or barely used, such as some of the extra enemy types. It is fine that less worthy content didn't end up making the cut, but some of the enemy types were never really tried due to time constraints.
The game was not originally designed with the intention of being able to jump on enemies, meaning the functionality was added later. Designing it from the ground up would have made the mechanic be smoother.

Reducing difficulty when introducing new gameplay mechanics is important. Merely introducing something is enough to make it interesting when it's first shown; it doesn't need another gimmick on top of it. Allow the player to breathe and enjoy as they encounter new content.
Never assume that your player knows how to do something. Whenever possible, introduce the technique indirectly through gameplay preceding the event. Otherwise, teach the skill with a prompt after they have failed something.

Things that went right:

Things that went wrong:

What I've learned from this experience: