DanielDanielDanielDaniel
The mind of a hacker in the zone; a FPS Roguelite where you have to clear a set of rooms to continue to the next floor.
1 Review
first-person shooter roguelite, where the player clears floors inside a surreal computer world. Progression is driven by buffs and mods that increase player power, while also introducing risk through an Overload system that makes the player more fragile the further they push their build.
I worked on this project primarily as Project Owner directing the idea, resolving issues when arose and controlling the scopeof the game, aswell as Gameplay Designer, focusing on the progression systems, buffs and mods, balancing, audio implementation, and iteration based on playtesting.
2 Process
I was in charge of the overload mechanic and the upgrade system, meaning i designed a list of buffs and modifications for the player character and consecuences for the choices via equipable mods and clear floor screen.
Buffs and mods were one of the core mechanics of the game and directly defined player playstyle. I designed an initial list of buffs and modifiers with the goal of encouraging different builds.
Throughout development, this list changed multiple times due to scope, balance needs, and time constraints, forcing me to scope down certain elements. I iterated on these systems frequently to ensure that choices felt meaningful without becoming overwhelming or breaking the difficulty curve.
2.1 Mods
Mods were equipable stats, skills, pasive or active, having some "weight" on your characters RAM, once passed the 100% threshold, you would encounter added difficulty in the levels, more mobs, disrupted visuals, etc. and you unlock them by collecting them during your runs.
2.2 Buffs
Buffs on the other hand were awarded to the player once every time they completed a level, vertically increasing your stats. with a small random chance to impact your Ram.
3 Overall
During this project I had to spend a noticeable amount of time dealing with team desicions and changes while I was also responsible for core mechanics for the game, spent most time theorizing and checking on every part of the game to be able to glue the pieces together, considering the reworks of the team and scope this was a very satisfying result for us.