Stray Blade - Game Design
Role Overview
Towards the end of 2022 I was promoted to Level & Game Designer from Level Designer and gained additional responsibilities. My main task in that department was going to be ownership over enemy encounters and enemy design iterations as well as ownership and balance of player weapons, which was split up between me and Alberto Paparella, a senior game designer. Further, leading up to the role change I informally overlapped with various game design tasks through my work in level design. Production circumstances lead me into many other additional areas of responsibility as well, which are expanded upon below.
Contributions Overview
- Player Weapon Design
- Attack iterations (Animation tuning, design iterations)
- Balance (Co-ownership with Alberto Paparella, Senior Game Designer)
- Feature implementation and scripting (special mechanics, shield block code fixes and modifications)
- Enemy Design
- Attack iterations (Animation tuning, design iterations)
- Balance (Co-ownership with Alberto Paparella, Senior Game Designer)
- Ownership over creature variants
- Attack design (planning new animations, modifying existing animations for new attacks, designing differences between variants)
- Alpha Zeerek (spider enemy): full concept, design and technical implementation of reinforcement call, a completely unique mechanic in Stray Blade
- Combat Rework
- Part of game design team taskforce planning and designing full combat rework
- Analysis of current system, design proposals for system changes
- Prototyping mechanic changes in engine for use in internal testing or hands on experience to weigh decisions
- Full analysis and categorization of all existing enemy attacks to find patterns for splitting attack types into a binary system
- Co-ownership with Alberto Paparella over system implementation and tuning until release
- Miscellaneous systems balance and tuning
- Leading up to release playtesting extensively with focus on overall balance
- Adjustments, balance and fixes for Skill Tree Upgrades, Rune System, Boji Abilities, Elemental Abilities, Experience, Mastery and probably other systems
- Cancelled Rune System Design Rework
- Analysis of rune system issues
- Initial proposal for changes, leading to being tasked to prepare a full pitch
- Full pitch proposing Rune System rework solving major issues with it, improving system cohesion and enhancing existing systems
- Cancelled due to production constraints
- Various scripting and prototyping contributions
- Implementing “Multiple loot object collector” allowing players to collect multiple loot pieces in a small area with one button press
- Prototyping ultimately not used camera POI focus feature similar to Naughty Dog games
- Various level design helpers and logic blueprints, maintaining and extending over the development with more growing need complexity