To Hell and Back!
Experience a new take on the classic Resident Evil series in this Survival Horror Third Person Shooter. Stop the apocalypse brought on by zombies and save the world.
Team: Solo Project
Role: Game & Level Designer, Programmer, UI/UX Designer
Timeline: April 2022 – July 2022 (8 Weeks)
Tools Used: Unity Engine (C#), Adobe Photoshop, Mixamo, Sketchfab
Platform: Android
Project Goals
1. Designing multiple levels with carrying-over inventory.
2. Programming different types of AI crowds and zombies.
3. Creating quest lines to progress the story.
4. Maintaining a stable frame rate on the mobile platform.
Gameplay
Level Design
Core Design Challenges
The main challenges I faced during the level design process included:
1. Designing a way to carry over items to the next level.
2. Creating mission and quest lines in the game.
3. Ways to unlock new weapons in-game.
How did I tackle these challenges?
1. I created an inventory system that would carry over to each level as the player progressed through the game.
2. I added NPCs who, when interacted with, assign quests and, upon completion, reward the player with weapons and experience points.
3. Ammo boxes and treasure chests have been placed around the environment.
Early Footage
Environment Design
Game Design
Core Mechanics
1. Traversal
The game is developed for mobile devices, so I added on-screen controls for the player to move around the world. The basic buttons include:
1. Joystick to Move
2. Jumping
3. Camera Movement
4. Running
5. Inventory
6. Quest Book
7. Gun switch
8. Attack (Kick)
9. Pause Game
10. Aim & Shoot
2. Combat
During the early stages, I thought of ways I could make the combat feel more distinct. The solution I came up with was to give the player a tonne of guns and the ability to kick the AI/NPCs. The basic guns included are pistols, assault rifles, SMGs, and a flamethrower. Simply pressing a button would allow the player to aim or switch weapons. Ammo boxes were kept all throughout the environment for ease of play. As an easter egg, more like a throwback to one of my favourite games, Resident Evil 4, I added an attack button that would perform a kick similar to the one Leon did in that game.
3. AI/NPC
There are 3 types of AI in-game:
1. Crowd AI
Interacting with them could lead to quest lines, and attacking them would make them run away.
2. Zombie AI
They are in the environment and can bite you easily. Zombies can crawl or walk depending on their remaining body parts. They can be killed with a single headshot.
3. Monster Boss AI
Big monsters like wild mutts can attack you quickly unless killed. They sense danger and run away from the player.
4. Inventory
You can collect ammo and med kits to save in the inventory and progress with them to the next level. The inventory storage is unlimited, therefore the player does not have to worry about removing any items.
5. Game Progression
The progression system was a key part of the game that was hard for me to work on. I fixed this problem by adding a "days gone" system to the game. This system would work across levels, and the player would have to simply survive for a certain number of days to complete the level. I also added a "new level plus" feature that was similar to "new game plus," but the player would just start a day of the game again with all the items he had already collected.
Outcomes
What did I learn?
1. Developing a complete dialogue system with missions in-game.
2. Creating new input system mechanics with on-screen buttons.
3. Loading and saving inventory across multiple scenes.
4. Optimizing a game for mobile devices.
