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DEVELOPMENT INFO

  • Role: Gameplay Programmer/Level Designer

  • Game: Heart of The Incendium

  • Engine: Unity 2D

  • Genre: Puzzle/Platformer

  • Development Time: 3 months/2014

  • Game Type: Singleplayer

  • Team size: 5 developers

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Programmed main character’s mechanics/behaviors, in-game interface (HUD) and level-to-level transition, using C#

  • Designed and built levels: tutorial, one, three (from Paper design to RTM)

  • Created particle effects for main character actions and environment hazards

GAME OVERVIEW
Game Overview

Heart of The Incendium is a two-dimensional (2D) vertical platforming game, where players take role of Syberia, a winter witch, in her quest to obtain more power through the Dragon’s Heart, a magical treasure located at the top of the Incendium. Players must use Syberia’s ice magic to build their own path to the top of the tower by freezing enemies and using them as platforms.

GAME PILLARS

  • Build your own path: to empower players abilities with the ability to freeze enemies and turn them into platforms, delivering the satisfaction of building their own way to victory

  • Vertical Gameplay: to make sure that the moment-to-moment of gameplay is taking players to higher area, closer to the top of the tower, their ultimate goal 

  • Ice vs Fire: to establish a visual language in which ice/blue resonates with players positively, while fire/red represents hazards and danger

GALLERY
TASKS BREAKDOWN 
Tasks Breakdown

In Heart of The Incendium, as the team did not have any fully dedicated programmer, all the designers used their programming background to build the game. As such, I had two major roles: gameplay programmer and level designer. As a programmer, I implemented the main mechanics (Syberia’s moving and freezing abilities) along with the level HUD. I was also responsible for the level-to-level transition screen and its score system. As a level designer, I designed and built the tutorial, the first, and the third level of the game, from paper design to shippable quality, collaborating with teammates throughout the process to guarantee their quality. Moreover, along with the artists, I created particle effects for Syberia’s abilities and one of the environmental hazards.

PROGRAMMING
LEVEL DESIGN

To navigate in each session, click on the buttons below! 

PARTICLE EFFECTS

 

UNDER

CONSTRUCTION

 

 

LESSONS LEARNED

  • More content is not necessarily better

  • Do external playtesting more often

  • Prioritize features that resonate with the core mechanics

  • Time wastage on too much planning

  • Not seeing the big picture of playtest feedback

  • Struggled to unify different artistic styles

  • A very friendly and cooperative team culture

  • Fun and innovative core mechanic

  • Clear and functional pipeline communication

MINI POSTMORTEM 
WHAT WENT WELL
WHAT WENT WRONG
Mini Postmortem
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