Games and Emotion
Astora
July 2018 - November 2018
A frantic co-op boss brawling experience, where two players must synergise their unique abilities to slay the beast and save the town.
Over a development period of six months, my team and I produced a bite-sized and polished twin-stick experience that heavily emphasised cooperation and communication.
Designing a cooperative experience was the most challenging aspect throughout production – making sure that both players felt like their actions contributed to the overarching gameplay narrative.
From concept to product, the nature of character abilities – how they work in tandem with each other - was an ongoing process, and one of the most enjoyable aspects of development.
There was a moment during testing, where a pair of new players were figuring out the game – how to move, use their abilities and so on – and in an effort to avoid a particular boss move, they both spoke to each other, asking what each ability could do, thus successfully overcoming the attack. And it was in that moment that all my design work had felt validated. Just seeing them communicate strategy, confusion, awe, and satisfaction was so fulfilling.
Team
Jacob Sleiman
Game and UI / UX Designer
Jack Booker
Programmer
Christopher Murillo
Environment Artist
Geoffrey Cipriano
Character Artist
Designing the UI
Likewise, the UI was another ongoing process that I was responsible for. My intent with it was to provide a window into the game that was minimal but not too sparse – showing just enough information to the players for them to understand what to do and what they are able to do.
The UI went through numerous iterations, beginning as a player-attached system, wherein all the focus was directed to the middle of the screen, to the final, more traditional 'four corners' approach.
Below are screenshots of the layout and certain UI elements.
Click the picture for more details