Forged In Flesh
In development
Summary
Originally prototyped in 3 days as a solo project. This project is a top-down, hack and slash game currently being developed as BigHog Arcade's second release title.
Details
Role:
Team Size:
Duration:
Engine:
Platform:
lead Designer/Developer
3
ongoing
Unreal Engine 5
Windows
Top-Down
Hack & Slash
Melee Combat
Role/Contributions
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Concept, Design & Prototype
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Movement & Combat System
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Enemy Wave Spawning
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Enemy Horde Behavior
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Art Direction, Materials & Shaders/Post Process
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Sound Design & Music
Design & Prototype
The original concept for this game came from a thought experiment about mobile game controls. I wanted to create an intuitive and satisfying input system using the familiar 'swipe' and 'tap' touchscreen interface.
I designed a hack and slash game based on this idea using some placeholder assets and a stylized shader I had already worked on.
After creating a quick prototype I realized that the same mechanics also worked perfectly with the 'drag' and 'click' mouse interface.
To complete the Basic prototype I added a simple enemy, a damage/hit-point system and destructible objects as well as environment props, visual FX and a combo counter.
The results were satisfying and the prototype felt like it had a lot of potential but without an objective it wasn't much of a game.
I created a simple game loop around the idea of wave based enemy spawning with high scores and combos. The players objective is to survive as long as they can in an attempt to set a new high score.
I also experimented with the idea of an endless, procedurally generated world but decided against it as the feature didn't add much to a game with limited exploration. After testing some different techniques I found that small, handcrafted levels generally worked best.
Horde Mechanics
The basic enemies are designed to move as a horde. To give the player a sense of power and physics, the enemies have a knockback feature that allows the player to push the crowd around with their attacks and movement.
The addition of a bigger enemy, that can't be knocked back, helps to break up the pacing and add some variation. We're planning on adding more unique enemy types for the demo.
Art Direction
The art style was inspired heavily by comic books & isometric RPGs, we want the overall look to invoke these two things.
I achieved the look primary with three methods.
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intentionally snappy animations with no blending
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Outline & Cel-shading post process shaders
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orthographic camera rendering
The aesthetic of the game itself is a mix of abstract sci-fi & dark fantasy elements.
The game is currently in active development and we're focused on iteration - improving the controls, combat & game-feel. One of my favorite new features is a cinematic kill-cam that momentarily changes the games perspective.
I pitched the idea to my team and we're working on it as our second release title.
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