To accommodate the focus of easy-in gameplay, the title became more Real-Time Action to demonstrate some of these Dungeon-style elements.
Luckily, this will allow an increased focus on game-feel (Gamepad), moving previous Virtual Controller (Mobile App) development to an optional connection type for user accessibility and increase the focus on Combat Design.
That said, it means I still had a limited amount of inputs to work with and had to design actions accordingly.
This change was aided by looking at other genres that tackle quick gauntlet-style gameplay in light sessions such as the isometric action title Hades (Supergiant Games, 2018) that uses simple mechanics to keep combat streamline and focused on the challenge prompted from surviving and replaying to overcome challenges by learning.
Where Traveller Kingdom's Co-Op formula came in more of a retro "Holy Trinity" format in RPGs for a DnD-familiar Target Audience (Tank hold Aggro, Healer casts Protection, DPS cause Damage), a more accessible title would favour neutral characters in combat for users to not damage filling roles prior to the session.
If Skills found randomly in a dungeon-crawl allowed users to sync their own playing styles during the session (e.g. finding a Bonus Shield skill), it should allow a more engaging party dynamic without destroying any solo experiences.
The article Rethinking the Trinity of MMO Design (Green, B,. 2009) on Gamasutra explores how to work above these restrictions in detail, and Why Synergies are the Secret to Slay the Spire’s Fun (Game Maker's Toolkit, 2019) also explains how simple rouge-like loops keep user retention due to not relying on a grand play-style e.g. the Healer and skill tree of Healer abilities, but instead has smaller flexible functions to mix in a session.
Dungeon Crawling
Where the more accessible Dungeon Crawl games are rouge in nature, the raw adventure experience is formed from basic goals to keep Players progressing with a challenge:
Find and defeat the main Target without running out of a limited resource (e.g. Time / Health Potions)
Death can reset content (enforce Player-strength over Avatar-strength/stats)
Item Bonuses can randomise (mix-up gameplay repetition)
If these elements are acknowledged in a simple room-by-room battle environment, building challenges for a Player or Team can be streamlined without direct influence on their play styles.
Having all players take a neutral-role, they'll be able to assign functions for themselves based on gear they find during a session; keeping things dynamic to avoid repetition.
If the Player understood they have to go through X numbers of rooms to reach the goal battle, they'd have agency to select what type of battle they'd like to undertake to adjust the rewards offered in the current session: a better Dodge if they can defeat 5 Monsters. Alternatively, a Shop appearing as a room will offer the same effect but through a down moment in gameplay. The challenge here comes in difficulty progression in a rogue environment. If a game over reset all data players would feel like there's been no progress due to high difficulty (rouge-like), and if each session strengthened the Avatar wildly to ease progression they'd lose satisfaction in the challenge and decrease the desire for multiplayer co-op due to skill uncertainty (rogue-lite).
As mentioned in Roguelikes, Persistency, and Progression (Game Maker's Toolkit, 2019), if the Dungeon however was the element to change to adjust the playstyles after numerous sessions, it'd hold better player retention due difficulty maintenance without progression loss.
This can be through simple cosmetic changes or chance-based adjustments (e.g. New Weapon type added to the game's next run, new Characters rearranging stats, etc), or sub goals to provide smaller accomplishments (e.g. Player didn't reach the goal, but earned an Item for later event).
To look back at the design, the loop would be like so:
Enter the battle gauntlet and aim for the final room
Collect Temporary Buffs (Skills) to better session progression, and find Key Items to maintain the feeling of progression if killed
Upon Death, Special Items gain narrative progress (e.g. Avatar adjustments) and reenter the gauntlet with more Player Knowledge and arrangements (not just raw Avatar Power from EXP)
Upon defeating the Boss, receive Key Item and reset title, with the current floor as a new Starting Point (checkpoint).
Even with the current UE4 iterations happening, it seems like a large task but easier to digest when broken into steps for a session for the EXPO. The focus will be on hitting enemies good and understanding the challenge at hand through attack-tells to allow Players to improve overtime, and from there I'll be adjusting mechanics to allow unlocks for the sake of Dungeon progression. Until then~
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