MINDSLAYER

ITCH.IO

MindSlayer is a stealth-based action horror game with solid movement-based sections. The player plays as a roguish psychic assassin, a MindSlayer, sent to kill a religiously fanatical Baron. Navigating their way through the maze-like castle, they must avoid enemy detection in tense stealth sections, and take down cult leaders in movement-based mind games in order to locate and assassinate the Baron.

Developed in UE5.

SUMMARY OF CONTRIBUTIONS

As lead designer on this project I was responsible for most aspects of design. This included level design, designing the core mechanics, and conceptualising the initial idea.

For level design, I created the initial floor plan for the world and then designed all of the interior levels. This process included sketches, blocking out these levels in Unreal and then working closely alongside environment artists to capture my vision.

For the design of core mechanics, I drafted and documented a GDD that detailed firstly the game's core pillars and then the game's core mechanics.

I lead the team as a team lead/project manager throughout the development process. This included running sprint planning meetings, daily stand-ups, and sprint reviews/retrospectives. I employed Trello as a way to enable our Agile practice and served as a mediator in any team disputes or individual difficulties.

Finally, I was also responsible for the business side of production such as the pitch deck, business proposal, and trailer.

LEVEL DESIGN

Designing MindSlayer's levels began with a floor plan of the island area that the game takes place in. The level design goal was to take heavy inspiration from the Dark Souls (From Software, 2011) series, with branching paths/routes for the player to explore.

After conceptualising the floor plan I moved on to designing individual levels, such as the main hall, and the library subsections. My intent with these levels was to have the main hall serve as a hub area for the player to travel between levels, and have the library subsections focus on utilising individual core mechanics in an enclosed space.

MECHANICS DESIGN

When it came to the design of core mechanics I implemented documentation during pre-production, that involved conceptualising and implementing the core pillars and then mechanics of the game. I aimed to have the core mechanics feel as fluid and diegetic as possible, whilst keeping the player feeling weak, to promote the tense stealth based gameplay we aimed for. Relaying this information was key to ensuring the team understood the systems being implemented and the reasons as to why they encapsulated the intended player experience. Click HERE for the full GDD.

Following this I worked alongside programmers, artists, and animators to translate these concepts with the correct game feel. Throughout the process these ideas were adjusted to meet specifications and team limitations, however, it was through use of these core pillars that the core mechanics still represented our core values.

TEAM LEAD

Throughout the development process I served as both the lead designer and team lead/project manager. This meant ensuring our strict adherence to Agile practice and organising our use of Trello as a method of sprint planning. Also I served as a mediator in any team disputes and offered aid to solve any issues that might be blocking an individuals workflow. Lastly, I ran all team meetings which included: sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and sprint review/retrospectives.

I was also responsible for much of the marketing material the team needed, this included: the trailer, the pitch deck and the business proposal. For the trailer, I scripted and storyboarded, recorded and sampled audio and video (including VA for the Baron myself), mixed audio in Adobe Audition, and finally assembled in Adobe Premiere Pro. Click HERE for the business proposal.