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Project: Shadow
Recent Development Log
Early Stages
Project Shadow started as an answer to "How can I make a game similar to Nier: Automata?"
- Action Combat?
- Hack N Slash?
- Bullet Hell?
I knew remaking the whole game would be difficult, so I tried to lean more into what I thought would be the easier foundation: bullet hell. Though Nier Automata has a wide variety of gameplay elements and features. I personally really enjoyed the transition between the bullet-hell mechanics and the combat. I wanted the mechanics to really encompass these aspects.
The concept and characters of the game came to me through my life experience. As imaginative kids playing in the park, we would have "superhero battles."
If I could have any superpower, there would be two I would always choose:
The ability to control time or Shadow Manipulation.
Of course, time control is just overpowered because you can stop any attack, look like you're teleporting around, rewind critical hits, etc...
But for this reference game, shadow manipulation spoke to me the most. It's the most creative. Manipulating your shadow to take any shape you can imagine, teleporting to other shadows, and making shadow clones. I knew that this was a mechanic I wanted to expand on.
With the ideas in mind, I started by creating my game design document using all the information and techniques from school and various game design courses. This, in particular, starts with an "Executive Summary" to define the game's genre, Target Audience, Platforms, Game Engine, Game Identity, and Design Pillars.
There was also some research involved with how I wanted the game to play eventually when I get all of the systems together.
The game design document is still a living, breathing document, so I'm adding and adjusting things, but I'm also planning the overall gameplay and world of Project: Shadow.
Early Development
First time sharing the project
At the time, I had started implementing sprint tracking and sprint goals in my development. Four sprints over the course of two months.
After Devlog #1
After the first devlog, I kept working on the project. I added more features, received concept art for Cole and Shadow, created a narrative for the first level, and mapped out a level concept for the first level, and tried to incorporate the ideas into the game.
Level Design (Kinda)
Since I thought I had made the core mechanics, I wanted to test them in an actual game environment. But I didn't actually build the core mechanics. All I did was put together a bunch of features, not systems, meaning everything I had worked on up until that point wasn't stable. So my level design wasn't really rooted in a strong foundation. Still, I had an idea of how I wanted my first level to play out, so I tried my hand at creating some assets and building out the area. I'm especially proud that I was able to block out the structures from my references.
Expanding Features
I still hadn't realized how unstable my foundation was, but I knew that things still weren't where they needed to be. So I kept adding things to try to make it feel better.
Enhanced Shooting
Enhanced Character Switch
Enhanced Movement
With all of these changes, I was also working on other aspects of the project outside of the game engine. I commissioned concept art for Cole and Shadow with the hopes of bringing them to life.
I had the idea of getting the concept art for them, some character sheets, and commissioning 3D modelers to bring them to life, but I also wanted to give it a try myself. I had been learning 3D modeling following a GameDev.TV course for Blender, and I thought this could be my chance to give it a try. Here's what I was able to manage.
First Ever Attempt at 3D Modeling a human (lol)
Adapting from what I learned
So, since my attempts didn't really measure up to the character I had in mind. I actually ended up switching focus because, even though the character I modeled wasn't Cole, I had an idea to repurpose it, which shifted my focus to a different project. More about that in the video below.
Returning To The Project
So, after my journey working on a new project. I randomly revisited Project: Shadow with a new mindset and a brand new me! What I had learned was that everything I had worked on prior was not built on a strong foundation that could easily be added to. It was just a mush of features and mechanics that I thought would be cool to have in the game. I wasn't designing systems; I was creating a mess of features. I didn't realize it until I started actually designing a combat system.
Enhanced Combat (Current WIP)
I want the player to be able to choose from five weapons. Unarmed, Shadow Sword, Shadow Spear, Shadow Scythe, and Shadow Hammer. So, I made some prefabs. Excluding the spear. Taking what I learned from Project: Feel The Vibe, I really wanted to try my hand at animating the weapons' attack animations. But to do that, I needed to set up the actual system for attacking and dealing damage. So I started making the foundation for melee combat. Instead of creating my own animations for punching and kicking, I opted to use free Mixamo animations to ensure the combo sequence works correctly.
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