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Soulbound
A 2-Player-Coop with ghosts, ghouls and girls
Details
My roles:
Platform:
Genre:
Duration:
Team size:
Engine:
Game design, Menu design, Level Design, Documentation, Management
PC
9 weeks
12
Unity
Co-Op Action Adventure
Description
For decades, Myrtlewood Manor has been haunted by evil spirits - now it is time to give them their eternal rest. Together, you will delve into the depths of this haunted house and light the altar of each of the manor’s five districts. The Soulflame - a manifestation of your sisterly bond - will not only illuminate your path but is the only means to solve puzzles and fight enemies on your way through the spooky manor.
My contributions
Game design
When we created Soulbound we wanted to keep communication and cooperation between the two players in focus. We wanted a game that focused on combat, but had puzzle elements to it as well. We did all this, but based around a single player mechanic, the flame.
The flame is thrown between the players. It is automatically caught, but if you hold on to it for too long you will get burned and take damage. The players share a health pool, so cooperation is essential.
The game has both puzzles and enemies. The puzzles are mainly based on lighting torches in certain orders by looking at environmental clues, but are sometimes timed to test your communication skills. The combat is based around 3 enemy types, one moving in a set pattern with a randomly activated AOE attack, one quick enemy that can only be damaged in the light of a torch and one heavier enemy with a shield that the flame bounces off.
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The game's overall goal is to light all the five altars hidden throughout the manor, and on the way there they have to kill enemies or solve puzzles to progress.
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When making Souldbound me and the other three designers spent a lot of time perfecting the enemies and player mechanics, working from the idea of just something being thrown between two characters to a full game filled with ghosts, witch girls in short skirts and spooky altars.
Level design
Working with level design is always a blast, and during this project I helped scope the overall size of the level, as well as design a few rooms, like the altar room in the living quarters.
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The game features quite a big level, with many rooms and 5 unique districts. Finding a balance between a big enough level to do what we designers wanted with the game, and making sure the two environment artists we had on the team could manage it all was a tough challenge.
Planning and management
During the project I acted as a second in command, since our lead designer unfortunately went through a lot of health issues during the project. I worked on planning up the entire project timeline, made sure everyone was up to date with all new information as well as meeting their deadline, and acted as a producer to green light everything before completion.
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I acted as a bridge between the disciplines, making sure everyone could come to me with questions, concerns and ideas, and I also acted as the project's executioner. Killing off good ideas because of time constraints isn't always fun, but sometimes very necessary!
UI/Menu design
I created the menu for Soulbound with the thought of wanting to do something that no other school project had done before. I wanted it to feel like the girls were looking over their notes for their mission before heading off to free the manor.
The menu is all laid out on a desk. You can zoom in and out to navigate the desk and find everything from drawings and tips about the enemies to come, to game credits and to a book filled with the controls and instructions for the player mechanic.
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The menu is engaging, and with the help of an artist we made it come to life, setting the mood for the entire game to come.
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