Reign of Blades — Ryan D. Winter

Download The Game:

Role: Game Designer

Engine: UDK

Team Size: 14 Developers

Time: 6 months

Genre: Action/Adventure

Platform: PC

Synopsis:

In the ruins of a brutal civil war, a daughter sits with her mother’s shattered crown. The Kingdom, segregated into a strict caste-system, struggles to sustain a poverty-stricken land. The daughter, sword and crown in hand, infiltrates the Gilded Empress’ decadent palace, seeking revenge. She battles waves of the queen’s minions, adopting her enemies’ combat styles for victory. With each battle, the daughter realizes her potential to be queen. Upon slaughtering the Gilded Empress’ three generals, the daughter arrives in the queen’s throne room, empowered with her newly-found combat skills. By slaying the queen, the land returns to order, safe under the rule of the benevolent princess.

Design Goals:

Led my team to create an engaging action/adventure game.
Develop a visceral and intuitive combat system.
Limit complexity of gameplay for the development timeline.
Create a focused single player experience.
Develop a unique visual and aesthetic style for gameplay.

Responsibilities:

Made game design decisions and maintained team vision throughout project
Had daily checkup and approval meetings with each department
Worked with programmers to develop melee/ranged combat system
Collaborated with music production experts to create the game soundtrack.
Began implementation of sound effects design and programming
Coordinated multidisciplinary teams while integrating assets into game
Conducted playtesting/usability sessions and incorporated feedback into design
Wrote game backstory and created world concept
Scripted and animated menu and HUD systems through flash and scaleform

Game Design Process:

Broke down departmental responsibilities and tasks for production schedule
Wrote high concept and backstory to inspire art and design teams
Worked with art team to develop concept art and overall aesthetic visual style
Created, with the help of my team, an overall gameplay flow and mechanical breakdown.
Performed daily checkups to ensure team adhered to overall game vision

Led brainstorm sessions with entire team to ensure widespread creativity
Reinforced team input to emphasize collaboration on game and individual buy-in
Developed broad concepts for the game as a team so all future production maintained a constant vision

HUD/UI Design:

Utilized 2D art assets to create entire HUD and UI system
Handled scaleform and flash implementation of HUD and menu assets
Cooperated with software developers to create a majority of the Unrealscript code for HUD and menu system.