I worked on a variety of aspects of Prison Break, specifically I contributed heavily towards the design of the Combat, Economy, Narrative, Boss’s, and Characters. Below I have a few sentences giving insight the Combat and Boss Desig. You can also find more indepth documentation below.
Combat Design
I developed a system known as Status Effects. Status Effects dive head first into the roguelite aspect of the game allowing for the player to create a new type of character each run. Keeping in mind the co-op functionality Status Effects can also Chain together with other effects, allowing the two players to work together to take their enemies.
I wanted to strive to create a gameplay style that replicated teamwork within combat and allowed players to personalize their gameplay. Status Effects add a layer of uniqueness to characters and variety to how they perform which could be customized through gameplay.
This system that allows for creating new Status Effects lets the players build their characters a new way each run granting additional gameplay complexity.
I did so by splitting Status Effects into two forms. Debuffs and Buffs. Debuffs affect enemies or players in a negative way and Buffs will affect the players in a positive way. I delve more into them in the documentation you can find above or here.
Status Effects are mechanics that affect both the player(s) and enemies. They come in two different forms: Debuffs and Buffs. Debuffs are mechanics that the player(s) can inflict on enemies, but enemies can also inflict on the player(s). These include concepts like Shock, Knock, Bleed, and others below. They can be applied to both the player and enemies and have the capability of interacting with each other in some form. Meanwhile, buffs are a mechanic that the player(s) can apply to themselves. There are also weapon buffs which are applied to specific weapons.
Boss Design
I approached boss fights by listing out the types of moves they’re capable of doing, Chains, Uniques, and Finishers. Each of these moves have a seperate internal weight to them, which determines which move the boss will use and when.
- Chains: A series of consecutive attacks that follow each other one after another. They can not be interrupted with other attacks in any form. These are the bread and butter and most simplistic attacks that the player will be able to predict and learn.
- Uniques: These attacks are standalone from the rest of the attack types. These attacks are far deadlier than others but are easier to dodge.
- Finishers: Finishers always happen after a Chain. Not every Chain will have a finisher to follow it, but in the case that a Finisher is done, the boss will randomly choose a Finisher after the Chain is completed. This forces the player to react to the random Finisher, rather than predict.
This boss template allows for a consistency for in the bosses so players are able to adjust and learn to each new boss. This also allows for other parts of the development team create new bosses easier, as each boss follows the same template allowing for easier creation, implementation, and testing.
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