Bob Wu
Technical Combat Designer
Gore-diator
November 2021 - December 2021
Gore-diator is a PC 2D Rogue-lite Action game developed in Unity where players defend against waves of enemies in a post-apocalyptic world. Gore-diator is dark and gruesome, with a heavy emphasis on pixel gore. Players fight as far as they can on one bar of health until they die, upgrade, and return to the arena to push through more until defeating the final boss. The combat system delivers a sense of progression as players level up their characters.
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Role: Designer, Engineer
Combat Design
I want the combat to depend on the character's stats, but I also designed the system so players with enough skill and patience can beat the game without leveling up. The combat system includes three attack moves, a slide with I-frame, and a double jump. Players need to attack at specific frames during the recovery frames to execute the next attack in the combo, and executing combos rewards players with increased damage and knockback force. The knockback force is calculated by the attack move, the strength stats, and the enemy's weight. Players can easily beat the game without leveling up through accurate timings and reactions. At the same time, I implemented blood splatter particles, camera shakes, and sound effects to increase the impact and juiciness of each attack.
Enemy Design
I designed and programmed five enemies with their unique features and behaviors, including three normal enemies and two bosses. Every enemy is intended to teach players about certain mechanics. The tooth monster is the most basic enemy that introduces basic combat; the trash monster teleports behind players when it attacks, teaching players to use the slide mechanic; The slime divides into two smaller slimes twice upon death which teaches players about good positioning to avoid getting surrounded. The two bosses challenge players and test their knowledge of the mechanics taught by normal enemies, including executing combos, sliding, and positioning. For example, the wizard has a wide attack range with an additional attack move that gets triggered after the first attack if players are still within attack range; The final boss has a ranged attack that punishes players if they are too far away. While the enemies can be challenging if under-leveled, they are designed to be player-friendly as they flash red before attacking and flash white when taken a hit.
Pixel Gore
I created different particle effects for blood splatter, dissolve, and attack trails to create a gory aesthetic. At the same time, I combined realistic blood splatter with other pixel art assets and masked those blood splatter onto the environment to add to the "juice" of the game. I also created a dissolve shader used in one of the bosses' death animations.
Rogue-lite Progression
I built the progression system with stats stored outside of the game. To visualize the stats, I programmed the shop with three upgradable stats: agility, vigor, and strength. I also added pets as a unique feature to our game. While most of them function like a passive ability that boosts stats, Steve attacks enemies actively, and its attack scales with players' strength.
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