Maze Slaughter

Project Information

ABOUT:

Maze Slaughter is a first-person roguelike shooter, inspired by the Doom-series.

TIME ON THE PROJECT: 10 months (2019-2020)

STUDIO: Giant Gun Games

TEAM SIZE: 14

TECHNOLOGY: Unreal Engine 4

RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Developing player profiles and defining a core target group

- Researching and designing new features

- Preparing pitches to present to potential publishers

Defining the Core

Before creating game design concepts, in this case a basis needed to be created to inform these decisions. I translated my ideas about the game into accessible graphics to present to the team.

MS_WorkProcess_1

Core Diagram

This graphic illustrates the game’s core pillars. It emphasizes the importance of certain features and their connections to one another, in order to inform design decisions.

Player Taste Map

We used a tastemap based on the OCEAN-model to identify the core player segment we wanted to target.

Simplification and Presentation

After completing research tasks, I break down my findings in an accessible manner and then present solutions on that basis.

MS_WorkProcess_2

A simplified representation of level progression in many roguelikes, based around special rooms. The order in which rooms can be visited is arbitrary, however to access the boss, some kind of key must be found first.

I presented two options of how special rooms could be distributed throughout the level - either in fixed or random positions.

I argued for the use of a currency system (one or more) to make the order in which rooms are visited more meaningful. The player would need to spend time in the maze to gather currency in order to access special rooms. However, the more time they take, the harder it is to survive.