Reckoning of the Rift.
Presents complex challenges for each in-game level to test players' strategizing capabilities and pushes the limits of their mechanical skills in a fast-paced, 2D combat environment.
Download Reckoning of the Rift here.
Role
- Lead Game Designer
- Lead Narrative Designer
- Assistant Game Developer
Tools
- C#
- Unity
- Figma
Team
- Erika Wang - Artist, UX/UI
- Catelyn Sue - Artist, UX/UI
- Hanna Luu - Development, Media
- Karson Nguyen - Development
Date
January - April 2023
Project Overview.
Briefing & Gameplay Trailer
Reckoning of the Rift was a Simon Fraser University graduation project for a class called IAT 499. The goal of the project was to make a love letter and the final installment to the Rift projects our team has created throughout our time at Simon Fraser University (Legacy the Rift, Beyond the Rift, and A Rift Awakening), further adding complex layers to the mechanics of switching between more characters, as well as concluding the story of the Ironhand saga. The team was tasked with conducting various comprehensive playtesting sessions on a bi-weekly basis and present the necessary iterations to our professor based on them.
Gameplay Trailer voiced by me! Needed lots of water after this...
Responsibilities.
Game Mechanics Design & Balancing
Led the design of the game's combat mechanics, introducing an Elemental Affinity system that empowers characters with unique strengths and weaknesses based on 6 distinct elemental types. Additionally, developed a Party Crafting System, enabling players to strategically assemble a team of 3 heroes from a pool of 6 to tackle specific challenges and levels.
Game Design Documentation
Curated intensive game design documentation detailing game mechanics, game loops, combat systems, narrative designs, and other requirements such as art, sound, and UX/UI implementations. Documented playtesting sessions and feedback to enhance and define project goals.
Narrative Design & Implementation
Crafted the comprehensive script for Reckoning of the Rift to align with the game's narrative vision of creating an 'endgame' for our Rift saga. Spearheaded the implementation of the game's narrative systems, utilizing Unity's Fungus tool to integrate character dialogue and sound elements.
Art & Sound Design Collaboration
Collaborated with art team members to clearly define the art direction for characters, enemies, environments, as well the game's UI. Collaborated with sound design team members to elucidate music and sound effect choices; also voice acted all characters and enemies except for Hjallna Ironhand.
Playtesting Iterations
Tasked with conducting various comprehensive playtesting sessions on a bi-weekly basis and presenting the necessary iterations to our professor, then implementing those iterations into the game.
Development Assistance, Scripting
Assisted the development team with scripting combat behaviors for playable and non-playable characters using C# and Unity.
Game Mechanics.
Party Crafting System
Players must progress through 6 levels, with every 2nd level being a boss battle. Before a level starts, they are given the choice to craft a party of 3 from 6 Ironhand characters, all of whom possess different abilities and Elemental Affinities. This deep party customization enables players to craft diverse party compositions and develop tailored playstyles to conquer the combat challenges presented within the levels.
Elemental Affinity System
In the world of Wulfgard, there are 6 Elements that pervade the realm: Earth, Wind, Fire, Ice, Water, and Lightning. Each playable character and enemy possesses 1 Elemental Affinity, of which they are effective or resistant against each other. During each level, Rifts spawn a particular Elemental enemy type, so it's the player's job to destroy them with the Elements that they're weak to! Water douses fire after all...hopefully.
Meet Your Heroes.
Lokir Ironhand
The Blazing Mirage
Lokir spent years mastering pyrokinesis on a pilgrimage to the mysterious continent of Ardoran, learning to infuse his weapons and clones with flames that rival that of dragonfire. In combat, Lokir's expertise lies in providing horizontal mobility and repositioning capabilities to the party, as well as increased strength against the element of ice.
"Feed the fire within so it becomes a roaring blaze."
Left-Click
Infernal Laceration
Lokir dashes through multiple enemies, dealing fire damage and propelling him further with each slice.
Right-Click
Kindred Blaze
Lokir conjures a fiery clone that dashes towards enemies and relentlessly attacks them. During the duration of the clone's life, Lokir can swap places with it by recasting this ability.
Halvar Ironhand
The Stone Goliath
Halvar has cemented himself as one of the most proficient practitioners of geokinesis, bolstering his physicality to unfathomable levels through countless hours of arduous training. In combat, Halvar's crowd control capabilities lie in disruption and stalling, and he possesses an increased strength against the element of lightning.
"I will move mountains to protect my family."
Left-Click
Stalagmite Smash
Halvar slams into the earth with his hammer, dealing earth damage and erupting stalagmites around him that grow in size with each attack.
Right-Click
Monolith Blast
Halvar erects a stone monolith in front of him that forces grounded enemies to attack it until it breaks. Halvar can recast this ability to shatter the wall, dealing AoE earth damage.
Ursa Ironhand
The Gale Saint
Through extensive erudite studies and meditation, Ursa learned to strengthen her connection to the Spirit Domain, enabling her to call upon the spirits of the gale to fortify her combat prowess and healing magic. In combat, Ursa specializes in ranged attacks, healing, area denial, and an increased strength against the element of earth.
"May the winds guide my arrows through their hearts."
Left-Click
Munir's Tempest
Ursa infuses her arrows with wind magic, dealing wind damage and piercing through multiple enemies. The third strike knocks enemies back a great distance.
Right-Click
Ursine Reaper
Ursa invokes a bear spirit at her location to provide health regeneration to the party and DoT damage against enemies that enter the aura.
Morkvar Ironhand
The Ice Wraith
At a young age, Morkvar became a prodigy at wielding the spear, developing a ruthless fighting style that blends both melee and ranged striking through cryokinesis augmentation. In combat, Morkvar's crowd control adeptness lie in immobilization and ranged attacking, with increased strength against the element of water.
"The last thing you want to do in battle is freeze in place."
Left-Click
Winter's Reach
Morkvar perforates his spear through enemies, dealing ice damage and extending the reach of his weapon with each strike.
Right-Click
Piercing Cold
Morkvar throws his spear towards enemies, freezing them in place for a short duration.
Eerika Ironhand
The Purple Flash
Eerika became one of the most revered hand-to-hand combatants in Wulfgard, mastering a plethora of martial arts and electrokinesis to augment her speed. Various battle reports have stated that she once wiped an army of a thousand men in a blink of an eye. In combat, Eerika possesses vertical mobility, displacement, burst damage, and strength against the element of wind.
"Now you see me...now you're dead."
Left-Click
Tri-Bolt Strike
Eerika performs a three-punch combo, dealing lightning damage with each strike. The first two uppercuts propels her mid-air and displaces enemies, and the third overhand rapidly accelerates her downwards.
Right-Click
Thunderclap Volley
Eerika generates a volley of lightning with her fists that travels a short distance and zaps through multiple enemies. She can temporarily suspend herself mid-air while casting this ability.
Hjallna Ironhand
The Tidal Sentinel
Despite her small stature, Hjallna possessed unparalleled grit in battle, choosing to don the heaviest weapons and armor that blacksmiths had to offer. She became a master practitioner of hydrokinesis to become one of the most resilient warriors in Wulfgard. In combat, Hjallna specializes in sustain, damage reduction, and increased strength against the element of fire.
"Be as unwavering as water flowing in a river."
Left-Click
Refreshing Smite
Hjallna smites her foes, dealing water damage with each attack. The last strike heals the party for a small amount of health.
Right-Click
Dampening Dome
Hjallna creates a protective dome of water around the party that halves damage taken for a short duration.
Design Challenges.
Problem
As the team decided to add 3 more characters to the party, the prominent design issue we faced during Legacy the Rift became apparent once again: trying to remember the roles and utilities that each character provided during combat, and when to use them. How would players manage 6 characters?
In addition to managing more characters, the Elemental Affinity system now exists in the game, where 6 different elements with strengths and weaknesses against each other are assigned to playable and non-playable characters. How will players navigate though this system?
Solution
The solution was to create a Party Crafting system. This system enables players to craft a party of 3 between the 6 Ironhand heroes before each level, alleviating the cognitive overload of managing 6 characters and their abilities. Hero attacks and abilities also have Elemental Affinities, which more clearly defines their strengths and roles in combat.
Each level also contains Rifts that spawn a specific elemental enemy type. As such, players will be able to plan around the weaknesses of those enemies by building a party with elements that are strong against those enemies.
Playtesting Results.
01
Who were the playtesters?
The team assembled gamer and non-gamer types to playtest the game. This facilitated diverse amounts of results to mainly examine whether the Party Crafting system and Elemental Affinity system were effective enough in communicating the purpose of each character in combat scenarios.
02
How did players navigate the Elemental Affinity system between multiple characters?
Initially, players had no guidance on which party members to choose during the selection screen before a level, and were wondering whether choosing characters with elemental weaknesses during a level would be too much of a hindrance.
We introduced a character briefing section in the selection screen, which defines the abilities and elements that each member possessed. During the narrative, Rifts and enemy types were implied before a level initiated which gives players more incentive to plan their setup beforehand.
This resulted in players creating diverse party compositions. They were not restricted to specifically using members that were strong against elemental types of a particular level; killing enemies would simply take a bit longer!
03
How were the usage rates among the 6 party members?
The usage rates and party compositions were quite balanced. The main metagame that we observed was that players always brought at least 1 support character: Ursa or Hjallna. For example, there were party compositions centered around offense and mobility (Lokir, Eerika, Ursa/Hjallna), crowd control (Halvar, Morkvar, Ursa/Hjallna), or survivability (Halvar, Ursa, Hjallna). The different enemy types and boss battles also facilitated diverse party compositions.
We noticed that Halvar's kit may be undercooked compared to the other members. Future implementations may include adding more utility to his kit, be it displacement or an attack speed/area increase with his main attack and ability. Despite this, players noted that his kit still meshed well with the party.
"We’ve all grown so strong. I’m...so proud."
- Lokir Ironhand
Reflection & Outcome
Reckoning of the Rift was an extremely fun project and a bittersweet end to our time at Simon Fraser University. We wanted to pay homage to the other Rift projects we created at our time there and create a game that was extremely fun, and at the same time showcased the growth of our journey as designers.
Through more intensive playtesting sessions and bi-weekly game iterations/ presentations, I was able to really sharpen my cross-disciplinary team communication skills and to break the limits of my creative and game design capabilities. It showed me the importance of communicating and understanding the needs of players, while ensuring that the essence of fun and authenticity in a game is maintained.
Reckoning of the Rift was part of Simon Fraser University's in-person Spring 2023 Graduation Project Showcase. The game was also showcased on the school's student portfolio section as one of the prospective projects of the Spring 2023 semester (shoutout to our dearest UX/UI member Catelyn!!).