BIG TOP HELL

My goal with Big Top Hell was to take a theme I know really well (circus) and see how it could be translated into systems and mechanics. It was also my first time using a game engine

context and credits

Solo project completed in 12 weeks as a first school project for CG Spectrum College

Role: Narrative, Game & Level Designer, Blueprint & AI scripter

Created and developed under the mentorship of Jonathan Morin (ex Creative Director at Ubisoft)

Done in Unreal Engine 4

Materials and assets downloaded from the Synthy Store

Character models and animations downloaded from Mixamo

Delivered - end of May 2022

my role in a bit more details

Here is what was accomplished over the course of the syllabus and prototype’s development.

game designer

game pitch deck redaction

vision statement

systems design

Basic narrative design & world building

UI/UX design

gDD writing & maintenance

level designer

2D map drawing

blockout

3D assets placement

lighting

Visual scripting (blueprints)

testing and debugging

core game pillars

Passage of time

Instilling a sense of urgency and forcing decisions upon the player about how they will spend their time in game.
Customizable progression

Making the player responsible for their evolution and growth (rather than RNG).
Active Contribution

The power to influence, the possibility for the player to write their own story and have an impact on what and how to explore, from beginning to end.
Combat

Giving the player the opportunity to feel powerful, to be the super hero they want to be and create their own version along the way.

systems and features OVERVIEW

Below is a quick overview of some of the features and main systems designed for the game, along with some pages from the pitch deck.

PLAYER CHARACTER AND COMBAT CLASSES

The player gets to play as 4 circus artists, each one relating to existing RPG archetypes, but derived from circus disciplines and having different abilities, weapons and skills.

The Strong Man - Warrior / Tank
The Contortionist - Monk / Fighter
The Mentalist - Crowd Control / Mage
The Knife Thrower - Thief / Assassin

PASSAGE OF TIME

GOAL

Control the player’s progression and change gameplay pace in order to create fluctuations in emotions, sustain engagement and recreate the routine on a circus tour.

The game loop is therefore divided in 2 major phases: Day and Night.

The passage of time dictates the flow of the game and the progression of the player. Every interactions and activities take time, limiting options, forcing decisions upon the player and intertwining deeply with the active contribution pillar and the game loop.

EXPLORATION

GOAL

Force the player to choose a path, be deeply integrated with the reward system and the fact that the game unfolds following the comic book conventions.

Therefore, gameplay exploration during the Night is in 2D.

The player needs to break the usual “comic book squares” in order to keep exploring and they can only move right or down between these boxes. Based on achievements and character progression, some special items and class abilities will allow to travel left and up, and even avoid certain sections completely.

PROGRESSION

GOAL

Reward players based on their decisions, give them as much control as possible over the way they want to build their heroes all the while eliminating RNG and grinding components.

Growth Orbs (GO) are given based on player’s success -> success depends on exploration skills and NPC’s interaction decisions (reinforcing the active contribution pillar). They are the main resource that allows the player to get stronger and progress - a vital part of the reward system.

They manifest in 4 forms: Stats GO - apply to max HP, damage reduction (%), evasion (%) and backstab damage reduction, Traits GO - apply to persuasion, perception and break object (size) , Weapons GO - apply to power, speed, critical chance (%), critical multiplier, backstab multiplier, Superpower GO - apply to each character’s superpowers