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Allow me to introduce myself,
I’m Ted Fristedt and I’m team Elf’s designer.
We’re at full work on our first game, called Samsara. A frantic mythology infused shoot ’em up game about death and rebirth.
What have I been up to, you may ask.
Well, this week I’ve been working with the game’s concepts for items and power-ups. I’ve also experimented with various ways on how and when the power-ups can be used.
One of the key elements in making this game enjoyable is the power-ups. They enable the player to tackle the hordes in new efficient and exciting ways. Within the teams there has been an ongoing discussion on how to implement the power-ups and when to make them available to the player.
Intriguing, tell me more…
Of course! First and foremost I need to explain the background to this dilemma. Since the game centres around death and rebirth there has to be an incentive to being reborn other than simply awarding the player an extra chance at beating the level. Hence we early on decided that when the player is reborn he/she will be reborn with the last absorbed enemy power. The enemies’ powers are influenced by nature and can comprise of lightning, fire and ice. For example, upon being reborn the player can be granted fire infused projectiles firing in a wide cone capable of doing increased damage.
So, how did you resolve this matter?
An excellent question! I felt the need of giving the player a choice. That’s when I started to sketch various power-ups which incorporated properties from the items we wanted to have in the game. This eventually led me to having a few temporary power-ups which felt both useful and fun to use instantaneously withouht diminishing the thought of having a stronger permanent upgrade upon being reborn.
Why did you do this?
Simply because we don’t want the player to feel that being reborn is the only option of getting stronger. Moreover, since the player can only be reborn a certain amount of times before permanently dying, he/she needs a way of staying alive as well. The player also needs to be able to make choices. He/she should be able to determine wheter to use a power straight away to solve a tricky situation or instead take a risk by saving the power for later to be reborn with a permanent upgrade. By enabling this the game gets more depth and a sense of strategy on how and when to use the powers. Also this system contributes to a risk and reward assessment which is required for making the rebirth mechanic something more than just a retry. Also, by incorporating a shield for example, into the themporary lightning power-up removed the need of having an item dedicated only to this. Thus we get a more coherent, minimalistic yet deep and engaging game that is more accessible.
To all of you who were intrigued out there. Heres is a peek at the concept.
That’s all for now but stay tuned for further updates.
About Ted Fristedt
2016 Game Design
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