Encounter Design | Devlog #10

[p]If you followed the development of our game Spire of Chaos: Arcana Unleashed so far, you’ll be aware that our project is a souls-lite, inspired by Magical Girls and Tarot. These themes directly influence the combat style in our game, the main focus of this blog post.[/p][p]Before we even started our game’s combat and encounter design, we had determined some central elements that were going to influence combat in our game. Because of the Tarot theme, we thought of enemies that would represent the Arcana, more precisely the minor arcana of the Cups as well as the major arcana, the Lovers, as the main antagonist. Moreover, we wanted melee combat that would have less animations if possible to better manage our team’s resources.[/p][p][/p][h3]Why Souls?[/h3][p]Our decision process regarding the game’s genre was not finalized during brainstorming, it was a choice that came after a few weeks of production. We originally envisioned Spire of Chaos: Arcana Unleashed as a Hack and Slash, but this was changed to avoid a potential work overload for our animators, and we decided to pivot towards the Souls genre. To make our game more accessible however, we made our combat less strict and did not include a system of resources since our game is quite short. Because of this distance taken regarding our main sources of inspiration, we agreed that the best term to represent our game is Souls-Lite.[/p][p][/p][h2]Enemies[/h2][h3]The Basher [/h3][p]The very first enemy we designed was the Basher, inspired by the Tarot’s suit of Cups. This one was the central pillar for the design of the other enemies that would come later during the development of Spire of Chaos: Arcana Unleashed. A major decision we’ve had to take was to limit the character artists to some rules for their visual design based on their behaviour and their melee combat mechanics. These rules allowed us to make sure their appearance would remain coherent with their attack patterns and mechanics. It was with this first enemy that we tested our game’s mechanics and our player character’s attacks. It was through these tests that we were able to proceed with the creation of new enemies afterwards. For the encounter design, a useful system we’ve decided to use was that of Slots and Tokens, a typical system for our game’s genre. This technique lets enemies attack the player one after the other, which makes combat more fluid. At the start, this was the only enemy in the game, which made combat very repetitive. To fix this, we decided to split the combat mechanics associated with it and distribute them amongst variations that emerged from this basic enemy.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]The Flower Basher[/h3][p]The Flower Basher is a variation of the original Basher whose specialty is dodging all of the player’s attacks, forcing them to find an alternative to defeat it. This teaches the player to parry enemy attacks, which stuns the Flower Basher and makes it vulnerable to attacks. Learning this game mechanic is made naturally through this enemy and rewards the player when they manage to solve this behaviour.[/p][p]Moreover, teaching the parry to our players was a challenge since we wanted this to come naturally through the gameplay. Before the Flower Basher, no enemy forced the player to use the parry.[/p][p]Before we introduced the Flower Basher, to bridge the gap between the two types of Bashers (normal and Flower), the player encounters flowers that throw projectiles. This enemy was another way to teach the player about the parry so they could figure out later how to defeat the Flower Bashers. This flower blends into the environment and hides when the player approaches, forcing them to parry the projectiles to send them back to the flowers to defeat them. With this enemy encountered earlier in the game, learning how to defeat the Flower Basher later is much easier.[/p][p][/p][h3]The Vine-Basher[/h3][p]This enemy was born out of the need to introduce a decision process for the player during combat. Before the Vine-Basher, combat was quite simple. The enemies would rush towards the player who has to dodge them, parry their attacks or attack them first. The player quickly finds itself in a simple gameplay loop they never need to change. The Vine-Basher breaks this repetition with ranged attacks mixed into the melee attacks of other enemies. The player thus has a choice to make; do they rush the Vine-Basher first to get rid of its ranged attacks, or deal with the melee enemies first?[/p][p]The Vine-Basher also has armour which reduces damage caused by the player’s attacks. Once the enemy is stunned, this armour is broken and it becomes vulnerable to the player’s attacks. The best way to defeat it is to use heavier attacks, forcing the player to vary the attacks they choose during combat to create a better diversity in tactics.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Early on during production, we had designed an enemy that would make ranged attacks by throwing projectiles in an arc, but because of the restrained space of our levels, this caused some gameplay problems. As a solution, the Vine-Basher’s projectiles travel along the ground, resembling roots and vines. This way, their attacks are always visible for the player instead of potentially exiting their field of view upwards.[/p][p][/p][h3]The Exploder[/h3][p]During several weeks, this little enemy was made to rush the player to explode on them when it was nearby, creating a sense of surprise or panic. We decided to change its behaviour for something more passive. Now, the Exploders wander around the levels without noticing the player, unless they decide to attack it. If they do, it explodes on them.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]The Mortar[/h3][p]As mentioned earlier, this enemy was originally supposed to throw projectiles in an arc to attack the player. However, this caused problems to notice the projectiles because of the game’s camera. We decided to change the goal of these projectiles for a new use, and now this enemy supports others, its projectiles healing them. This way, we managed to adapt this mechanic instead of simply cutting it or integrating it despite its problems.[/p][p][/p][h3][/h3][p][/p][h3]Environmental Traps[/h3][p]Traps sprinkled through our game’s levels create a better diversity in the combats as well as forcing the player to use abilities they might not have used before, like the dash. These traps also create tactical opportunities, since enemies also get damaged from them. One of the best things about these traps is versatility, since they are used in the environment but also alongside the Vine-Bashers or the final boss.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]The Lovers[/h3][p]The starting point for the design of our final boss was two things: it would be based on the Tarot card of the Lovers, so it would be an enemy comprised of two halves, and it would have a second phase in which these two halves would be separated to attack the player separately. This enemy’s goal is to use mechanics the player learned throughout the game in one final fight. The boss fight tests the player on two precise axes: reflexes and rhythm.[/p][p]The first phase of this boss introduces the Lovers’ attacks. Since they are still together, the player only has to worry about one enemy.[/p][p][/p][p]The second phase really starts testing the player’s capabilities. They must manage two enemies simultaneously, one with melee attacks and the other with ranged projectiles. This pattern is reinforced by having been used throughout the game in earlier levels. During this phase, the player can choose which of the two enemies they want to defeat first depending on their combat style, which influences the third phase.[/p][p][/p][p]During the third phase, the player is confronted with the boss against which they are least confident. This Lover, separated from its other half, gains in ferocity and has new attacks that make the combat more difficult. For connaisseurs of the genre, this is a reference to the first Dark Souls with the Ornstein & Smough boss fight, one with a reputation for being very difficult.[/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p]Designing attacks for each of the Lovers was definitely a challenge during production, especially with the Purple boss for which we had issues in making the ranged attacks visible enough as explained earlier with the Mortar and Vine-Basher.[/p][p]Another design challenge was to find an equilibrium between the two halves of the Lovers and their difficulty levels despite their completely different behaviours. As we’ve explained, the goal is that at the third phase, the player needs to fight the enemy they were least comfortable fighting earlier, but if by default one of the two enemies is easier to defeat by any player, we’ve failed in this goal. We wanted the player’s own capacities to determine the results of the second and third phases of the fight.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Q&A[/h3][p]If you had to choose a Tarot card, which one represents you best?[/p][p][/p][p]Samuel: the Magician, since this card represents taking action with creativity, and I’m someone very proactive in game creation. If I want something to happen, I go ahead with it instead of waiting for someone else to take the lead.[/p][p][/p][p]Raphaël: Temperance, since it represents balance between instinct and reason, finding an equilibrium between two opposites.[/p][p][/p][p]What is the best aspect of Spire of Chaos: Arcana Unleashed in your opinion?[/p][p][/p][p]Samuel: the final boss fight, since it’s something appreciated by the players, but it’s also the first time I design a boss with mechanics learned by the player throughout an entire game.[/p][p][/p][p]Raphaël: I think the project is full of good ideas with managed risks, we have a lot of ambition but we had all the means to bring all our ideas to life.[/p][p][/p]