My contributions to Illusive!
In Illusive, I was the Lead Game Designer, UX Designer, Sound/Level Designer and Artist. We made Illusive around the singular concept of creating chaos, where the player can watch the following chaos ensue. I held multiple playtesting sessions to find how engaged players are with this concept.
We used the feedback obtained to come up with abilities that could be engaging on both fronts, using the watching the effects of the ability. To achieve this, I had to:
Design the core pillars of the game, focusing on the theme of stealth
Create a few draft levels for early-phase testing of the concept
Help direct the game feel and player experience using camera motion, audio and visual feedback
Worked with the tech team to help create the visuals as well as tools within the custom engine to build the game
Held playtesting sessions to understand if we were on the right track, to find what is fun for our players
Created multiple props to be used in the game to populate the levels
Using the lighting provided to create more depth within the game
Help with the voice recordings to be used within the game
Roles and Contributions
Game Design
Stealth Design
The core pillar that Illusive is built around is stealth. We wanted to create a game where the player has to sneak around patrolling guards and get to the objective.
To achieve this we made use of the leaning mechanic seen in other stealth titles and fps to peak over obstacles without revealing your location. This also allowed players to use the Illusion mechanic to then redirect enemy attention elsewhere, creating an opportunity to sneak by.
Here we can see the player utilizing the leaning mechanic to spot their surroundings to create a plan to get around the guards.
Ability Design
Chaos ability
We wanted to give the players the ability to distract enemies as this is one of the most staple skills in stealth games. However, we wanted to create a different experience and made the enemies remove each other instead of the player taking them down.
We wanted to create an interaction where at least 2 enemies are required for the ability to function. This allowed us to create different encounters based on this mechanic, where the player has to take into account multiple enemy positions in order to create the best opening.
The player uses the large patrolling drone to clear a path to the objective.
UX Design
Colour, Lightning and Mood
One of the things we utilize to create the proper experience of players breaking into a secret facility was to use lighting to direct players attention and line of sight.
We utilized this through various means like directing players through the use of props towards a light source, which clearly illuminated the intended path for the player to take.
We set it up in such a way to give the players a sense of safety and danger. Being able to create a mental map in the player's mind helps create a much better stealth experience overall.
Here we can see when the facility is in "High alert." The surroundings turn red and the direction the player needs to head towards is green.
UI / UX Design
Stealth Detection meter
One of the simplest and most necessary tools in stealth games is to let the player know when they are spotted.
We chose to use a medium that is similar to how other games handle this mechanic. we have a direction indicator that lets the player know where they are being spotted from, and it slowly fills up to indicate the level of alertness from the enemies.
Once the player has been fully spotted, the meter will turn red and becomes a direction indicator to tell the player where the threat is coming from.
The rate at which the bar fills is depended on how much of the player can be spotted, if the player is sneaking, the enemy is suspicious and slowly becomes aware over a longer period of time.
We can see how the detection meter works by telling the player where the enemy is looking from as well as it's awareness of your current position.