My contributions to Planet Busters!
Throughout the development of Planet Busters, I was the Game Designer, UI/UX Designer and Level Designer. I had to design and implement the in-game UI, help design the different AI enemies within the game as well as design the level layouts and populating the levels. In order to achieve this, I had to:
Research and design a recognizable UI to help players understand and learn the controls easier
Document and provide different player encounters early in the development cycle for testing
Held multiple playtests to iterate and find the UI that provided the best player experience as well as how players handled the core game mechanics and combat encounters
Design and populate the levels that are able to direct the players without hindering the gameplay
Roles and Contributions
UI / UX Design
In-game On Screen UI
For the In-game UI, to better help players learn the controls better, I made the control scheme reflect the actual positions on the controller.
Initially, they mimicked the D-pad found on a controller, but through testing, found that if we followed the layout of the buttons, players are still able to catch on quickly to what button corresponds to what mode they are in.
This is essential to the core of Planet Busters because in this game, players have to make quick decisions at all times.
An example of the In-game UI (Bottom left), mapped to the buttons found on a controller without the "X" button at the bottom.
Provides player with a more intuitive control scheme
UI / UX Design
In-game Character UI
While the on screen UI does cover the information the player requires, with the high paced gameplay of Planet Busters, having to glance down to check your character status is a hassle for players.
The health bar around the character has 2 main functions to it, to let players know how close to death they are currently at and to add more colour to differentiate between player characters.
The colour choices are also intentional as they are oversaturated and visibly different from the rest of the world, consisting of less natural shapes to help build upon the fact that the players are foreign entities to this planet.
As seen around the player, the UI stands out and clearly reflects the health of the player, ensuring that the player never loses track of their location and remaining health.
Level Design
Level and Enemy Encounter Design
There are 3 types of enemies in Planet Busters, melee, ranged and suicidal enemy.
Each encounter is designed to create decisions for players. The ranged enemy provides constant pressure for the player, the suicide enemy causes players to consider switching to the movement mode for a quick getaway and the melee enemy swarms out and becomes an effective shield for the range enemies.
This results in the players having to utilize the map layout and natural terrain to funnel and block incoming attacks.
I intentionally designed and set the layout of the map to account for these encounters where there are spots for effective engagements for the player.
The player notices an oncoming mob from 2 directions, with multiple rocks for the player to either funnel the enemies or avoid ranged fire entirely.