Cyber Death is a game prototype I helped develop with a team of four other people. We had a few weeks to develop a prototype demonstrating a strong core gameplay loop. I spearheaded the planning and designing of the game's core mechanics, as well as creating the game's UI.
From the beginning, our team decided to create an endless, wave based survival game with an emphasis on satisfying combat and an overall "meaty" experience to make the player feel powerful. Our vision statement included the idea of robot scraps being piled up all over the map, which is a core feature in the final game. We settled on the concept of a robotic grim reaper claiming expired robots in a neon, futuristic city environment.
Player Character Moodboard
Enemy Moodboard
Environment Moodboard
Title Screen
How to Play
Credits
The city environment
Animation I made for the switch
Some gameplay in action!
The shop system was my biggest contribution to the game. Every part of it (except for the background, illustrated by Avery Macke) was my creation. It was a really fun process, and I am still very happy with the final result.
One of my ideas for Cyber-Death from the very beginning was to have a fun, cool-looking shop system that made the player smile. I wanted there to be a funny looking character, snappy menu controls, and some snarky dialogue to make the process of just buying an item feel memorable.
Games like Monkey Island, Undertale, and Zombie Estate II heavily inspired my take on the shop. The dialogue system was fun to program and it was even more fun to make the UI feel as satisfying and responsive as possible. Features like this shop system are exactly what I dream to implement in every game I work on, it's a blast!
For a glimpse into Cyber-Death's development process, here's some mockups I did for various features of the game. Needless to say, I had some fun sketching these out for the rest of my team to see.
Mockup of the game's HUD
Concept of what the game could look like
Early concept of the shop
Overall, Cyber-Death was a great project to work on, and I am very happy with what my team and I were able to create in such a short time.