Creating Dark Quest 4: The Making of a Modern Dark Fantasy Adventure

The Problem of Scale

As talked about earlier than, we wished to maintain the concept of rooms and exploration on the coronary heart of the expertise. We additionally wished every quest to final lengthy sufficient to really feel immersive however by no means develop into drawn-out. Early on, we experimented with bigger maps to offer gamers extra content material and selection, but it surely shortly grew to become clear that the hero was too small on display, particulars had been getting misplaced, and it was more durable to see clearly and deal with the technique. That’s after we realized we wanted to scale issues down.

Working at a smaller scale in a tile-based world, nonetheless, introduced its personal challenges. A lot of the playable area is taken up by partitions, doorways, and different constructions, which restricted the sense of openness we wished. On high of that, the isometric perspective, whereas providing a good view, at all times has angles that obscure components of the scene. Discovering the best stability between visibility, scale, and the sensation of exploration ended up being one of the trickiest and most necessary components of growth.

Hidden Threats

Traps posed a separate downside. In earlier designs, traps had been invisible. On a first playthrough, there was no manner so that you can know the place traps had been, which could possibly be irritating. Hinting at traps might assist, however when you decoded the sample, the suspense was gone. Worse, invisible traps might disrupt the gameplay – a fastidiously deliberate flip could possibly be ruined by an surprising lure, which didn’t encourage strategic considering or considerate planning.

Hero Selection Problem

With ten obtainable heroes, every with completely different playstyles, we found that each gamers and even the event workforce tended to not swap between heroes regularly. This meant that a lot of the potential for experimenting with completely different celebration compositions and techniques was being underutilized.

As soon as we understood these challenges, the workforce started designing options that preserved exploration, technique, and selection whereas preserving the gameplay clear and fascinating.

Exploring New Heights

To handle the challenges we confronted with scale and visibility, we break up every quest into a number of flooring. Shifting between flooring through staircases, getting into new and undiscovered ranges with restricted visibility, recreated that sense of venturing into the unknown whereas preserving the hero and atmosphere clear.

We additionally maintained thematic consistency throughout flooring — for instance, if gamers encountered mummies on the primary ground, it was possible they might face extra mummies supported by extra monsters on subsequent flooring. This strategy helped gamers anticipate and put together for encounters whereas preserving the sensation of discovery.

Quest descriptions and notes had been used to trace at upcoming encounters, providing you with extra context and the flexibility to plan forward.

Traps as Technique

Traps had been redesigned to help strategic considering slightly than disrupt it. By inserting seen traps in entrance of closed doorways or treasures, you might now make calculated selections: proceed and threat the lure, or discover one other strategy. Falling into a lure throughout fight grew to become a deliberate choice, a strategic sacrifice, slightly than an unfair interruption to gameplay.

Rotating the Social gathering

To inspire gamers to experiment with completely different heroes, we carried out a system simulating exhaustion and “loss of life.” Steady use of a hero, or their loss of life in a earlier quest, reduces their beginning well being within the subsequent quest, whereas leaving a hero unused for a few quests will increase their beginning well being. This encourages rotation and retains every celebration composition feeling recent.

Bringing it All Collectively

Now that we had solved what every quest would include, it was time to construct the marketing campaign. We blended in a narrative that progresses all through the sport, providing you with a clear sense of motive and immersion as you progress from quest to quest.

On the Hero Camp, you should buy playing cards and handle your heroes’ development, monitoring development and making ready for upcoming challenges. The camp serves because the central hub the place technique, preparation, and story intersect.