NIALL CRABTREE - GAME DESIGNER
Menu

Level Design Details - Lethal Deal Development Log 3

1/31/2022

Comments

 
Most players when traversing carefully designed levels never realise just how carefully that level was put together. With Lethal Deal, from the very first block out, I wanted to make sure the player never felt overwhelmed, confused, or lost. And on the flip side, I always wanted the player to feel powerful and in charge of their movement. The core design pillar of Lethal Deal is to make the player feel like a badass, and being overwhelmed by decisions isn't a great way to achieve that. 
Example 1: So many jumpads!!!
Picture
Problem: I noticed after finishing the first pass of the block out for the opening arena level that I was getting overwhelmed by the amount of glowing jumpads in my immediate view when I spawned in. My first instinct was to just remove some of the jumpads, but I knew that it would mess up the flow of movement that I had designed into the level. I've always found that it's better to try and make an aspect of a game work first before deciding to remove it.

Read More
Comments

User Testing - Lethal Deal Development Log 2

1/28/2022

Comments

 
Hello all and welcome back to another blog post about Lethal Deal, if you aren’t caught up on the development of Lethal Deal, please refer back to the previous blog post here. 
This post is all about user testing. After the first week of development I thought it essential to go out there and perform as many over-the-shoulder tests as I could in the span of just a couple of days. I am such a fan of iterative and feedback lead development, I thought planning our next phase of development with the aid of user feedback would be a great way to go. Here are the results of the tests as well as an example video of what the 14 tests looked like. These were all performed using the build from the fifth day of development.
Picture

Read More
Comments

The First Game Jam - Lethal Deal Development Log 1

1/24/2022

Comments

 
​Hello! This post is about the "team project" module for my final year on the games design degree at the University of Huddersfield. This is the first of a series of development posts relating to Lethal Deal, a vertical slice for a video game I am working on with seven other people who form the team
​Inline 9. ​We have a 12-week development cycle, including three game jam weeks (40+ hours Monday to Friday) and nine regular weeks (16+ hours Monday to Friday). 
Picture

Read More
Comments

    Author

    Hello, my name is Niall Crabtree, and this is my comprehensive blog showcasing all of my game development 
    ​endeavors and successes, as well as essays on game design.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    June 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020

    Mailing List

    Receive an email every two weeks with all the articles I produce so you never miss one!
    * indicates required

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • FATAL KNOCKOUT
  • Projects
  • Blog
    • Lethal Deal
    • Langskip
    • Food Time Battle in Space
    • Blockers: The Stacking Game
  • Talks & Interviews
  • Contact Me
  • —————————
  • Video Essays
  • Podcast
  • Mailing List Sign Up
  • Home
  • FATAL KNOCKOUT
  • Projects
  • Blog
    • Lethal Deal
    • Langskip
    • Food Time Battle in Space
    • Blockers: The Stacking Game
  • Talks & Interviews
  • Contact Me
  • —————————
  • Video Essays
  • Podcast
  • Mailing List Sign Up