Combat Design
A specialization of mine is designing combat spaces. This page is meant to highlight the combat design work on my various projects.
Battle of Dunwalsh - Long Range Combat
The introduction was inspired by cover shooters with medium and tall covers spaced around to allow the player to start playing their way. Though as the level progresses the sightlines become longer enforcing the long-range playstyle.
The layout of the cover gives the player multiple options. The blue cover gives the player immediate cover, the barrels give the player a tall cover for better protection, and the player can see the upper terrain clearly.
The layout of the cover gives the player multiple options. The blue cover gives the player immediate cover, the barrels give the player a tall cover for better protection, and the player can see the upper terrain clearly.
While the player can start stationary, the walls blocking their sightlines and the more spaced out enemies force the player to move from building to building in order to take out the enemies.
The area begins with long sightlines so the player can see enemies from further away, but still have to deal with walls forcing the player to move forward to take down other enemies.
Rooftop provides tall cover to incentive ranged combat, meanwhile the building across uses medium cover to allow or mid-range.
Each building is connected by narrow paths making progression easy, but also potentially makes the player vulnerable. Reinforcing the ranged combat.
The area begins with long sightlines so the player can see enemies from further away, but still have to deal with walls forcing the player to move forward to take down other enemies.
The "Outpost" was designed to test what the player has learned. The area has 3 entrances; the main entrance in which the player must fight enemies head one, a ground path to the left that has more cover allowing the player to sneak, and the final upper path which is designed for sniper builds to take out enemies from afar though has the least amount of cover.
By entering the right side of the outpost, the player can get to a highpoint. While ideal for long distance combat, does leave the player vulnerable. Which encourages them to move to the medium cover in front of them.
Taking the left entrance allows the player to use the lower path. While not ideal for long range, it does provide the most cover to the player.
The area has sniper huts which enemies use, but the player can also use them by climbing up the towers. Thus reinforcing the ranged combat.
By entering the right side of the outpost, the player can get to a highpoint. While ideal for long distance combat, does leave the player vulnerable. Which encourages them to move to the medium cover in front of them.
Each area is designed to provide the player with unique challenges and oppurtunites to make for unique combat. By doing this it forces players to adapt and creating more interesting combat scenarios.
Managing the Distance - Combat Switching
Techniques to Enforce Switching between Melee and Ranged Combat
- Combining Enemies
- Combining Cover
- Using Level Obstacles
The viral will charge at the player with melee attacks, so the player will more likely use melee. But if they see Bomber that explodes on contact, they will switch to range so the bomber doesn't explode near them.
Using tall cover and long sightlines to enable ranged combat.
Short and circular allow for more movement options, enabling melee combat.
Explosive parrels can encourage ranged if placed further away, while barrels closer encourage melee so the player doesn't set them off.
Trouble at Hardlock - Multiple Playstyles
One of Fallout's biggest features is how it allows the player to choose how to play. Combat scenarios were designed with this in mind as the cover and weapon placement were meant to give the player variety.
The entrance of Hardlock has low, tall, and circular cover. Allowing for the player to take enemies out from afar or use the circular cover to get close while dodging enemy attacks.
Features winding paths with an upper and lower path to allow ranged and close-quarters playstyles respectively.
Cover is more spread out making it more ideal for ranged combat, but still has low and circular cover to make it ideal for multiple playstyles.
The entrance of Hardlock has low, tall, and circular cover. Allowing for the player to take enemies out from afar or use the circular cover to get close while dodging enemy attacks.
I did this by placing a combination of short, medium, long, and circular cover while keeping good sightlines so the player was always aware of the firefights.
What Lies Beneath - Unique Combat Spaces
To ease the player into combat, the first sequence introduces feral ghouls and traps that the player must avoid in order to progress (show gif of a ghoul running into a fire trap)
The Woods are designed around traps and feral ghouls, so the player has to avoid traps while keeping an eye out for ghouls hiding.
The graveyard is meant to resemble hoard style fighting, requiring the player to take on multiple enemies at once. To accommodate this, circular cover to assist melee player and higher terrain to provide more ranged options to players.
The Temple is centered around a giant boss fight, the arena was compactly designed so the player can't run away while also having tall cover to provide protection.
The church and final fight are designed around human encounters to contrast with the prior monster fights. Low and tall cover were primarily used to accommodate short and long range combat respectively.
To make the combat in the graveyard work as intended, this custom script was made to manage the spawning of different enemies at the correct time.