Michael Phillips Game Design

[michaelphillipsgamedesign]

Raiders of Thebes is a 2.5D side-scrolling turn-based RPG developed by a team of 22 Norco College students and worked on for 16 weeks. I was one of the game designers on the project.

In combat, the player fights with a party of three against an enemy party. The combat is position-based, with the party member in front having two offensive abilities and is the one receiving damage by enemies while the party members behind have two defensive abilities. The player can pick one of the two abilities to use, then pick an enemy to attack (if the ability is an offensive one) or pick a party member to help out (if the ability is a defensive one). Most abilities are simply to click on the enemy/party member to activate, while there are other abilities that starts up a short minigame that you must do that determines how effective your ability will be. The player can also choose to swap around who becomes leader. Once the player wins a battle, the player will automatically walk to the right until they crosses path with around enemy to fight.

There are three levels in the game: the Desert, the Catacombs, and Amun-Ra’s throne. Each end of a level have a boss fight: a Sphinx (Desert), a Crocodile Guardian (Catacombs), and Amun-Ra (Throne).

[michaelphillipsgamedesign]

Last year, I was in a prototyping class and was paired in a group to design a game based on a mash-up of different themes and genres in Unity. My team was tasked to design a rhythm game set in the American Revolution. My team threw around different ideas on how our game should play like, and ended up making the game play similar to Guitar Hero or Donkey Konga.

Controls:

Left Arrow Key - Left Foot

Right Arrow Key - Right Foot

Up Arrow Key - Salute

Down Arrow Key - Shoot (Bang)

The notes scroll on a track and the player must press the correct key the moment the corresponding note icon is inside the circle. Hitting the correct key at the correct time will give the player points and can get a combo. There is a health bar that decreases if the player misses the note or press the incorrect key. If the health bar is depleted, the game is over. The music used for the game was a cover of Yankee Doodle.

I was in charge of the timing of the music when the player is suppose to hit a note in sync with the song. The notes would spawn on the top off-screen and scroll down. I listened to the Yankee Doodle song my team used for the game, had a piece of paper with me, and timed moments during the song where it would be appropriate to place a note where the player is suppose to hit it. After making a list of the placements for the notes, I would go on Unity and spawn and space out the notes to match the timing in my list.

[michaelphillipsgamedesign]

There are three playable characters in Heat Stroke. The first one is Edgar, the Crusader. He have a standard basic attack and two special abilities. His Smash Attack ability is able to attack multiple enemies at the same time. His Two-Hit Combo ability attacks a single enemy twice.

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Early look at the Atrium level, the final level in the game where the player will fight the final boss of the game.

Credit to Barry Lohman for creating the props.

[michaelphillipsgamedesign]

Heat Stroke (working title) is a 2D sidescrolling turn-based RPG that is inspired by Darkest Dungeon that I am currently working on with a team of 22 students at Norco College. The project started on February 23, 2018 and it is being made on Unity. I am one of the game designers on the team and I designed the Atrium level, level progression, core combat mechanics, and the unique Heat Meter and its effects.