Hello and welcome to the fourth development blog for our 2.5D local multiplayer game, "Elementalist". My name is Dylan Levy-Gantt and I am the Game Designer for this project. The game has been quickly moving in a great direction and I would like to share the progress in development during these last two weeks. We have reached over halfway through this development process and semester so I’ve chosen the best bits that have nailed what this game is trying to be right on it’s head. Every department has done excellent work to further the game feel and visual direction and I’m excited to share the progress. Let’s start!

First, the models.

Elementalist World Selection

When I first thought of Elementalist, I imagined a couple of friends and I hackin’ and slashin’ through a mini world that you can run all around in and feel like you were a part of a greater world. A very important feeling I want to give players is that sense of wonder and curiosity when you jump into a new world. “What is waiting for me in there?”’s and “Woah that place looks cool!”’s are two phrases I want said about my game when it’s played. Having these hub worlds to represent that feeling, Brandon could not have done a better job. Can you imagine leaping into one of these worlds with your friends? Seeing a visual challenge that piques interest is all I can ask and these nailed it!

Playable Characters

I want the player to feel like they hold lethal elemental abilities and can unleash them at any point in time. The playermodels and their final color picks lead to fun little dudes on the playing field with a LOT of power. I want players to feel like they see themselves in the character they are playing and can identify with the play style.

Lost Sands Grunt Enemy

Scorched Earth Grunt Enemy

The enemies need to highlight the best parts of the world you are trying to beat and we were able to get some nice concepts out. Enemies like the sand grunt and the scorched grunt are one with their surroundings and blend in with the aesthetic. The player should feel like they are jumping into a fully themed world where everything thrown at you, platform or enemy wise, is within the atmosphere of the world’s overall theme.

Second, the animations.

Ancient Forest Grunt Defend

Water Dash

Electric Dash

The animations play a huge part in this game because it’s where all the power comes from. The quickness of the animations are to highlight the fast paced gameplay. When imagining what the characters will look like and do within the game, I want the characters to move swiftly and embrace their elemental lore. The electric character has a different dash than the water character to highlight the different play styles.

Water Character Hover

Ancient Forest Flyer Approach

Third, the abilities.

Character Hover

Rock Character Rock Shield

The abilities are what really sells the game. Each character has its own special way of attacking enemies and traversing the level so they each should be finely tuned to match the intent of how powerful that player should be. This sprint, we were able to get more core abilities in and tested so that we can always tweak the values to what we like. The water character should feel flowy and graceful, just like water. The rock character should feel tough as stone and throw lethal boulders at enemies.

Disappearing platform

Along with player abilities, the maps must interact with the player as well. Above is a disappearing platform that the player will come across in a later level. Elementalist is a game of quick thinking and tactical execution and it should be challenged when encountering new territory like other worlds.

Putting it all together.

Ancient Forest Full Scenery

My absolute favorite part of this game is experiencing the scenery and environment. The player should feel like they have just hopped into a new world. One with things to explore and collectables to obtain. During this sprint, I was finally able to pull a bunch of assets together and place in a background for the ancient forest that makes it look truly ancient. Particle effects became a big focus for me, letting the stones in the background look like they are giving off an ancient aura. 

Overall, development is going smoothly, however I am starting to have concerns if we will be able to finish everything I had in mind for this development process. Levels are being created a little slower than I would like and this whole coronavirus scare has slowed down morale and energy because of everyone going home for the rest of the semester. Other than that, I am still forever grateful and happy that I get to pioneer my own game from start to finish with a very talented team. 

• Team Elementalist