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Unsanctified

Role: Systems Designer

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Game Summary

Unsanctified is a third person horror game with souls like elements. 

Responsibilities

These responsibilities are still ongoing and are labeled according to their current stage in development.

 

Concepted: a game design document was created and pitched to the team and approved.

Prototyped: I have already implemented it into the game, but it is in an unpolished state.

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Finished: In a polished state. 
 

  • Inventory system (Prototyped)​

  • Shop (Prototyped)

  • Items (Concepted)

  • Player Stat Upgrades (Prototyped)

  • Weapon Upgrade (Prototyped)

  • Hazards and Status Effects (Concepted)

Items, Inventory, and Shop

When I was brought on to the project, the player can pick up three items and cycle between the three of them. I was tasked with expanding on this mechanic by creating a more indepth inventory system, a shop and new concepts for items. 

Inventory System Concept

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Image designed in figma

The concept that I decided to come up with included a three-by-three grid. Players will still cycle between three objects, but in this concept, they will now be able to store a few items in reserve slots. 

Inventory System Prototype

Using my concept, I implemented an inventory system that allows the player hold up to 9 item stacks. 

Shop System Concept

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Image designed in figma

My Shop system concept includes a compact list of shop items.

Shop System Prototype

Image designed in figma

Players can now buy items and they will go straight into their inventory.

Player Upgrade System

I was tasked with creating a player progression system that keeps most players' attention focused on their guns. The progression system should encourage players to use their wits, and they should be able to adapt to various combat situations. 

After receiving this task, I designed two upgrade systems: a simple player stat upgrade system and a more complex weapon upgrade system. 

Player Stat Upgrade 

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I designed a simple upgrade system for the three bars the player monitors while playing: Health, Stamina, and Mana. The player will be able to level up each stat. 

Player Stat Upgrades Prototype

I applied the concept and developed a system that allows players to upgrade their stats. 

Player Weapon Upgrade concept 1

When designing the weapon upgrade system, the constraints that I was given were that the player should be able to adapt their builds for different combat encounters. 

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For context, the main currency gain in the game is obtained by killing enemies. If the player dies, then they lose all of their unspent currency.

Given that constraint, the system must allow the player to change their builds without putting the same currency back in their pocket. If the player gets their currency back, that player is at risk of losing not just the progress of the currency they spent but also the currency they haven't spent.

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In my first concept, I designed an upgrade system where the player can level up the gun to receive a linear stat upgrade to the gun called a minor upgrade.  These upgrades are relatively small gun stat buffs.

After receiving a few minor upgrades, the player will receive the option to select between two different major upgrades. Major upgrades are large buffs that force the player to choose. To allow the player to adapt to different situations, players will be able to toggle between each major upgrade choice.

Player Weapon Upgrade concept 2

I later decided to remake my concept for weapon upgrades because I felt like it wasn't well presented, and it didn't have enough player freedom. 

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In this new concept, players will be able to use their currency to fill a weapon upgrade bar. After the bar is filled, the player will gain a stat point.

I decided to make this decision to allow the player to invest their points into more expensive upgrades. The bar also leaves many opportunities to make the game feel the a satisfying experience itself 

Stat points can be spent to increase specific stats on the weapon. 

With this system it leaves an opportunity for the player to respect without risk of losing everything by giving the player back their stat points instead of the currency. 

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After the player reaches a specific level, they will get the option to infuse their weapon with a chaos upgrade or an order upgrade.  This system is similar to the major upgrades in concept 1.

 

Weapon infusions are designed to scale with the stats the player upgraded. Players are incentivized to think of what upgrades they made to their stats when choosing infusions. For example, if the player chooses an infusion that increases their damage by 50 percent, they will get a bigger boost from it the more they upgrade their damage. 

Player Weapon Upgrade Prototype

I took my concept and implemented it into Unreal Engine 5. I added a cost value to the stats to give myself more control over how many stat points should cost. 

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All the values in this system are being controlled with data tables. 

I used the infusion concept, and I created a way for players to toggle between infusions. One of my biggest focuses when creating the system was to make sure that players know the effect of each upgrade.

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