Unreleased First-Person Action Physics Puzzle Game
Robotoki, 2014, Infernal Engine
During one summer break at USC, I was hired as a full-time contractor at Robotoki to be the lone level designer of their small side project, teamed up with one engineer and a tech designer. There was also a rotating support cast of developers from the main project.
When I joined, most of the game mechanics were complete, and the level kit’s assets were fully arted. There wasn’t much in the way of levels, and the studio wanted to start fresh. During my 3 month contract, I made all of the game’s 7 levels using these assets and scripted the gameplay using the engine’s C# like proprietary script. We made a gold master build for PC, Playstation, Xbox, and WiiU, but unfortunately the publishing company went under and Robotoki followed not long after. Thus this game never saw the light of day.
All that is public of this game are short glimpses in this sizzle reel and for that I am very grateful!
I had a blast working like a mad scientist, making use of the fun existing game objects. But the game had some unique concepts and use of physics simulation, so the focus was to design a good learning curve and pace out the mechanics so that the player could master them without frustration. Another challenge was to give just the right amount of non-verbal hints through affordances. I had devs from the other project come to playtest on a regular basis.
The connections I made from this Summer job lead me to apply and join Roqovan shortly after my graduation. Goes to show a project may be cancelled but the people remain.