Dungeon Stars

High-Level Design & Proto

Prototype/Game Design:

Working with engineering guru, Jim Montgomery, we set out to build a prototype that proves out an endless runner style dungeon delver with roots in JRPG-style design. We utilized elemental affinity, room-to-room combat & big bosses but added in gear as a key way to build uniquely powerful characters. So…yay, random loot items! Rogue-lite.

The heroes level up and gain powers. They can also be assigned a collecticle pet (a.i.). The gear, however, which was the cornerstone of creating builds, leveraged procs (programmed random occurrences). The powers of the gear heavily synergized with the combat mechanics (attack, block, slam) as well as the elemental color affinities in the game. Lots of variety in builds emerged creating things from super ice-healers to insanely explosive dps pyromaniacs.

Core Combat Design

RNG ROOMS: Hero characters constantly charge from left to right moving through room after room containing a variety of modular encounters. The players timing and choice of actions bolstering survival or success. If the hero survives, they reach the end of the floor and the stairs down to the next level eventually reaching the final room. Aside from a few pre-determined static rooms (mini-bosses, final bosses), each floor of the dungeon was a sequence of random rooms pulled from a collection of room tables. Tons of varied rooms gradually increasing in difficulty create the challenge curve and exploration of the game.

SIMPLY DEEP: While the core mechanical inputs of the game were very simple (attack, block, slam) , a great deal of depth was created when layering in elemental affinity, pets, powers and gear. As synergies were layered in the system, it became evident that a great deal flexibility and power could be discovered by combining various pieces into a hero’s build. This created a simple but rich experience leaning into replay typically found in a good rogue-lite game.

Gear System Design

Players allocate collectible gear into five open slots on their hero. The types were Gem, Belt, Bracer, Ring and Amulet. Each had a function that tied into game states in combat. (i.e. belts typically trigger procs on a block)

Since gear was obtained as random loot drops and available in random offers in a shop, we need a lot of variety and power levels that came from an expansive list.

One example was a magic belt that had a chance to proc an icy aura around the wearer when they block an attack. The aura lasted for a short time and did its own ice-based DPS (blue) to any enemy in the aura. Each of the DPS hits from the aura carried a small chance to actually freeze an opponent for a time.

This could be the foundation for a possible character build. For instance, a player might add an amulet that improves the hero's chance to crit when attacking frozen opponents. Or a gem that procs a heal when the hero hits a frozen opponent.

World Design

WORLD: Hordes of evil coming up from the depths and heroes descending down through the ranks of enemies to eventually get to the big boss: The Conqueror Worm. Near the top are lesser goblins, shamans and champions. Eventually, the deeper caverns give way to more abominable creatures and horrors.

STORY: In addition to an animated slideshow for the intro with a Poe-style poem, the game featured a list of dungeons delves, each with its own title card revealing fragments of the story progression in the game. Players could challenge mini-bosses, free captured pets and unlock new heroes. Sometimes limited opportunities for lost treasures would be discovered.

Since the final boss was a legendary god-like entity. If the players were victorious, they could only beat it back down to the depths from whence it came. There lost and humiliated it would eventually grow again to exist in a ng+ (new game in hard mode). This final moment was presented by an animated slideshow as a visual bookend to the game...

Brand/Look/Feel

Dungeon Stars was presented with highly animated 2D characters overlaid on a 3D scrolling world that conveyed depth and atmosphere. The vision was inspired by traditional animation roots where often simple designs of highly animated characters were offset by rich background paintings. It was important to keep the heroes and their abilities quick, explosive and colorful. The game experience constantly moving forward.

World Progression: In early dungeons, minions would appear a bit more cartoonish and abstract. Deeper dungeons featured enemies that would be a bit more scary and otherworldly. The final boss, The Conqueror Worm, being the most horrific, massive and fearsome.