Project Summary

Legend of Kyle is a top down dungeon crawler style game. There are multiple different types of enemies, giving the game elements of a shoot ‘em up. The character gains various abilities to provide options to choose their own playstyle.

Development

This game was built in Unity with a five person team. My primary contribution to the game was a system for the creation of enemies (monsters). They were designed using a code structure that made it easy to interchange individual pieces to minimize repetition of code, while still providing a high degree of flexibility in behavior. I also contributed to visual aspects through my work on the camera movements, character animation, and particles. Within the team, I provided leadership, focused the direction of the project, and coordinated the integration of the game components.

The game is playable on Kongregate at this link

Game Overview

The main loop of the game is entering a room in the dungeon and killing all the monsters to move to the next room. Ultimately trying to find the Boss Room and defeat it to move to the next level.

Start of Game

The game begins by establishing the quest and giving a short backstory.

There is an overworld where players can choose which level to play and are given additional information and storyline at various points.

Tutorial Section

The tutorial presents a series of basic rooms as well as UI overlays to teach the basic game controls (movement, melee attack, ranged attack, and rolling)

The ranged attack has a charge up time that affects the speed, distance, and damage of the arrow that is fired. The UI icon of a bow in the top right hand corner appears and shows the string pulling back as it charges.

This is a basic fight in a dungeon room.

Throughout the game, the monsters increase in complexity and ability. This first monster splits in half the first time it is killed.

Boss doors purple and have particles rising out of them.

The tutorial boss is a version of the Splitter Monster that is larger and splits an additional time.

Once the boss has been defeated, the player is presented with game statistics showing how well they did.

Power ups

Monsters have a small chance of dropping a power up on death. There are three possibilities: a heal (the heart), a temporary speed boost (the lightening bolt), or temporary invulnerability (the star). The player emits corresponding particles while the buffs are active.

Level 1

Having completed the tutorial, the player returns to the overworld and the character makes their way to Level 1

New Monsters

This monster shoots 4 projectiles at a time

This monster rushes toward the player quickly, pauses, and then rushes forward again.

Sample Level 1 Gameplay

As levels progress, fights become more hectic and challenging.

The player has a minimap to help them navigate the dungeon. Information is added as they move to new rooms, making the map grow. The room that the player is currently in is brighter than the other rooms.

The Boss has more health than a normal enemy and has a fixed pattern of strong attacks.

Level 2

Having completed Level 1, the character makes a beeline directly to Level 2.

On this level, the player is given a new ability to teleport a short distance. There is a ability icon that appears under the health bar when it is ready to use. Teleporting can help a player escape from sticky situations.

New Monsters

This monster shoots projectiles that zig-zag.

This monster shoots 3 projectiles simultaneously in an arc.

This monster generates a spiral of projectiles around them.

Sample Level 2 Gameplay

Monsters now have one more health and there tends to be more monsters in a room. This
leads to more projectiles filling the room.

The boss for this level has more complex attacks and has a different attack animation for each one to signal what he is going to do.

Level 3

Having completed Level 2, the character heads excitedly to the final level.

The player is given another new ability that allows them to push away both monsters and objects in the dungeon. This provides the player a tool to deal with large numbers of enemies by making space and dealing damage. There is another icon under the health bar that indicates when the ability is ready.

New Monsters

This monster fires projectiles that bounce off of walls and objects in the room.

This monster fires projectiles that create pools of lava that damage the player when they stand in it.

This monster holds a shield in front of it that blocks all types of attack, requiring the player to take advantage of the monster’s slow turn rate.

This monster has four orbs that spin around it and damage the player.

Sample Level 3 Gameplay

Fights in Level 3 tend to be even more complicated and challenging, requiring the player to use a wider range of tactics to be successful.

This boss generates lots of projectiles and lava pools creating a more dangerous environment which requires the player to be more aware of their movement and the threats in the room.

End of Game

Clearing all 3 dungeons, the character takes a bit of a victory lap.

The player is presented with the end of the storyline, with them having successfully saved the kingdom.