Magic Circle - Capstone Project

The Game

Soul Of Darkness is a gritty 2.5D combat platformer set in the collapsing world of the future. Fight your way through neon lights and gothic architecture as you reach one step closer to defeating the AI overlord responsible for plunging this world into chaos.

Gameplay Demo

Pre-Production

After selecting a classic title from Gameloft’s extensive catalogue, Soul of Darkness, the team wasted no time brainstorming ideas on modernising it for today’s gamers. An element from the original game that resonated strongly with the team was the concept of “augmentation”. That is, to progressively unlock new abilities that seamlessly integrated into the gameplay, empowering players to master various techniques and overcome obstacles with finesse. Furthermore, the team aimed to elevate both the movement and combat system of the original game, ensuring an adrenaline-fueled, high-octane action experience that would keep players on the edge of their seats right up to the closing credits.

Production

In the initial stages of development, the designer and programmer gave top priority to the creation of movement-related mechanics such as the layer teleportation, aiming to ensure that the player character felt good to control. Concurrently, the artist worked on generating an array of concept arts, character designs, and mood boards.

In the project, the team utilised both C++ and Blueprints in the project, leveraging the strengths of both. As C++ is more performant and grants access to more features than Blueprints, it served as the foundation for constructing core gameplay systems. Subsequently, other team members extended these systems via Blueprints to incorporate supplementary functionalities, including audio and visual elements. Being a visual scripting language, Blueprints had a considerably faster iteration speed than C++, and enabled the designer to rapidly prototype and evaluate various mechanics.

Once the player’s movement was perfected, the team shifted their focus to combat. Here, they integrated a plethora of elements inspired by acclaimed action titles, including combos, directional attacks and more. A diverse range of enemy types, each demanding distinct strategies for defeat, was also crafted. During this phase, the artist was hard at work building meshes, textures, and other essential assets to shape the game's distinct look and atmosphere.

To maintain the game's manageable scope, the team made strategic decisions to trim down certain features, ensuring that the final product would be comprehensive, polished, and devoid of any rough edges.

Testing

In the latter stages of development, the team conducted extensive playtesting sessions to identify and rectify a range of design, technical, and artistic issues that emerged. Notably, numerous revisions were made to the game's levels to enhance the player onboarding experience and ensure a seamless sense of progression.

Pre-Completion

As the project neared its conclusion, the team implemented a content freeze and shifted their focus to the refinement of the game. Their efforts were dedicated to improving the game’s performance, fixing bugs, and introducing quality-of-life features that enhanced the overall gaming experience. Simultaneously, the team directed their attention to marketing initiatives, crafting promotional trailers and materials to guarantee a successful showcase.