GAME DESIGNER
NELSON SCHNEIDER
Umbra
Horror/Sci-fi, FPS
Role: Game Designer
Engine: Unity
Team size: 14
Duration: 4 Months
My Roles
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Design enemy and boss behavior.
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Gameplay mechanics.
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Create level designs.
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Documentation.
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Lead team meetings.
Description
Umbra is a First-Person Shooter that bundles horror and sci-fi elements in a fight for your life within an abandoned facility to escape the solar system that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Using your weapons, movement, and magic system, you must explore deeper into the facility, discovering its secrets in order to survive and face the horrors that lay within.
Design Features
Enemy Behavior
In my role as one of the designers, I was responsible for creating the mechanics for the game's enemies. The basic enemies have a set path they follow unless the player enters their field of vision or initiates an attack. They become hostile when the player gets too close but will give up the chase once the player moves out of their attack range.
However, things take a different turn when it comes to the boss character.
For the boss, I really wanted to make it feel powerful and menacing. To achieve this, we designed the boss to be constantly aware of the player's location. This means that players need to stay on their toes and act quickly to avoid the boss catching up to them.
Initially, players could use their regular weapons to take down the boss. However, after numerous playtests, it became evident that defeating the boss too early took away from the game's sense of danger. To address this issue, a special weapon was implemented that players must uncover through exploration in order to defeat the boss.
Wall Running
We went through several iterations to perfect the wall-running mechanic, considering it's one of the game's major features. Our aim was to make sure players could easily get the hang of it. To execute a wall run, all you need to do is hold down the shift key while facing the wall. To keep things balanced and prevent any exploitation, I designed it so that players gradually lose altitude while wall-running and eventually slip off after a short duration.
Flares
Following numerous playtesting sessions with various players, I noticed that many of them were getting disoriented in the darkness of the game. To tackle this issue, The team and I came up with a solution: we decided to give players flares that they can toss onto the ground. This way, when players find themselves lost, they can simply throw a flare to light up the area and get their bearings back.
Level Design
Tutorial
The tutorial was carefully crafted to introduce players to the game's core mechanics in a simple and organized manner.
I kicked things off in a small training area where players can get comfortable with their newfound skills.
To move on to the next stage, players encounter a vent that introduces them to the crouch mechanic. Along the way, they find a key card, a crucial item needed to defeat the boss.
Players are then gently introduced to wall running and double jumping mechanics in a safe environment to ensure they grasp these concepts. However, they quickly learn that double jumping comes at the cost of some health, which regenerates over time, teaching them to use this ability judiciously.
As they progress, players put their aiming skills to the test against some enemies. Further down the line, a surprise encounter with the boss near a vent shows players that bullets have no effect. This prompts them to use their crouch ability to escape into the vent, eventually leading them to the main area of the level.
Art Gallery Rooms
I designed these rooms to evoke the atmosphere of an old, abandoned art gallery frozen in time. My goal was to spark players' imaginations, making them wonder about the untold stories that might have unfolded here.
At first glance, as players step into these rooms, nothing may seem particularly out of place. Yet, as they explore further, they'll start to notice scattered art pieces, toppled pillars, and mannequins arranged in unsettling and mysterious poses. These subtle but intriguing details suggest that something unsettling and enigmatic occurred within these walls, leaving players to ponder the secrets hidden within.
