Urban Legends (Demo)
A comic-book superhero simulator
Studio: Sonamu Games LLC (self-employed, owner)
Platforms: Windows (Unreleased)
Timeline: January 2018 - August 2020
Responsibilities: Programming, Design, Direction, Production, Business Development, 2D Art and Animation
Tools: GameMaker Studio, GML (GameMaker Language), DragonBones Animation, Krita
About
Blending RPG and life-simulator mechanics with a fast-paced beat-em-up combat system, Urban Legends lets you live out your crime-fighting fantasy. Procedurally-generated gangs and villains fight for control of the city, and it's up to you to stop them.
Contributions
I designed and programmed the entire demo and maintained a detailed game design document throughout development.
I developed a fast-paced 2D fighting system designed to be a modern reinvention of classic beat-em-up combat.
I developed a system where randomly-generated villians would send their minions to fight for control over locations and resources throughout the game's city, similar to AI you would find in a 4X strategy game.
I worked with a concept artist to design the game's main characters, establish a visual style, and build an art style guide. I drew all art assets for the demo using Krita and animated the character sprites using DragonBones.
I worked with an indie rock band to develop the game's main theme along with two other tracks to help define the tone of the world and of the game overall.
I managed development tasks using Trello and planned a timeline for each stage (alpha, beta, etc.) of the game's development. I arranged meetings with individual artists and professional game animation studios about producing the majority of the game's 2D assets to help estimate a budget for the game.
I created a pitch document, website, video, and gathered screenshots to help describe the game to publishers. I pitched the a demo of the game to six independent game publishers, including Devolver Digital and Raw Fury. None of them decided to publish the game, but I corresponded with the three publishers who replied to gather feedback.