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Sword of Atlas

Tactics Role-Playing Game inspired by Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics

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  • Tools: Unreal Engine 4, Perforce, JIRA, Excel, Miro

  • Platform: PC

  • Team: 15 people

  • Dev Time: 9/21 - 5/22​​

  • Download on Steam!

Level Walkthrough:
Beldam's Hideout
 
Level Goals

  • Deliver a climactic resolution to Act I while revealing the larger conflict.

  • Test the skills the player has learned with a challenging and claustrophobic mini-boss encounter.

  • Ramp up the encounter's intensity with surprise events.

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Main Design Skills Used

  • Verticality

  • Chokepoints​​

  • Baiting

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Specific Example Breakdowns
SoA_Level3_2DLayout.jpg

  • Verticality

    • Four tiers of elevation make the smallest map in the game one of the most engaging by presenting the player with risk/reward pathing choices.​

    • The elevated positions of the enemy archers force players to choose between exposing their party on two flanks if they take the fastest route across the cavern (the bridges) or spending precious time traversing the outer rim where their attacks can reach the archers.

    • Verticality can benefit players if they position their ranged party members on the outer rim and use their tank to draw Beldam (the mini-boss) into attacking range.

  • Chokepoints

    • ​The two narrow rope bridges both act as chokepoints that funnel party members through single-file and expose them to ranged attacks from two fronts.

      • If players retreat to the bridges after enemy reinforcements have spawned, then they're able to take advantage of the chokepoints by reducing the number of enemies that must simultaneously be dealt with.

    • The horseshoe shaped landing that Beldam begins the battle on is a chokepoint that only affords players the choice to fight Beldam in close-quarters or run away, contributing to a claustrophobic feel not seen in the preceding maps.

      • If players concentrate their entire party on one side of the north end of the map and draw Beldam up from the horseshoe path, they're then able to use the chokepoint to levy triple attacks on her while remaining protected as long as she's still at lower elevation.​

    • The central archer's perch serves as a chokepoint which requires players to go out of their way and isolate a party member if they want to dispatch the enemy with the longest range on the map.​

      • If players do take out the central archer, they can take his spot and reap the benefits of a protected spot to snipe the majority of the map from.​

  • Baiting

    • The emotional shock of Beldam initiating the battle by pulling the unnamed protagonist across the gap with an attack players haven't seen before lures most players to rush away from the optimal strategy and into a close-quarters, claustrophobic fight.​

    • The trap is amplified when Beldam calls in surprise reinforcements and concentrates them at the north ends of the rope bridges, cluttering the exact area where players are likely to be fighting and encouraging chaotic melee combat.

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Main Lesson Learned

  • Always keep the player moving.

    • It's not fun when players discover an optimal strategy and they're no longer on their toes.​ It's even less fun when that optimal strategy revolves around staying put.

      • The ideal way to complete the battle is to never move your party beyond the initial landing. Because Beldam (the mini-boss) pulls your strongest melee character in close at the start, you can let them duke it out while keeping your healer and ranged attacker away from Beldam's minions but within range to damage Beldam and heal your melee fighter.​

    • For a more balanced and engaging battle, I'd change things in at least one of three ways:

      • Specifically have Beldam snatch Gregory (the healer) at the start of the battle rather than the unnamed protagonist (the tank).​​

        • The unnamed protagonist is a strong melee fighter, so despite the onset of panic from the unexpected relocation, Beldam actually puts herself in harm's way with her initial attack.​

        • Gregory, on the other hand, is a very weak melee fighter and vital to the party as its only healer. Putting him in danger with the initial surprise attack would force players to rush in for a rescue mission.

      • Give the central elevated archer increased damage so that he must be dealt with.

        • This archer is situated at the highest tier of elevation and therefore has great attack range, but his attacks are so weak that players can mostly ignore him and put all of their attack focus on Beldam.​

        • Arguably, the weak archer attack is a global problem with the enemy class itself, but if we assume that their damage is well-balanced for the rest of the game, then we could still give this particular archer higher damage by either making it a higher level / special class, or by changing the enemy to an environmental weapon like a catapult.

        • Given the additional art asks of either solution, it's worth calling out scope considerations for this issue.

      • Have the reinforcements' spawn locations dynamically adapt to be closest to Shylah (the ranged attacker).

        • Because Beldam's reinforcements always spawn at the north end of the map, if a player is using the optimal strategy of keeping Gregory and Shylah at the south end, then the reinforcements will ignore them in favor of pursuing the closer unnamed protagonist.​ This allows players to continue sitting tight and dealing damage to Beldam while healing their tank.

        • If the reinforcements spawned in relative to Shylah's location, however, they'd immediately put the player's only good ranged attacker in danger and take attention off of Beldam. Players would have to either kill all the reinforcements or move Shylah before they could resume using her against Beldam.

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