Primary Roles:
UI Design
The original version of Elementale Royale was built for a computer keyboard, and adapting it for mobile was an interesting challenge. The prototype version of the game requires players to hold down a key on their computer to perform a defensive move in-game. This decision was made to push more aggressive gameplay in the original version and was an idea carried into the mobile expansion. It was decided that the mobile version should use a 3D shield button at the top of the screen to press and hold during battle in order to keep gameplay fast-paced.
Another adaptation challenge was making sure not to obscure the screen by cluttering it with buttons. Since element buttons took up much more of the field of view, it was necessary to modify the visual cues used for when elements had already been used. 3D buttons were initially used to keep element buttons consistent with the shield button, but it was found that a pressed button helped convey exactly what we wanted.
The sword and shield symbols cover the entirety of the exhausted elements to inform the player of whether they used an offensive or defensive move using a sword and shield symbol, respectively. In the prototype version, they almost completely covered the elemental icons, making it difficult to know which element was which. The mobile version fixed this by only covering the top right of the element buttons and adding colors to the sword and shield symbols that matched their corresponding elements.
User Flow
Collaborated with other designers to wireframe in-game screens. Ensured that players could easily return to the main menu after selecting a character, changing settings, or logging in/out of an account.
Since our game's main feature is the ability to play online, the online button is at the top center of the screen and colored red to grab players' attention. The middle of the screen features the current selected character for online play, right above the loadout button that takes the player to the character select screen.
The character select screen includes a character roster that can be dragged and dropped into slots for 2 players. Selecting a character prompts a pop up with a short description. Players can also access the shop from this screen in order to unlock new characters and other content (not currently available).
First draft of the menu
Final draft of the menu
First draft of character select screen featuring a loadout bar that players can drag characters and elements into. It did not take local multiplayer into account and concealed characters behind a scrolling selection bar.
Final draft of character select screen that separates selectable characters and elements. This allows 2 players to select characters at the same time for local multiplayer and created room for descriptions of selected characters.
Graphic Design
Brainstormed art style prioritizing characters, designing all other assets in the same style. Created a colorful cast of fighters, stylized UI elements, and backgrounds for the final product. Collaborated with an animator to bring them to life in game.
Characters: Crabboil, Roboking, Duomelon, and Goopler
3D cartoon stylized menu buttons
Battle background
Sound Design
Created an upbeat soundtrack composed of gritty synthesizers, brass hits, and saxophone solos to match Elementale Royale's back and forth fast-paced gameplay. Completely reworked the theme from the prototype to match the game's new energy and shift to a more modern feel to complement the new art style.
Reflection
This was a great opportunity to reinvent a past project and flesh out features that were not once possible. This project introduced me to rebranding a project while keeping its core elements intact. I also became a lot more familiar with Adobe Illustrator when using the program to create the game's artwork. While I am satisfied with the project as a whole, if I could go back I would rework some of the core elements of the game, as I believe that our team stayed a bit "too true" to the original. I feel that there were elements that could have made gameplay and interactivity much more dynamic, such as timers that encourage players to select moves faster to push aggressive play styles. Overall, this game was a great learning experience that enhanced my design and artistic abilities.