Deathstring Nightfall

Keyfacts:

Engine: Unreal Engine 5.1
Platform: PC (Windows)
Controls: Keyboard, Controller

Genre: Tower Defense
Perspective: Third-Person
Setting: Stylized Dark Fantasy
Style: Semi Realism


About the Game:

Assuming the role of a demon huntress, armed with a crossbow and the power to cast magic, players are tasked with ridding her contractors‘ manor of portals to the underworld. As they explore the various rooms and corridors of the estate, they must also secure their source of magic, the Nexus, as its destruction marks game over by their own death.
To fend off the countless minions spawned each night, players can use mana and collected spells, represented by cards, to build powerful defensive statues or vicious traps. Depending on which statue is built, enemies will be slowed by ice, blasted by fire, or suffer chained damage from electrocution. If that doesn’t stop them, spike or bear traps might, if the whirling blades haven’t already done so.

Having survived another night, players must use the day wisely:
Will they open more rooms, activate the portals behind them, use the cards they have collected, or search for more artefacts? The clock is ticking, and as the night phase approaches, the aforementioned options are closed and a new and stronger wave of enemies awaits, ready to take over the mansion once and for all.
Competitive players can add their scores to a high score list or try their luck on the harder difficulty for their next replay.

For more active players, the agile movement makes for interesting melee combat:
Dashing renders them invulnerable for a few seconds, while also pushing them in the desired direction.
Sprinting, which recharges over time, increases a player’s normal speed while in use.
Jump/Double jump helps to avoid enemies and change positions during combat.
Teleportation back to the Nexus allows players to return to the source of mana whenever and wherever they choose.
When going into battle, regular shots can be combined with rechargeable super shots.
The final purification of the building depends on collecting four mystical artefacts hidden throughout the level and surviving the cost: Once collected, a more powerful demon – Nox – will be summoned to test the players as she can cast spells on her own.


My tasks:

Unit behavior:
As the game consists of spawning enemies in waves of increasing numbers and challenging players with bosses in between, with selectable difficulty levels, explicit management was required. Since the enemies also needed to be able to reach the Nexus, it was important to monitor the activation of their portal depending on the opening of the connected door and the collection of the artefacts. Locking/unlocking these options during the day/night and triggering the phase change were also taken into account.

UI implementation:
In addition to the minimap, the HUD displays everything from player and Nexus health and mana levels, to score, day/enemies remaining and the current hand of cards. Animated transitions or feedback, such as health flashing or cards scrolling up or down, direct the player’s view to the most important elements at any given time. To prevent frustration, inaccessible options are explained by short texts that pop up in the centre of the screen, such as ‚Out of Mana‘.

Card-system:
To allow players to build or upgrade towers and traps, buff themselves or heal, the game designer created a card system. Slain enemies drop cards at set rates, which remain active for a period of time before disappearing. The collection, display and use of cards is managed through a user interface and card manager.

Gameplay / performance:
In order to make the game accessible on low to mid-range computers, settings and assets as well as VFX had to be closely managed. From implementing object pools to limit despawning to optimising collision calls and raytracing, adjustments were made.


Changed plans:

Enemy variations:
As well as the two implemented enemies, variations were also planned. The regular mob enemies should have been expanded to include types that could also attack, or have different weaknesses against certain types of towers or traps.

Multiple upgrades:
Beyond a single upgrade, the towers were intended to have multiple levels, which would have changed their attacks slightly. With the priority on polishing the main gameplay, the increase in enemy variations and upgrades was cut. This made room for a tutorial in the main menu and allowed players to choose between two difficulty levels.

Re-/ move towers & traps:
As the placement of towers and traps should be reversible, the possibility of removing towers / traps and returning them to the player’s hand was considered. However, due to the upgradeability of towers and balance issues, this was abandoned.