Project Overview
Responsibilities:
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Developed 2 halftime-show minigames with comprehensive design docs, then coordinated with programmers to playtest and guide their implementation.
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Ideated then fine-tuned the game's economy and meta-progression-- which grants the user upgrades, new playable characters/teams, and a perpetual stream of daily & weekly challenges to strive for.
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Continuously modified the stats and rankings of all player characters to keep in-line with their real life NFL counterparts, while also retaining overall game balance.
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Revamped the tutorial to better communicate the game's core systems, particularly for players without knowledge of the genre or sport.
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Placed deadly field-hazards on 17 Fields, arranging them to balance difficulty, fun, the home-team's theming.
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Collaborated with other designers to adjust and balance various game mechanics, producing documentation and mock-ups to direct programmers.
Hard-hitting, arcade-style football that blends classic sports gameplay with explosive weapons, lethal field hazards, deep strategy, and over-the-top humor.
Company: Digital Dreams Entertainment
Team Size: 30+
Timeline: 3 years [ongoing]
Buy the game here:
'Mutant Football League 2'
Gameplay Design...
Note: Website still under construction. This page will be expanded with more diagrams, gifs, and text
Halftime-Show Minigames:
Halfway through every game of MFL 2, the player is thrust into an intense 45-second minigame. Performing well may grant an advantage in the subsequent half of the game, while losing awards nothing, and will even cost the user a player's life if they die in the minigame. The purpose is to provide a brief and exhilarating change-of-pace before returning to the core MFL 2 gameplay
There are 3 minigames, of which I led the development on 2-- Murderball Mayhem & Field Goal Frenzy
Murderball Mayhem:
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The user must toss a deadly murderball back-and-forth between 2 players, shredding the referees on its path for points.
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Orc refs can kill a teammate if allowed to land 3 hits on either player.
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Extra-points may be earned by murdering multiple refs in a single throw, or via hitting the elusive golden referee
Field Goal Frenzy:
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The user must rapidly kick field-goals through posts that raise and lower from tracks in the field
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A ticking landmine threatens to kill the kicker, and its timer only resets upon a successful field-goal. Its maximum duration shortens as the game progresses.
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Scoring in the flaming goalpost nets double points, but is tricky since it isn't stationary
Minigame Development Process:
'Murderball Mayhem'
Preliminary Design Doc:
The first step was to produce a preliminary design doc to outline the minigame's core-premise for approval from the team. It includes multiple sections to highlight different elements, along with potential mechanic variations.
4 sectioned Design Doc for Murderball Mayhem
Unreal Prototype:
After the design was approved, I was tasked with creating a playable prototype in Unreal Engine. This prototype allowed me to design the finer minutiae of how the game would operate. It begged specific questions like...
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"How many referees can be on-screen at once?"
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"How do referees decide what locations to run to, or where to spawn?"
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"At what frequency do golden referees appear?"
1/3 Section Based Movement System
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Since the player scores more points for killing multiple referees in a single throw, I created a system that biased referees choose spots directly above/below other stationary refs.
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I did this through attaching an "alignment box" to each ref, and 1/3 of the time when choosing a destination to run to, referees would choose locations within another ref's alignment box
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This made combos way more common
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In the prototype, I developed a system which would dissect the field into thirds (Left, Center, and Right), and have referees run to positions within a third they're not already in.
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By doing this, referees would take longer, more dramatic sprints across the field, rather than short inconsequential movements they'd make otherwise
Alignment Box Movement System
Full Design Doc:
The team playtested my prototype, requested adjustments which I implemented, then approved this iteration of the design. I then produced a fully comprehensive Design Doc, this time tailored more for the programmers to utilize in porting the minigame into MFL 2.
The Design Doc can be viewed here
In-Game Tuning:
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After the minigame was playable in-engine, I collaborated with the developers to request a variety of variables be made adjustable via debug controls. Using these, I could balance all facets of the minigame through continuous playtesting.
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The variables included Referee Speed, Player Speed, Throw Speed, the Minimum and Maximum duration a ref may wait before running again, ratio of permanently stationary to moving refs, different point rewards, etc.
In-Engine variables to tune the minigame
Orc Ref Addition:
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After playtesting, I realized an element of danger would enhance the minigame-- so I collaborated with the developers to implement Orc refs that actively hunt down the 2 player characters.
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Only 2 can be present at a time (one for each player controlled), and if either player sustains 3 hits from an Orc ref, the minigame ends with their death
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A dead player doesn't appear in subsequent half of the MFL 2 game, creating stakes that intertwines the minigame with the game outside of it.
Orc Ref attacking player
Minigame Development Process:
'Field Goal Frenzy'
Preliminary Design Doc:
Again, I first was tasked with constructing a preliminary design doc to outline the minigame's core-premise for approval, with multiple sections and potential mechanic variations included for consideration.
4 sectioned Design Doc for Field Goal Frenzy
Full Design Doc:
Given how this minigame was built on MFL 2's pre-existing kicking mechanic as its foundation, the team thought it best to jump straight into an in-engine prototype, rather than have me recreate the kicking system in Unreal first. I produced an in-depth Design Doc that outlined specifics-- the procedure by which certain posts would raise/lower from the ground, where/when the gold-post would appear, etc. The programmers used this doc as a blueprint to construct the minigame in MFL 2.
The Design Doc can be viewed here
In-Game Tuning:
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I again collaborated with the developers to have specific variables be made adjustable via debug controls, and with them modified the minigame throughout hours of playtesting
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The variables included the kick meter's speed (based on the playable character's stats), points granted for normal and flaming goal posts, goal post spacing, speed of the moving goal posts, etc.
In-Engine variables to tune the minigame
Land-Mine Addition:
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Throughout playtests, it became apparent that the minigame required more tension. I introduced this through adding a landmine with a timer that only resets via scoring field-goals.
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Its timer duration shortens as the minigame progresses. So it goes from a 15-second timer, to 13 seconds, then finally 10 in the last third.
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This provides an approachable introduction to the stakes, before repeatedly escalating them.
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Dying to the landmine leaves that kicker dead in the subsequent half of the MFL 2 game, tethering the two rather than them being wholly disconnected.
Land Mine exploding player
Economy Design Process:
Many Elements MFL 2's Economy Design are still under NDA, so this section will be completed at a future date...
Field Design Process:
Field Editor hazard placement vs. Hazards in-engine
Field Design:
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I was tasked with placing field hazards on 17 fields, arranging them such that they all have a unique identity and optimal playstyle, are chaotic without overshadowing the other gameplay systems, as well as aesthetically interesting.
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Field hazards include spikes and saw-blades that periodically run the length of the field, land mines, bear traps, pits and geysers, mutant worms, etc.
Asymmetric Hazard Placement:
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I placed hazards asymmetrically, with differing arrangements on the left and right sides of each field segment. This way, players contend with varying challenges depending on their choice of direction.
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This agency affords some interesting choices in-game. While sometimes the less immediately hazardous route seems best, it can be advantageous for the offense to choose a more lethal path, since it might take out enough defense to be worth the struggle, especially if a skilled ballcarrier can survive them
Examples of varying hazard placement along the fields' edges
Running vs Passing Teams:
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Hazard placement also takes into account the home-team's playstyle, since they're designed to provide a distinct home-field-advantage.
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Pass-heavy teams are more hindered by traps running the entire field (IE sawblades and spikes) since their players often catch the ball center-field.
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Run-heavy teams struggle most with traps along the edges of the field, as that's where runners end up navigating to pass the defensive line.
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Thus, traps that are less obstructive to the home-team are more so employed.
Anti-Passing Buzz Saw spanning the field's width VS
Anti-Running land mine, geyser, bear-trap, and rubble