Project Overview
This solo-developed project aimed to capture the essence of a Souls-like experience, with a focus on tight melee combat and layered environmental design. The core gameplay revolves around a four-hit melee combo system and a responsive dodge mechanic modeled after iconic Souls dodging behavior. Players navigate a richly interconnected world, transitioning between contrasting spaces: an industrial underground storage area, a modern research facility, a grand mountain-lobby hybrid, and a weathered natural coliseum carved from stone. The narrative backdrop centers on scientific exploration into an ancient gateway, seamlessly blending science fiction and mysticism. Combat includes two enemy archetypes—standard grunts and a boss—each equipped with unique attacks, encouraging careful pattern recognition and timing. This project pushed the boundaries of solo development by integrating AI behavior, combat systems, and spatial storytelling in a cohesive experience.
Designing and connecting the environments was both creatively rewarding and technically challenging. Creating believable transitions between drastically different areas (from office lobbies to natural rock arenas) required careful attention to scale, lighting, and visual language. The biggest challenge was balancing the ambition of the game's scope with solo development limitations, particularly while coding AI behaviors, managing level streaming, and debugging gameplay interactions. Still, the project proved to be a major leap in understanding combat flow, spatial pacing, and the systemic complexity behind more intricate game designs.