Gold Helm
Gold Helm
Gold Helm:
Soulslike Meets Roguelike
Third person single player action RPG inspired by Soulslike gameplay & roguelike progression systems.
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I was curious about what a longer form roguelike would look like where game breaking upgrades and perks could be utilized throughout the gameplay of a more traditional long form action adventure.
Project Details
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Duration: 14 Weeks
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Team Size: 3
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Software: Unity, Dungeon Scrawl, Photoshop
Contributions
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Pitch the concept
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Sole programmer
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Sole game designer
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Sole level designer
Level Gameplay
Game Flow
I wanted a game that was (at its core) based on traditional soulslike gameplay emphasizing exploration, combat and finding unique characters and items.
Paper Mapping
Initial Map
In the initial map, I wanted to emphasize nonlinear progression and multiple paths. Separate paths had varying kinds of challenges, upgrades and NPCs the player could meet. After testing the map though, the feedback I received was that it should be shorter - a five minute experience rather than a 15-30 minute experience.
Simplifying The Level/Blockout
Fly-Through of Blockout
After scoping way back to a short demo, collecting feedback became much quicker and overall easier. The scope of the game was much more manageable this way, but with all the core systems more or less built, it became trickier to express a progression system designed for a longer form game in a roughly 5 minute span.
Design Decisions:
The Level
'Oh Shit' moment
The player passes this location where they're told by a man in a coffin to find a key & let him out. Regardless of whether or not the player interacts with the coffin-man, the only path forward eventually puts the key in front of the player.
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Returning to this location with the key, the coffin-man is nowhere to be found. Instead there's a puddle of blood and a set of teeth. Taking the teeth causes the locked gate behind the coffin to burst open revealing the toughest encounter in the level.
Environmental Intrigue
This level takes place underground, but I don't think it was immediately obvious from the blockout.
So I introduced a window along the golden path where the player could see the surface of the ocean above them along with a giant sea monster that occasionally swims by at various speeds/directions.
Design Choices:
Abilities
Lock-on
The lock on is a quintessential part of Dark Souls' design and is featured in most soulslikes, but I couldn't help but notice how many players played DS without it. Some sections of the game many people claim is actually easier if you don't use the mechanic.
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So I decided to include it in Gold Helm, but as an upgrade. Now the player must choose to select this upgrade as opposed to another.
Blink
The blink is not an ability I've seen in really any soulslike before, but the fantasy of disappearing and reappearing before your opponent for a surprise attack was too fun to not explore.
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I received mixed feedback about this mechanic. On the one hand, many players found it super fun but on the other hand, there were few situations where people felt it was any more useful than approaching enemies the normal way.
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This mechanic ended up getting cut for that reason.
Fireball
In Dark Souls your ranged attacks can track enemies making it difficult to miss. I like the idea of ranged combat a lot in souls games, but I wanted to see how I could perhaps make it more engaging.
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I was curious about placing more of an emphasis on aiming, so I included a ranged magic attack that the player would be required to aim and hit to use. To offset how punishing it might be to miss, I tied the ranged attack to the player's stamina which regenerates over time.