Last Dawn
(Video Game)
TIME
03/2024 -- 04/2025
1 Mo
ROLES
Team Size: 3
Game Designer, 3D Artist
TOOLS
Maya, Photoshop, Figma, Unreal Engine 5
TAGS
Action
Strategy
Survival
Single Player
Rogue-Lite
Fixed Camera
Introduction
We created "Last Dawn" as a team of three with me as game designer and 3D Artist. It is inspired by rouge-lite genre and blended with stealth and strategy elements.
Game Overview
Gameplay
"Last Dawn" is a single-player rogue-lite survival strategy game with a fixed top-down third person camera view. the game was made into a slice demo gameplay with 3 levels, presenting distinctive gameplay styles and aesthetics: strategic planning, stealth and explore, fast-paced action.
Narrative
In "Last Dawn", players follow the desperate journey of a civilian survivor attempting to escape a war-torn city before sunrise. However, the path ahead is full of dangers and surprises, players must first prepare themselves with useful tools and consumables before Starting the journey. To successfully escape, the player needs to gather the vital boat components to repair the boat, then rush through the harbor with local mobs.
Level Design
Level 1: Preparation
Level Objective
The game starts at home, where the player needs to gather useful items and other resources to prepare for the upcoming challenges.
However, time is running out, player must finish preparing within a time limit.
Core Mechanics
The game begins in your home, where you'll scavenge for essential items and resources to prepare for the imminent challenges. Inspired by "60 Seconds!", item placements are procedurally generated, meaning the types and amounts of pickups will vary with each playthrough. This phase also serves as a tutorial for core mechanical controls, allowing you to practice and explore at your own pace while the clock ticks down.
Design Goal
This level functions as a gentle introduction to the game, allowing players to strategically gather items and formulate their preferred build and playstyle. It's an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the game's controls in a low-pressure environment. The procedural generation ensures the simplicity of the phase doesn't lead to repetition, keeping each run fresh.
Level 2: The Escape
Level Objective
To escape by the boat, player must find the vital boat components at this abandoned factory. But it will not be an easy task, to retrieve them, player needs to stealth pass the guards in the facility.
Core Mechanics
To escape, you must find vital boat components scattered throughout an abandoned factory. You'll need to stealthily navigate heavily guarded areas in limited time. Enemy guards move quickly, and surveillance cameras will alert the guards. Once detected, you’ll need to restart this level. Your counterplay involves solving light puzzles and outsmarting guards by strategically using your items and abilities.
Design Goal
This level is designed to test your patience, timing, item usage, and decision-making skills. The increased intensity challenges you to think on your feet and utilize the tools you gathered in Level 1 effectively.
Level 3: The Port
Level Objective
It is almost over, the boat is just ahead by the pier, all you need to do is reach it without getting caught by the local mobs. The place is way too crowded to sneak through, it's time to make a run for it!
Core Mechanics
The boat is just ahead at the pier, but getting there means making a desperate run through a crowded area filled with local mobs. At an early point, the player will be detected, initiating a thrilling chase. While these mobs move slower than the guards in Level 2, they're fast enough to maintain pressure. You'll need to rush through the map, identifying the quickest path to the pier.
Design Goal
This level provides a climactic and distinct experience, demanding that you adapt to intensified pressure. It requires you to apply advanced usage of your items and abilities, leveraging everything the player have learned in the previous levels to survive the final sprint.
Systems
Inventory
Players can pick up items, including food resources, special abilities, items to interact with specific level elements. Items are consumable (one-time, muti-charge). E.g. Energy Drink for speed boost for a short period of time.
Enemy
Enemies detect the player by "line of sight". Different levels feature different types of enemies:
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Guard: A group of elite soldiers guarding the boat component in level 2.
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Surveillance Camera: These devices will constantly scan the area and will alert other enemies nearby!
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Mob: Hard hitters who run a little slower than Guards in level 3. They’ll also alert nearby enemies.
Hunger & Safe Zone
In Level 2, we introduced two key mechanics: Hunger Level and Safe Zones.
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The Hunger Level is a countdown timer; once depleted, the game is lost. It's restored by consuming food items.
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The Safe Zone provides temporary shelter for players escaping enemies.
Hunger Level creates tension and urgency by forcing players to manage a persistent threat, raising the stakes and demanding quick, adaptive decisions.
