FlipSide
RPG Prototype
Summary:
FlipSide is an original RPG prototype I worked on with a small team as lead developer and product owner.
The prototype was built in Unity, and took design and writing inspiration from the Paper Mario series, Lisa the Painful and Voodoo culture, featuring turn-based combat with active microgames to execute moves and overworld platforming. All primary gameplay systems were functional within the prototype by the time it was completed, serving as an excellent proof-of-concept and tech demo.
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FlipSide was my first fully independent post-grad project, and I was responsible for almost all of the systems implemented into the prototype. These included a fully functional turn-based combat system complete with a wide array of status effects, a levelling system, overworld platforming and navigation, custom graphic filters and file saving, all of which I taught myself specifically for this project.
For FlipSide, I focused on bringing innovation and interactivity to the traditional turn-based RPG format.
One such innovation was the Wind system, which replaced traditional MP pools for use in fueling special moves. Wind was percentage bar that reset to 40% at the start of every battle, and would increase at the start of the player's following turns based on the Recovery stat. Special moves consumed Wind, with more powerful moves requiring more and more. If a party member's Wind was ever fully depleted, they would be left defenseless and unable to use special moves until the end of their next turn.
This more dynamic version of an MP system allowed for combat to follow a more dramatic ebb and flow, with the player swinging between patient buildup, massive discharges and states of vulnerability.
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During the project I also created many tools for the other teammates that would later be onboarded to use. I created a full usage guide for each tool to ensure comprehension and accessibility. This served both to aid my teammates and to allow for a much easier design pipeline for things like implementing enemies and player moves or building encounters. This was the largest piece of infrastructural development I had done in any project at this point, and it turned out well.
Reflection:
FlipSide was an excellent experiment in how I handled fully independent game development. I was able to put a large amount of energy and skill into it, teaching myself many skills and finding new ways to make collaboration easier. As I wound up both designing, coding and implementing the majority of the game, it was the most complex project I had ever taken on in terms of individual responsibility.
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My team and I decided to stop work on the game for the time being due to evidence of scope creep, and difficulty finding an artist for the project. At most the project only ever had two people working on it, despite a handful more expressing interest. Instead of continuing past the point where the workload would balloon beyond what we could feasibly do, we gauged FlipSide as an excellent test of our capabilities and a great practical learning experience, and have taken lessons from it to inform our future projects.