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Tempo

Game Designer (Player Combat)

Project Overview

On this platform fighting game, I was the Player Combat Designer, where I:

  • Engineered character movement, including dashing and wall sliding

  • Implemented i-frame dodging

  • Designed the 6 attacks (3 grounded, 3 aerial)

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Tempo is a rhythm-based fighting game where you play as a Tambourine Turtle to defeat other players. Input attacks on the beat of the song to deal damage and KO your enemies!

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Features:

  • Hit attacks on the song's beat to deal damage

  • Use 6 different attacks and movement tech to KO your opponents

  • Get the most kills to win the round

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I worked with a Gameplay Engineer and an Artist over 4 weeks to complete this project. It was a hit at the USC Games underground show!

Gameplay footage

My Contributions: Player Combat

Dash jumps preserve movement momentum

I designed and implemented character movement and defense using C# scripting, including jumping, dashing, wall sliding, and dodging. I also designed the attack structure (light, heavy, special) and implemented the controls.

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MY FEATURES BREAKDOWN

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Character Movement

  • Jumping: 1 grounded jump, 3 aerial jumps​

    • Touching the wall refreshes aerial jumps​

  • Dashing: using the dodge button on the ground allows the Tambourine Turtle to dash in the inputted direction

  • Wall Sliding: can cling to the wall, which slows descent

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Attacks and Dodging

  • Attacks: Light, heavy, and special attacks with grounded and aerial variants

  • Dodging: 8 directions in the air, and a "spot" dodge (aerial + grounded)

Design Case Study: Player Dodging

The most significant challenge I faced on Tempo was with player dodging. I used playtester feedback to make my decisions to solve the problem. Here's a breakdown of the problem and the actions I took to solve it:

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PROBLEM: PLAYERS NOT DODGING

  • My Task: Provide a defensive option for players to use

  • Initial Idea: Like attacks, force dodging to be input on the beat of the song​

  • Situation: Players ignored dodging and used movement to stay competitive

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Actions I took:

  • Allowed dodging to be inputted whenever

    • Video: demo of dodging​

  • Increased the dodge i-frame window to make the mechanic more forgiving

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RESULTS FROM THOSE ACTIONS

  • Players dodged more and games had lower KO counts

Dodging demo

Project Takeaways

Grounded and aerial attacks demo

After 1 short month of working on Tempo, I made a few learnings that informed my process on future projects and what I want to work on in the future:

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LEARNING 1: Coding for video games involves making scripts and objects communicate with each other at the right time.

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LEARNING 2: Designers need to work closely with other disciplines, especially art and engineering, to make their vision come to life.

  • Video: A demo of the 6 attacks I designed

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LEARNING 3: Gameplay elements are not set in stone, and simple ones can be the most effective in doing what a designer wants.

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As a result of this project's work, I got my first experience with technical game design and working with other disciplines.

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