Fall of Limgoth
a Running with Rupture production
DigiPen Institute of Technology
2009-2010
PC
Fall of Limgoth is a PC tactics-RPG built from the ground up by the Running with Rupture team–programmers Sean Hunter, Bryan Chacosky, and Tom Lopes; lead designer Kye Harris; and lead producer Tim Fuqua.
An immense amount of time and effort was put into this project to get it into the state where it is. As not only the lead designer, but also the only designer, I took the role of vision keeper along with level designer, mechanics and systems design, playtest lead, and story writer. I also took part in sound design and art concept.
My tools of preference during the project were Microsoft Office 2007–Word, Excel, and Visio–plus Crimson Editor for scripting, Google Sketchup for level prototypes, Adobe Photoshop CS4 for art concepts, and Tortoise SVN for source control.
This page contains links to each of my individual posts about the development of this game. Each link showcases a bit more of my contributions to the project, plus shows how the game evolved in the time between September 2009 and April 2010.
For more information about the project and the guys who worked on it, check out the official website for Fall of Limgoth!
Engine Proof
The first month and a half was spent working on getting the engine ready. During this time, I iterated on the GDD and started looking at how the game would play out by doing some solo mock-playtesting. I put together spreadsheets full of information about skills, the different character types, the assets we should need, and so forth.
First Playable
Once the engine was all together I started working with the rest of the team to plan out our first playable presentation in early December. The goal was to have the Quick Play mode up and running in order to showcase the three different character types, all with their different stats built in and a few skills accessible; a 3 v. 3, player-against-AI match on a single map. This was our first real opportunity to see what the game was like in motion and put us on the road for getting the proper UI in place.
Alpha
On the way to alpha, we were supposed to have all game play elements implemented. The Campaign wasn’t going to make it in by this deadline, and I personally started questioning, because of that, whether or not we should cut in from the scope. Yes, cutting the story out of a tactics-RPG was a painful idea to me, too, but I didn’t want anything halfway-good included in our final product. We focused on getting Exhibition mode together, which basically meant getting the UI fully implemented and allowing the player to build his or her own team and set skills however he or she wanted to for each character. This sprint is when Tim and I began playtesting at the end of every week. The HUD changed probably every week, too, for about a month or more. Finally, we got what we have now and like it.
Beta
Now Campaign mode was necessary. I drug out the GDD’s specs for the narrative and the different levels we would need and started iterating on the design plan. A lot changed. Smart objects and level-ups had been cut in the previous sprint. We got a few levels in, probably a new one every other week, and I kept playtesting them and taking plenty of notes. It was clear very quickly that the campsite level was utter crap and needed to be changed. The prison roof was also pretty light-weight and needed tweaks. Furthermore, players were quite confused without some sort of tutorial and just a static screen wasn’t going to do it for them. Iterate, iterate, iterate, and carefully and honestly consider any and all criticism. This is where the game really started coming together and feeling like a solid student project.
Gold
The Campaign mode made it and the scripting language allowed for a lot of quick tweaks. It also allowed us to add more content without too much trouble. The tutorial made it in and people were no longer confused. Playtester feedback was roughly 85-90% positive–any complaints regarded things, such as camera AI, that it was too late to change. I began solo playtesting daily in order to work on balancing any and all content implemented. Each day, new stuff was making it in, so I made sure to do a full set of runs in order to make sure the game felt right with whatever was available, not based on what was planned to be in. I treated each version as if it was the final version. We also did our second pass on the audio and added in the voice files for the Campaign text.
Final result? Three modes of play: Campaign, Exhibition, and Quick Play. Six distinct campaign missions adding up to over an hour’s worth of game time. All text is voiced. Eight different maps. Three character types, five unique characters, and a hydra. Eight distinct skills, each with three levels of power and effects. One solid tactics game.