New Characters
My involvement in RushRev's character production pipeline.
2020-2023
Content Development
Design & Implementation
For Rushdown Revolt, i worked on gameplay design and implementation for all four of our original characters. This involved participation in every step of the process detailed below.
- Cross-discipline brainstorming and ideation: Team members from various disciplines concept and pitch characters designed to fulfill specific needs, ranging from thematic (“we need a representative from Gildia”), to strategic (“we need an easy character who appeals to new players”), to anything in between (“A samurai character would be really cool”). After some filtering and concept art, a committee consisting of myself as well as several stakeholders from other disciplines decides on the next character to pursue as a team.
- Asset planning: Immediately after locking in a character concept, the asset production pipeline begins. My involvement in this step largely involves consulting with our technical artists, modelers, and animator to discuss gameplay needs for the character’s rig and model
- Prototyping and experimentation: While the art team produces assets, the gameplay team prototypes and tests various concepts in-engine, generally using an existing character as a placeholder. This gives us a good idea how gameplay might look early on in the pipeline, and sometimes allows us to change course in asset production in light of new discoveries or ideas.
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Implementation and polish: Once the character’s model and rig are complete, the gameplay team begins building out a more final moveset. This step largely involves a tight iteration loop with our animator, which generally proceeds as follows:
- A move is concepted, often based on a prototype from the previous phase.
- An animation for that move is built.
- The animation is tested in actual gameplay and modified using in-engine tools to suit the character’s needs.
- A final animation is produced, fine-tuned to match the final gameplay design.
- Playtesting and release: While the gameplay team playtests continuously during design, as a character nears release, we also oversee playtests with the broader team as well as a small selection of trusted players. Based on feedback and observations (largely balance-focused at this point), we continue to make final adjustments leading up to release.
See Fusion Characters for more information on Seth and Velora's development.