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Spartan Souls (WIP)

Platform | PC

Engine | Halo Infinite Forge

Role | Solo Developer

Team Size | 1

Overview

Spartan Souls was built with the goal of creating a souls-like style game within the confines of Halo Infinite's game system, complete with souls collection, bonfires, levelling, and boss battles. I also approached this with a desire to learn how FromSoftware approached their level design, and try to evoke the same feelings I had while exploring the worlds of Elden Ring and Dark Souls.

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Players would enter the single-player experience, encounter enemies as they explored and found new items, culminating in a final boss battle at a grand cathedral.​

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When starting the project I had four main goals I wanted achieve in the game:

  • Bonfires: An interactable asset for respawning and levelling

  • Level Design: Engaging spaces that encouraged exploration while also balancing player guidance

  • Spells and Weapons: Unique items that set the game apart from the usual Halo experience

  • Bosses: Climactic fights that let the player test the skills and items they had acquired

What I Did

  • Planned overall level design and blocked out the space with in-game design assets

  • Designed unique gameplay mechanics including

    • 'Bonfire' interaction for respawning and levelling up​

    • Custom equipment to create spells and player buffs

    • Unique enemy types that delivered player debuffs

  • Scripted game systems using visual node scripting

  • Completed rigorous playtesting to re-balance enemy and player traits

Planning and Pre-Production

Research:

  • Dark Souls Undead Burg

  • Elden Ring - Limgrave Entrance (include image with highlighted landmarks/points of interest - Stormveil Castle, nearby church, clear NPC and Site of Grace)

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Themes and Inspirations:

  • Gothic churches and cathedrals (Notre Dame, Sagrada Familia Cathedral)

    • Dominating structures to make the player feel small and insignificant​

  • Leyndell x Limgrave

    • Crossover of buildings stacking on top of one another vs. the open nature of Limgrave​

  • Raya Lucaria - The traversal of rooftops (the sense that the player is breaking the rules going where they shouldn't, and the happy surprise of finding a hidden item)​​

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Images to include:

  • Sketch Designs! Lots and lots! (Everything we got!)

  • Bubble Diagram?

  • Digital Mockup?

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Documentation

  • Task tracking

Undead Burg - Dark Souls.jpg

Mechanics

*Discuss about mechanic design, and scripting implementation (show screenshots of the scripts!)

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Core Mechanics:

  • Bonfire interaction (triggers levelling, AI respawning, and updates respawn location)

    • Discuss AI respawning at length, and mention engine bugs that I had to work around (e.g. AI traits)​

  • Equipment, spells, and debuffs (highlight on poison and spell casting)

  • AI Bot Invaders

  • Elevators and one-way doors​

Level Blockout

Talk about the level design and reasoning behind the blockout and any changes.

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Important Notes:

  • The key beats (include beat chart?)

    • Outskirts > Plains > Library > Rooftops > Boss​

    • City Entrance > Courtyard > Sewers > Cathedral

  • Redesigns

    • Sewers implemented due to scaling trouble​

    • Redesign of the library entrance (AI detecting player, lack of visual interest, uninteresting combat)​​

    • Inclusion of tutorial mines (introducing key mechanics, landmark and landscape reveal upon exit)

-Work In Progress-

This page is still under development as the level and game mode goes through production. Release date unannounced.

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