Wicked Wizards is a cooperative first-person shooter with tower defense elements. Up to 4 players take on the roles of evil wizards attempting to complete a ritual in order to corrupt the surrounding lands. In order to achieve their goal, the players must claim and combine the orb, then defend their runic circle from the forces of good in wave after wave of destructive battle.
At the players’ disposal is an array of arcane attacks, powerful spells, and magically engineered towers placed around the map. Each wizard has a specific class with its own playstyle and unique arsenal of abilities, fulfilling a role that synergizes with their companions.
As the orb pieces are claimed, enemy forces will grow more powerful. Eventually, the conflict will culminate in either the ritual being completed or the wizards being overrun.
What I did ----->
I was one of two world designers that worked together to design this level. Most things were designed by both of us but implemented individually.
What the map looked like before I started to work on it.
What the map looked like after I worked on it.
Everything below this point, I specifically have done on this map. Our game went through a lot of design changes, many of which changed the core gameplay. So I will only be showing the things I did that made it into the final version of the game.
One of the main mechanics of the game is the world changes based on player progression. Every time the player captures an orb piece the world is made more evil. I came up with this mechanic for the game, and the design document for it.
The game was originally based around wave numbers but was later changed to objective-based gameplay. We made the world change timing fit into that gameplay style.
We ended up using a screen shake to cover up the changes a bit easier. it also added a more dramatic effect to the overall feeling of the game.
We also used shaders to blend the materials from good to evil on specific models.
Here are a few images showing the world changes in the game.
I did almost everything for the cave area on the map. I created a top-down map before starting to work on the final version of the cave.
The purple dot is the orb, which is what the players are defending from the enemies.
The red dots are enemy spawns. Enemies will spawn behind walls in the cave and pour out of the walls surprising the players as they come out.
the brown line is a barrier that players need to break before entering. This ended up being a magical barrier that is indestructible until the orb comes close enough to weaken it.
Here are a few steps in the process of making the cave --->
Got the final rock models for the cave, and got crystals to distinguish the cave area from the other parts of the map.
At this step, the core gameplay was completely changed. This meant we needed more play space for the new gameplay loop.
So we decided to expand the cave and forest area.
Here is the design document I made for this new gameplay loop.
After the new terrain was added I set up the interior of the cave.
This includes the enemy spawn locations and their exit into the main part of the cave.
This part was particularly hard because they needed to be large enough for the enemy to get out but small enough that the player will not be able to get in.
I requested stalactites and minecarts from the team's artists. I then put those into the cave once they were finished.
I also put wooden supports around all of the enemy spawns to make them stick out more to the player. playtesting showed that players needed more information on where the enemies spawned.
This green barrier to the cave was added, it turns purple when the orb gets close enough. Once it is purple the player can attack and destroy it, giving them access to the cave.
