Wayward Shoals (Unreleased)
Unleash your inner dog and solve this surreal Mystery
A mystery adventure game where you play as Rascal, an energetic and inquisitive dog. Joined by your human companion Matilda, you’ll embark on a supernatural journey that will take you through the mysterious islands of Wayward Shoals.
It was a key part of Paladin's move towards their own IP but had to cease development due to studio closure
Role(s) and Responsibilities
Wayward Shoals was a very close project to my heart - I pitched the original idea of "Dog Detective" during one of Paladin's internal game jams and developed it all the way to a publisher demo, it was an enriching experience for me, as well as the team (and studio) to approach something so different from the usual Paladin titles
It was a project where I could really tap into my gameplay designer skillset and wear multiple hats - as we were making quite a sizeable demo (~1 hour playtime) with a fairly lean team
Lead Design
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For a portion of the project, I got to dip my toes into a 'lead' role - aligning the team on a game vision, creating design blueprints on building interactions etc.
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I shifted focus later on as the scope of the project increased and I had more personal contributions
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3C Design on a Dog Character
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Prototyping core "dog" mechanics and interactions of the game to strengthen the creative vision
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Prioritizing prototypes and finalizing the core mechanic-set of the game in consultation with the game director
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Iterating on and finalizing the ideal camera setup to sell the experience of being a dog across multiple settings (action gameplay, stealth gameplay, co-operation moments and in-game dialogs)
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Balancing timings of mechanics to ensure responsive controls that "feel" good
Open World / Quest System Design
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Designed a open-and-close quest system that balances "openness" and narrative coherence
Mission Design
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Script and implement interactive NPC behavior using in-house tools
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Designed quests of various types with varying scales of risk/reward
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Balancing Matilda's (the owner) involvement to enhance the feeling of being"dynamic detective duo" without getting in the players way
