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CLAUDIO SCUDERI GAME DESIGNER

Claudio Scuderi LinkedIn account Mail HomeHome About MeAbout Me ResumeResume


ABOUT ME

Ciao, I'm Claudio Scuderi, an Italian technical Game Designer that's currently
studying at PlaygroundSquad in Sweden.

My journey into this industry began with a strong foundation in computer
science, which I studied at Catania's University. This technical background gave
me a solid understanding of coding languages such as C++ and C#. (I also love
scripting languages such as Blueprints)

However, it was during these years that I realized my true calling lay not just
in the technical aspects of game development but in the creative process, which
is why I decided to shift my focus to game design.

First, I studied game design in Padua at Event Horizon School for three years,
where I learned the core skills to be a game designer. After that, I applied to
PlaygroundSquad to expand my knowledge and refine my skills.

Today, that passion is channeled into my studies and personal projects. I really
enjoy the process of learning and exploring all kinds of new concepts in game
design. I am driven not only by my curiosity about all aspects of game
development but also by a love for problem-solving that constantly challenges me
to grow. My approach to game design involves a hands-on, immersive experience. I
spend a significant amount of my time working directly within the engine,
implementing, and programming, always with an eye toward the best user
experience.

Thanks to my background, I specialize in the more programming-adjacent technical
side of design, mostly as it relates to my favourite side of design, Gameplay
Design. I also really enjoy working on Systems design as I love competitive
games and their balancing always attracted my curiosity.

As far as teams go, I value collaboration highly. My experience at
PlaygroundSquad has shown me the importance of trusting team members and the
power of diverse skills in creating quality projects. Recently, I started
putting a lot of value in establishing and following a set of best practices,
conventions, and workflows for the whole team. This helps tremendously in
avoiding confusion, saving time, and eliminating conflicts. Furthermore, I have
found that cultivating an environment where making games is fun and exciting for
the whole team always shines through to the final product.

I make an effort to play and experience a wide range of different titles, to
always keep up to date and I take time out of my day to look for inspiration in
film, books, anime or simply a stroll outside. As a creative, I am passionate
about bringing the worlds I imagine to life and I strive to create games that
not only entertain but also leave a lasting impression on the player.

Want to know more? Contact me on my socials or at claudioscuderi.gd@gmail.com


MY FAVOURITE GAMES

If you are curious about my favorite games at the moment, they are: Noita,
League of Legends, Valheim, Into the Breach, and Elden Ring.


RESUME PREVIEW

Click image for a PDF


ROCKET RIDER

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ROCKET RIDER GAME TRAILER


PROJECT SUMMARY

Rocket Rider is an action game that fuses platforming with intense hack & slash
combat. The game is set in a dystopian futuristic city heavily controlled by the
authorities that oppress the citizens with unending curfews.
The player assumes the role of John Rider, a rocket-riding rebel, too stubborn
and knowledgeable to bend to the regime.
His goal? To ignite the spark of rebellion, dismantle the enforcers' armies and
free the city!

Our goal for this project was to develop a distinctive hack-and-slash game where
the player is constantly on the move, riding a rocket. We aimed to deliver a
power fantasy experience, allowing players to deal immense damage while also
being highly vulnerable to enemy attacks. This design encourages players to rely
on their rapid movement to navigate and survive, rather than confronting enemies
head-on.


PROJECT INFO

 * Role: Gameplay, System & UI Design
 * Team Size: 17
 * Time frame: 9 Weeks
 * Engine: Unreal Engine 5

Check it out on itch!


MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Gameplay Design:
Designed three unique player attacks.

Designed and implemented a Hack & Slash Style System. Designed two different
enemy types and conceptualized their behaviours using flowcharts, as well as the
game Boss Fight using Unreal Behaviour Trees.

Designed a lock-on system for the player to direct their attacks towards the
enemy closest to their world location and center of the camera. Then, used a
widget to show a crosshair on the targeted enemy. Designed a lock-on system for
the player to direct their attacks towards the enemy closest to their world
location and center of the camera. Then, used a widget to show a crosshair on
the targeted enemy.

Implemented an interaction system to buy healings from certain actors in the
world.

Implemented a Hack & Slash Style System, and an interaction system to buy
healings from certain actors in the world.

System Design:
Balanced the player attacks, tweaking their damage, range, knockback and
cooldown. Moreover, adjusted the enemies stats, such as their speed, damage and
health to reach the desired game feel.

Designed a wave manager to spawn enemies in arenas.

General Game Design:
Designed the game UI and implemented its functionality.

Created an asset list, organized meetings, and pitched the game presentations.

Placed all the checkpoints, collectables and healings in the level.

Implemented and tweaked most VFXs and sounds in the game, using unreal
blueprints, animation notifies and sound cues.

Implemented all the vibrations used for the haptics of the PS5 controller.

Created a bug list document to keep track of issues and fix them following their
priority.


READ FURTHER DOWN FOR MORE INFORMATION ON EACH CATEGORY


GAMEPLAY DESIGN

At the start of the project, I was entrusted to design most of the gameplay
elements such as the player movement, camera, and attacks, while my colleagues
focused on the level design.


PLAYER MOVEMENT

Designing the movement for this game was a big challenge, as at the start of the
project we did not have a clear direction or reference to follow.

Given the premise of riding a rocket and engaging multiple enemies, I opted for
a forward movement with a high movement speed and the use of a lerp for rotation
to avoid quick turns, simulating a more realistic rocket maneuver.

After that, I needed to consider what would happen if the player´s rocket was
destroyed, so I added a basic movement for the character when grounded.

During playtesting, the team realized that being grounded and simply waiting for
the rocket to respawn was tedious.

To address this, we experimented with various solutions, such as providing the
player additional mechanics while grounded, like using stun grenades or engaging
in precise platforming. However, we ultimately decided to eliminate ground
movement altogether, as it slowed the game's pacing too much. Our focus was on
maintaining the excitement of rocket-riding.


PLAYER CAMERA

For the camera, I was inspired by Devil May Cry 5 and Hi-Fi Rush. I implemented
a close third-person perspective with the player centered on the screen. The
camera dynamically adjusts, pulling back when the player moves and allowing for
independent rotation input. This setup enables the player to move in the
camera's direction if desired.


COMBAT DESIGN

Once the movement mechanics were finalized, I shifted focus to combat.
I designed two enemy types and used flowcharts to communicate their behaviors to
the programmers. The first enemy, Goro, is a slow but powerful melee unit, while
the second, Beedrone, is a fast but fragile ranged enemy.

For the player's attacks, I drew from references and ideas from my teammates,
ultimately deciding on three distinct attacks:

Rocket Swirl: A melee attack with a fast animation, that can combo up to 3
times, dealing massive damage and repositioning the player out of enemy range.

Rocket Slam: A powerful area-of-effect (AOE) explosion with a cooldown, damaging
everything within its range.

Rocket Barrage: A ranged attack that shoots a burst of missiles from the
player's back. While it doesn't deal significant damage, it is useful for poking
enemies and maintaining Style Points.

After the attacks were done, I noticed that some players struggled to hit
enemies with their melee attacks, as the player always kept on moving while on
the rocket. To address this, I designed a lock-on system that guides the
player's attacks towards the nearest enemy or the center of the camera.

Additionally, I implemented a visual widget to highlight the locked-on enemy,
providing clear feedback to the player. This solution drastically improved the
combat experience, making it more intuitive.


SYSTEM DESIGN (COMING SOON)




SYCLE

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SYCLE GAME TRAILER


PROJECT SUMMARY

Sycle is a turn-based roguelite with a Mesoamerican-like aesthetic and a unique
twist, a reverse progression system.
In Sycle, the player's journey is marked by growing weaker as they advance. The
crux of success lies in Strategic decision-making and resource management. The
player assumes the role of Itzel, the Goddess of Change. Her role is to
perpetually sacrifice a portion of herself within each cycle to breathe life
back into a desolate world.

Our objective for this project was to carve out a niche in the realm of
roguelites, charting a course different from contemporaries. For that, we chose
Reverse Progression and Sacrifice as our main pillars, injecting an innovative
dynamic where empowerment yields to vulnerability.
Additionally, we wanted to push for an aesthetic that was not seen much in the
industry, and with some research, we discovered how the ancient Mesoamerican
cultures like the Aztec and Maya, seamlessly integrated with the theme of
Sacrifice.


PROJECT INFO

 * Role: Gameplay, System & Level Design
 * Team Size: 20
 * Time frame: 9 Weeks
 * Engine: Unreal Engine 4

Check it out on itch! Read the GDD Look at the Pitch

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Gameplay Design:
Designed the player´s abilities, Damage over time(DOTs) and status effects.
Moreover, introduced environmental obstacles, enhancing strategic depth.

Level Design:
Drafted and whiteboxed multiple levels, incorporating diverse win conditions.
Ensured balance between teaching mechanics, combat scenarios, and puzzle-solving
elements.

System Design:
Responsible for the delicate balance of the reverse progression system and
gameplay elements. Conducted extensive playtesting, identifying and addressing
bugs, and fine-tuning mechanics for an optimal player experience.


READ FURTHER DOWN FOR MORE INFORMATION ON EACH CATEGORY


GAMEPLAY DESIGN

At the start of the project, I was entrusted with the making of the player´s
abilities.

Before starting to design skills that would work well for a strategic turn-based
game, I focused on our main character Persona, the goddess Itzel, and what would
fit her theme, not only mechanic-wise, but also from a narrative point of view.
In doing so I started researching various Mythologies and their related gods,
mostly Mesopotamian, Inca, and African until I found all the references I
needed.

The player has 4 abilities at their disposal each with a unique effect and
different use case, they are:


EARTHQUAKE

The earthquake is an ability that deals damage to enemies and pushes them away
from the player, creating a shield of rocks and difficult terrain around Itzel.
This skill was inspired by the Earth Mother and fertility goddess of Inca
mythology Pachamama. Its main use is not only to damage enemies but to gain
protection from ranged attacks or secure some time as melee enemies would have
to find another path or break the newly created obstacle. The process in mind
when designing this skill was to give the player some kind of survivability as
they would be playing as one unit vs many.



METEOR FALL

The meteor fall is a short-range ability that deals massive damage, burns
enemies in a large area, and destroys the obstacles hit. This skill was inspired
by Ishtar the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. This
skill is meant to be used against a group of enemies or to open paths that would
be inaccessible otherwise. The design for this ability was quite simple, the
game required some kind of powerful attack to kill multiple enemies, so I
created a short-range explosive spell, that would also modify the environment,
as a meteor falling to the ground would definitely have a big effect in the area
around it.



TORNADO

The tornado is an ability that deals low damage and pushes all the enemies
around it. This skill was inspired by Hadad the storm and rain god in the
Mesopotamian religions. The tornado's main use is to displace enemies into
obstacles to damage or kill them. For example, the player could instantly kill a
strong enemy by making it fall into a canyon. The process behind this skill was
to create something that made the player interact with the environment and use
it to its advantage, enabling various playstyles.



HOLY SMITE

The holy smite is a long-range ability that damages enemies and lowers their
defense, moreover, it ignores obstacles in its trajectory, as it´s literal
lightning falling from the sky. This skill was inspired by Inanna the ancient
Mesopotamian goddess of fertility and enforcer of divine justice. This ability
was the last one to be made, and while doing so, I realized how the player was
missing a long-range attack or in general an action to make when enemies were
still far away. For this reason, I opted for a long-range attack that debuffed
enemies.

After the abilities were done I needed to design various obstacles to fill the
game grid with something other than walls and covers and give a reason to the
player to interact with the environment. Since my programmers already did the
code for damage-over-time effects for the player´s abilities, I decided to build
upon them and add new effects with similar behaviors, so that I could modify
them myself.

I ended up creating over 10 different obstacles with distinctive effects, pointy
walls that would make enemies bleed, columns that could be broken and stun
enemies hit by the rubble, terrains that would slow or damage enemies, boulders
that could be pushed and knock away enemies and so on.


LEVEL DESIGN

While I worked on the player´s abilities and obstacles, my colleagues designed 3
enemies with different behaviours. As soon as these elements were established in
the game I started planning our levels.

I first studied our main references (XCOM, Warhammer Mechanicus) and tried to
understand their process and goals when creating a level. Both of our references
included controlling various allies while in our game we played as a single
unit, so I had to be mindful of the enemy placement in the level, their range,
and movement speed. Now that I knew my constraints, before starting to create
mockups for the levels, I decided to write the goals and context that the levels
should follow.

Some levels focused on teaching certain mechanics to the player; others would
focus on pure combat and non-linearity, giving multiple routes to the player, to
choose their favourite playstyle; another level would focus on puzzle solving,
such as finding and activating all the altars in the level to open the exit door
and escape the enemy patrols.


SYSTEM DESIGN

With the core elements in place, it was time to balance them. As the designer
that created most of those elements, I playtested for many hours to discern if
those mechanics provided the experience I wanted for our players, and while I
was at it, I also created a document for discovered bugs, with a guide on how to
replicate them and a possible solution.

Moreover, as this was a school project, each week other students would playtest
our game, so I prepared a form for them to compile to collect all that valuable
feedback. Thanks to the playtest, we realized many issues with the core loop and
the balancing of the game.

The game went through many changes, for example, at first we used AP (action
points) to use our abilities, but we decided to change that resource to HP
(health point) to display even better our core pillar Sacrifice. With that
update other problems arose, as we would be using our life for each spell thrown
at the enemies, so I introduced a healing mechanic when the player killed an
enemy with a melee attack.

In addition, I tweaked the player and enemies´ stats until the game reached the
desired feel.




CONCLUSION

This project has been an important lesson. It was my and most of the group's
first game in Unreal Engine, and we ended up overscoping a bit too much. Even
so, we learned a lot about the engine, and my contributions to the project were
wide-spanning and focused a lot on both the team and my individual work. I had
the chance to focus on what I want to specialize in, that being Gameplay and
System design. Moreover, I ended up having to take a lot of responsibility for
the game, which I did not mind, and step in to help wherever we were struggling
in the process. Our scope might have been too big for Sycle, resulting in a
small demo rather than the complete game we desired, but it was a fun experience
and a good lesson for the future.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


WONDER WINGS

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WONDER WINGS GAME TRAILER


PROJECT SUMMARY

Wonder Wings takes flight as a vibrant 3D flying shooting game where toys spring
to life in whimsical adventure. Players assume control of Mata, a plushie
piloting a toy plane, with the mission of thwarting the evil wizard SpellHound
and liberating brainwashed toys. The challenge lies in navigating through a
obstacle-laden environment and engaging in aerial combat without succumbing to
enemy fire or crashing the plane.

With this game, we aimed to address a gap in the market for space shooters, but
with a unique twist, transforming spaceships into toys to align with artistic
constraints. Embracing a younger target audience, the game features a toony and
colorful aesthetic, offering a relaxing yet engaging experience for all players.


PROJECT INFO

 * Role: Gameplay, System & Level Design
 * Team Size: 20
 * Time frame: 9 Weeks
 * Engine: Unity

Check it out on itch! Read the GDD Look at the Pitch

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Gameplay Design:
Crafted player movement and shooting mechanics, along with the design of four
distinct enemy types.

Level Design:
Designed an open space room for a satisfying flying experience, incorporated
puzzles with hidden rewards, and strategically positioned enemies with varied
movement patterns.

System Design:
Responsible for the balancing of player and enemy stats, including those of the
boss character.


READ FURTHER DOWN FOR MORE INFORMATION ON EACH CATEGORY


GAMEPLAY DESIGN

I took care of the majority of the gameplay-related mechanics for this project.

At the time I was playing the early access version of Everspace 2, so I had an
optimal reference for what should have been our space shooter, but as we adapted
our concept to our constraints we used toys instead of spaceships.

Consequently, the environment went through some changes, it would not be outer
space but the inside of a house. For this reason, I also took inspiration from
games such as TOY STORY 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue and Airfix Dogfighter,
as they were set in a very similar setting.

The game core loop revolves around exploring rooms within a house, searching for
power-ups and secrets, battling malevolent toys, and ultimately facing off
against each room's boss.


MOVEMENT

Movement was one of our core mechanics, and we wanted it to be intuitive and
easy to control, so even a younger audience could play without problems.

I started by giving the toy plane a permanent forward movement, so that our
players would have only to steer and worry about the direction rather than their
speed. After that, I added a rotation mechanic to the plane, using the Q or E
keys, would make our plane rotate to the left or the right, with the camera
following said rotation, giving the chance to the player to perform stunts to
evade enemy projectiles or explore parts of the level too tight to be entered
while in a horizontal position.

Following I noticed how our collisions were not the best when the player hit a
wall, as the plane would slide and tremble on the hit wall. To solve the issue I
designed a bouncing mechanic, that bounced back the player's plane in the
opposite direction from where they hit the wall, which shortly after, got
implemented with its animation.



Moreover, after various playtests, I noticed how the automatic forward movement
was giving problems to some of our players when they tried to make precise
maneuvers, so later on, I decided to add two buttons, one to speed up and one to
slow down the movement speed of our plane, giving more control to the players
that desired it.


COMBAT

While designing the movement of our player, I was also keeping in mind our
second core mechanic, that being the shooting of our player but also of the
game's enemies.

For the player, I decided to have two distinct shooting modes, one with a high
rate of fire and a low damage output, and the second one being a powerful attack
characterized by a slow rate of fire, that zoomed our camera in to take aim and
unleash a magical rocket.

Each shooting type had its projectile lifetime, speed, reload time, and magazine
size. When the shooting of the player was done, I and another designer, started
working on the enemies.

We wanted to have a good variety of enemy types and behaviours, so we designed 4
different types of enemies, each with its own strenght and weaknesses, and they
are:

Ground Stationary: A ground unit that does not move, in our case, it was the
Bigtopus, our game's boss, that spawns after all the enemies are defeated. Being
stationary makes it an easy target, but its health points and powerful melee and
ranged attacks, make up for that weakness.


Ground Mobile: The most frequent enemies, the unicorns are ground units that
patrol in a set path. When the player enters their range, they start following
them and shooting sparkly projectiles. The unicorn patrols vary in size, having
both small unicorns with low health points, and bigger mama unicorns that are
more resistant to the player's magic. In addition, the unicorns deal low damage
with their attacks but they have a unique rate of fire, almost like a laser,
making them a threatening unit if not left alone.


Elevated Stationary: The sharkmeids are non-moving units placed in elevated
positions such as desks or tables. When the player enters their range, they
shoot a high-speed beam of light from their trident. They have a slow rate of
fire but they compensate thanks to their projectile speed and damage.


Flying Stationary: The teru teru bozu are a flying unit attached to the roof
thanks to a rope sustaining them. They also shoot the player as soon as they
enter their range, but their attack is different from the rest. The teru teru
bozu shoots a projectile that expands after a few seconds, forming a massive
bubble that damages everything inside it. In exchange, they have a short range
and even though they are flying, they do not move around, as their rope locks
them in place.


FEEDBACK

After the core mechanics were ready, it was time to design how to communicate
all those actions to the player.

I started with a Health bar for both the player and the enemies, showing their
current health. After that, I added visual cues for player damage such as a red
outline on the screen, and successively an animation, to communicate it as
clearly as possible.

Following that, I also wanted to prevent spam shooting in our game, so I
designed an overheat system that disabled the player´s shooting if they fired
too many bullets in a short amount of time.

To convey that without adding an ammo counter, I added a red bar, inside the
crosshair to be specific, that was slightly filled every time the player shot a
bullet, and emptied if they did not shoot for a few seconds.




REPLAYABILITY

The game was supposed to have 5 different rooms for our players to explore, but
our vertical slice only had 1 room to show our gameplay. Even so, during
playtest we observed how some of our players wanted to compete with each other,
trying to complete the level in the fastest way possible. Analyzing that, I
decided to add a score system, that gives points to the player on each enemy
defeated depending on a multiplier based on playtime.

This mechanic, gave a visual way for our players to discover who would have the
highest score, moreover, it created retention, improving our replay value, as
players would try to improve their score.


LEVEL DESIGN

For this project I worked closely with the art department to create our game
level. We wanted to have a believable space, so, before creating mockups or
blockouts, each member of the team sent photos of rooms as references.

I started analyzing them to see where the furnishings were placed, which were
the recurrent items, and how large our environment should be. After having a
rough idea, I created the level blockout in engine.

As soon as we started playtesting our movement in the scene, we noticed that if
the player moved in a straight direction, they would traverse the entirety of
the room in less than 10 seconds, and that was an issue.



I and the rest of the team liked the movement speed of our character, so the
only choice was to make the level bigger. I started looking at references of
mansions´ rooms, to then create a new blockout that was 3 times larger when
compared to our old level.

Then, I divided the new level into 7 different areas, each offering a somewhat
unique experience, from safe zones to environmental mazes hiding power-ups and
increased enemy encounters. The goal was to provide meaning and pacing in
different parts of the room, contributing to an engaging gameplay experience.

Moreover, while placing the enemies in the scene, I set the route of all the
moving ones using a point to point movement system, and created various spawn
points for them, to have kind of different runs everytime the player decided to
run the game. Here there are some examples of the level areas with a description
of their features:


The desk is a large section featuring sharkmeids and many patrolling enemies on
the ground near it. It is a dangerous area having the highest amount of enemies
per square meter, but it is worth the risk, as inside the desk, behind an
environmental maze the strongest powerup lies in wait.


The wardrobe is a small area located to the right of the desk. It is a
relatively safe area as there are only two enemies. This part of the level let
players relax and rewards the ones that explore every nook and cranny of the
level, as there are two hidden power-ups, one behind the boots inside the
wardrobe and the other inside the basketball hoop.


The window area, located on the left of the desk, hosts multiple types of
enemies and shows in clear sight the shield power-up, which offers a strong buff
to the player´s defense but it is risky to approach without clearing the enemies
around it.


In this last picture we can see theBunk Bed and our aesthetic final result with
the shaders and lighting.


CONCLUSION

Throughout this nine-week project, I had the privilege of wearing many hats and
contributing to various aspects of our game. Having to step in and help wherever
we faced difficulties, I am grateful for the many opportunities to learn and
contribute in meaningful ways.

Wonder Wings represents a project that I am particularly proud of at this moment
in my game design journey, not just for the tasks I accomplished but more so for
the successful result of our teamwork and the rewarding journey we navigated
together.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


PRIESTCORE


PROJECT SUMMARY

Priestcore is a fast paced first person arena shooter with a cel-shaded
aesthetic, set during the Apocalypse. The player takes the role of Father
Gabriel, the priest of Belsit. His role? Defend his cathedral from the incoming
waves of demons, exterminate each one of them and survive.

For this project, the team and I were aware that we would be using an unfamiliar
engine called Tengine. Additionally, we had a strict deadline of 6 weeks to
deliver a playable and enjoyable game. Given these constraints, I carefully
considered which game concept would be most suitable for such a short timeframe.
Ultimately, I chose to develop an FPS Arena Shooter, which allowed the artist to
save time by focusing on a single environment and eliminating the need for a
player character model.


PROJECT INFO

 * Role: Gameplay, System & Level Design
 * Team Size: 11
 * Time frame: 6 Weeks
 * Engine: Tengine

Read the GDD Look at the Pitch

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Lead Designer:
Game vision, meetings, decision-making and presentations, as well as scrum
master.

Gameplay Design:
Responsible of designing the game´s core mechanics, and the enemies behaviour.

Level Design:
Designed the game level, whiteboxed it in engine, and added all the colliders
and triggers required.

System Design:
Balanced the enemies stats and the power-ups scaling. Moreover, designed a wave
system to spawn enemies, that increases periodically.


READ FURTHER DOWN FOR MORE INFORMATION ON EACH CATEGORY


GAME DESIGN

The project began with a blank canvas and the excitement of possibility. I was
entrusted with the responsibility of designing the game from scratch and writing
the Game Design Document (GDD). Though I had the final say on our decisions, the
team had a lot of interesting and exciting ideas for features, mechanics,
animations, and more. Everyone had suggestions and was involved in shaping the
game.


PROJECT MANAGEMENT

In the role of project manager, I found myself in the position of a guiding
hand, ensuring the team remained focused and efficient. I was the scrum leader
every morning, and I also handled the task of balancing resources, managing
timelines, and coordinating efforts with respect for each team member's unique
contributions.


GAMEPLAY DESIGN

In this project we wanted the player to experience the power and tension that
comes from playing a fast-paced shooter, where they always have to be on the
move and obliterate an infinite amount of enemies. Our gameplay was very
inspired by games like Doom and Ultrakill, we wanted enemy variety, but we chose
to have only two enemy types for time constraints as we were developing the game
in an almost barebone engine, and our programmers had a lot to focus on.

These enemies were: a small Imp demon that would chase the player and die with a
few projectiles, its strenght being in its speed and numbers; and a bigger unit
called the Hog, that would shoot the player when they enter its range, but in
exchange of its attack range and large quantity of health points, it was a rarer
and much slower unit.



Moreover, I designed the movement and shooting mechanic of our player. For the
movement, the goal was to make the player feel light on their feet while moving
around, for that I designed a fast movement speed with a low gravity on the
player, and a dash mechanic to dodge enemy projectiles or quickly reposition on
the map.

Regarding the shooting, we did not have enough time to develop different guns,
so I focused on giving the player an automatic weapon with flat damage no matter
the distance, as they would be fighting infinite waves of enemies, and I felt
that was the best choice to support the fast-pace feeling of our game and have a
good playtime, as the player could continuously shoot enemies from far away if
they kept moving.

If they ever stopped they would get drowned by the amount of incoming enemies.


LEVEL DESIGN

Before focusing on our game level I expanded the game setting to have a coherent
space. Our final setting was very similar to the Castlevania TV series,
basically waves of demons were pillaging the Earth and attacking any people or
religious building.

The player would play as a priest protecting his cathedral and for this reason,
the game level resembled a real cathedral. In fact, before working on the actual
level, I researched the architecture of many cathedrals (I was lucky enough to
have visited many of them in Italy), the key elements that most if not all of
them shared, like benches, pillars or the altars, and I also noticed how most of
the buildings also shared the same cross shape.

After collecting enough info I and the other designer started working on some
level mockups in Unreal for a faster workflow. My goal for the level was to have
a large space around the pillars for the player to run around, and an altar area
where our power-ups would spawn.

After completing our mockups, we compared them to see the strong and weak
aspects of both, and for the final product we decided to mix our game levels
into one to utilize the strenghts of both. For example, I wanted to add some
kind of siderooms in my level as it was very rectangular shaped and the
experience inside it felt kinda monotonous. To solve this, inspired by my
colleague´s level, I added into mine a second floor that drastically improved
the gameplay.



After that, I noticed how the enemies could block the entrances to the second
floor if there were too many, so I changed the pathways to reach it, adding a
total of five different routes.

Now that I had a level, I needed some kind of obstacles or props to fill the
empty space, and knowing that the game was set in an Apocalypse, I talked with
our artists to break existing assets in our level, making the level feel
affected by the changes in the game world. This resulted in using broken pillars
or benches as obstacles.


SYSTEM DESIGN

Knowing our game concept, I knew we needed some kind of progression to let the
player continue their gaming session. For that I designed a wave system that
used a Power Level that would gradually grow over time to know how many enemies
to spawn, and to increase the game difficulty as time went on. Enemies and their
variations would also have a power level, so that the wave system could pick
randomly between them to crete diverse waves during different runs.

Other than that I also needed something that increased the player's strenghts
over time. I chose to create various power-ups that could be obtained at the end
of a wave, that buffed the player damage, reload time, health, spell cooldown
and so on.

Last but no least, I playtested for many hours to obtain the desired feeling for
our fast-paced-shooter, modifying enemies health, speed and range.


CONCLUSION

All in all, it was a good experience to learn how challenging it can be to work
with a new tool such as a different Engine. We had to adapt our game to our
constraints and look for creative solutions to obtain good performance and
mechanics. I had the opportunity to be the Project Lead and take a lot of
responsibility for the game, stepping in to help wherever we were struggling in
the process.

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NOCTURNAL

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NOCTURNAL GAME TRAILER


PROJECT SUMMARY

Nocturnal is a 2D platformer set in a dark and challenging environment. Tasked
with overcoming deadly trials, the player navigates the shadows, utilizing three
distinct abilities to reach their ultimate goal.

This was my very first group project, and our team was largely comprised of
individuals with limited experience, so we opted for a simple yet impactful
concept, a 2D platformer.

One of our key constraints was to use only black and white colors for the
majority of the game. Throughout the development journey, my primary focus
revolved around designing and refining core mechanics, as well as crafting a
level with diverse challenges to deliver a gratifying experience to our players.


PROJECT INFO

 * Role: Gameplay, System & Level Design
 * Team Size: 20
 * Time frame: 9 Weeks
 * Engine: Unreal Engine 4

Check it out on itch! Look at the Pitch

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MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Gameplay Design:
Designed the player's abilities and oversaw the design of the game camera to
complement the platforming experience.

Level Design:
Designed and whiteboxed the level with a variety of different obstacles.

System Design:
Adjusted player stats to align with the game level. Defined the range and timing
parameters for moving obstacles, and introduced a beat chart to map the
difficulty curve, aiding in identifying and addressing challenges during
playtesting.


READ FURTHER DOWN FOR MORE INFORMATION ON EACH CATEGORY


GAMEPLAY DESIGN

In the early stages, the group decided on making a 2D platformer where abilities
acts as keys to specific challenges. As the person in charge of designing these
abilities, knowing we lacked animators for this project, I designed simple
mechanics that would not require distinctive animations. The finalized abilities
included a double jump, a shrinking ability for tight spaces to evade traps, and
a phantom creation feature to unlock doors.


LEVEL DESIGN

As my first level design experience, I started by observing references of Trial
& Error platformers such as Limbo and Toby the Secret Mine, and I was also
slightly inspired by Hollow Knight´s white palace, as I was playing it at the
time.

After analyzing those games, I created a legend of assets that I would need for
our level. Knowing our game would be set in a dark forest, these included spiky
vines, swinging trunks, moving platforms, and moving snail as our enemies.

With that ready I started sketching possible platforming challenges that
utilized one or a mix of our abilities. When I had a couple dozen of those
sketches, I created a mockup of a possible game level and successively
whiteboxed it in the engine.



As soon as our abilities were ready, the group started to playtest the level,
and here I noticed how the majority of the playtesters struggled to surpass some
sections. After collecting feedback, I ended up reworking the level, introducing
a tutorial for each ability at the start of the game, lowering the difficulty
curve in some areas, and making the jump sections more intuitive.


SYSTEM DESIGN

After the level was ready, I tweaked the player´s speed and jump height to fit
to the game level. I also set the range and timer for the moving platforms,
spikes, and trunks.

Moreover, as said before, in the game's first playtest the level was too hard
for the majority of the players. As a solution, I reworked the level, but to
prepare for future playtests I also created a beat chart to map the difficulty
curve in each section of the level as a graph.

This graph would let me know if I would have to rework other obstacles in
certain areas or add safe zones to break the pacing of the level and let players
relax for a short while.


CONCLUSION

Nocturnal stands as a significant milestone in my game design journey, marking
my initiation into group projects. It was both a rewarding and challenging
experience, offering valuable lessons, for example the importance of adapting a
concept to fit the needs or constraints of the group, to obtain the best
possible result.

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Greeting! I am Claudio, a game designer who loves inventing innovative
mechanics, balancing systems, and creating exciting challenges for players!
Now looking for an internship in Game Design.
Below you can find my portfolio that highlights some of my game development
work.


MY PROJECTS

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17
9 Weeks
Unreal Engine 5


ROCKET RIDER GAMEPLAY, SYSTEM & UI DESIGNER

Rocket Rider is a fast-paced hack & slash, where the player rides a rocket as a
hoverboard, and uses that to perform attacks against robotic enemies.

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20
9 Weeks
Unreal Engine 4


SYCLE GAMEPLAY, SYSTEM & LEVEL DESIGN

Sycle is a turn-based strategy roguelite centered around the concept of
Sacrifice, featuring the goddess Itzel, on her journey to restore the world.

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12
9 Weeks
Unity


WONDER WINGS GAMEPLAY, SYSTEM & LEVEL DESIGN

Wonder Wings is a 3D flying shooting game where toys spring to life in whimsical
adventure. Players assume control of Mata, with the mission of thwarting the
evil wizard SpellHound.

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11
6 Weeks
Tengine (Remade in Unreal)


PRIESTCORE GAMEPLAY, SYSTEM & LEVEL DESIGN

Priestcore is a fast-paced first person arena shooter highlighting the last
stand of Father Gabriel against invading hordes of demons.

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14
4 Weeks
Unity


NOCTURNAL GAMEPLAY, SYSTEM & LEVEL DESIGN

Nocturnal is a 2D platformer with a dark setting, showcasing Robin's nightmare
and his escape.


SKILLS

 * Documentation
 * Rapid Prototyping
 * Unity
 * Unreal Engine
 * Blueprints
 * C#
 * C++
 * Git
 * Photoshop
 * Miro


WHO AM I ?

I am an Italian 25 years old Game Designer that's currently studying at
PlaygroundSquad in Sweden.

Actively seeking opportunities to expand my skills, i'm working both in team and
alone on anything that I find interesting.

If there's one thing I love, it's turning ideas into reality!

If you want to know more, feel free to read my about me, or contact me on my
socials or at claudioscuderi.gd@gmail.com

Claudio Scuderi LinkedIn account Mail About MeAbout Me Claudio Scuderi
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