ABOUT ME
I have always been intrigued by new and interesting experiences that games bring to us. The biggest takeaway from the games to me is definitely how the believability of the level shapes the immersion. Games like Final Fantasy, Saints Rows, Assassin Creed gave enough attention to the details and layout of the level making exploration fun without feeling lost.
Through research and analysis of various successful games, I have developed a keen sense of flow and gain a deeper understanding of the implicit design intention cleverly intergraded into the level. I hoped that my comprehension and sense of design will be of guidance for aspiring designers possessing the same passion as I.
Aspiring Level/UX Gameplay Designer
JADE TAM
Problem Solving
I am critical thinker who looks at a problem from various angles and provide the best solution with the most potential for improvement.
Analysis
I am able to provide comprehensive analysis with clear detailing of the process.
DESIGN
I possess an imaginative mind and am not afraid to implement bold designs
Consulting
I am capable of providing emotional support and guidance as needed
PROJECTS
Developer
SHE WHO HEARS
is an ambitious solo project that tries to craft an experience that allows the player the freedom of customizing their character, skills, and weapons.
This 3/4 top-down adventure tells the story of a world built upon the world tree nurtured by the elements of the sky. As the mortal incarnation of the Night Goddess, it is a journey of recovering what was lost.
RESEARCH
She Who Hears is a selfish design with myself as its target audience. But through this project, I wanted to try my best in giving myself the freedom of customizing how I experience my journey in the game.
I admire the physics involved in "Ori and the blind forest". With simple physics and controls, player experience comes from how they choose to interact with the environment in the game. The physics creates a believable environment where players real-life sensations and experience was recreated as similarly as possible in the game giving the player a sense of familiarity.
For the game "Final Fantasy Brave Exvius", despite being a pay-to-win game, I could see that the developers placed importance on creating a customizable experience for the players. Though every player may have the same character, depending on how the player chooses to equip the same character with weapon and skills and well as the different levels of this item, the same character can play very differently. This is very similar to the freedom of customization which I would like to incorporate into my design.
In "Metal Gear Solid V" the whole game experience is segregated into levels rather than a full game experience. However, what makes me invested in the game is how well the AI interacts within the game. An example would be how an enemy will react when seeing their dead comrades. A lot of thought and considerations was given to the behavioral designs of these AIs crafting a very believable experience and inciting a sense of danger whenever a player tries to take out an enemy.
PLANNING
She Who Hears currently have a systemic design where Weapon Customisation System works with the Material Crafting System and the Skill Assembly system.
Material Crafting System
There are a few preset materials that can be crafted. The resources need to craft the materials are sorted into a few major categories, meaning if a player needs 4 kg of wood, it can be harvested from trees, vines, or even wooden tables. Anything that is interacted with in the world may be harvested. Once the player gathers the necessary resources, they will be able to craft the material at an altar.
Weapon Customisation System
Similarly, with the Material Crafting System, there are presets for the type of weapon that players can craft. For example, the wider blade has a stronger attack and works better with enchantment skills while a thinner blade will work better with elemental skills. The type of material use will improve the quality of the weapon thus increasing its durability. When the player chooses a blade for the sword as an example, they can equip the sword with a skill socket which allows players to equip skills.
Skill Assembly System
Skills are split into elemental and enchantment. Enchantment skills will increase the stats of the weapon while elemental skills will give players terrain advantages such as using a wind fire elemental skill when a wind is blowing. This allows the fire to be carried by the wind, damaging enemies out of reach. Skills are categorized into sizes and only a large socket can equip a large skill for example. The skill consumes durability and when durability is too low, the player will be unable to use the skill. Continuous use of the sword at low durability will have a high chance of breaking.
Level Designer
System Designer
Lead Artist(Visuals, UI, VFX, Character, Animator)
CIN OF CIGMA
is an unconventional 2D action game by Team INSIGNIA. The player plays the rolls of support, helping their companion to defeat enemies and they race against the darkness to bring light back to the world.
RESEARCH
Team INSIGNIA envisioned to craft and experience which player can feel the joy of playing with a companion that will care for him. We headed our project in this direction as we experienced the scorn and negativity from playing with other players online thus we design Cin of Cigma.
The hardest part of the project was the research. There were a very obscure amount of materials that we could reference from. The biggest challenge was having the player play as a support type of character while still being involved and relevant in a fight.
We referenced "Ages of Mages" as it is a game where players fend of waves of an overwhelming number of enemies. However, there was still little that we could use.
From "Devil's Dare", we were able to research how clear feedback was given to the players during gameplay where the player's focus may not be on the HUD. We learned the importance of timing our feedbacks and also how just a few animated visuals could help make the feedback feel more impactful.
From "Hades" we analyze how the enemies behave such as how it patrols, the timing of its attacking, the anticipation, and the balancing of the damage in the game. We also gathered references from its level which greatly help us in the creation of terrain damages.
Aggression System
To understand the Aggression System, there is a need to introduce the enemy stats and the player's debuffing ability. Each enemy has a taunt level which ranges from 1 to 3. The enemy also has a random range of attack, defense, and speed stats. The Player has the ability to debuff these stats with the debuff ability, however, the downside to that ability would be that the aggression level of the player increasing when the same type of debuff is consecutively used within a very short period of time.
When the aggression level increases, the enemies with the corresponding taunt level will start chasing after the player instead. To reduce the taunt level, the player will have to wait out the timer or use another debuff. The Aggression system is a double edge sword. If used cleverly, the player will have the ability to control the battlefield by leading certain enemies away from the companion or attracting every purifiable enemy and executing a combo. A combo will increase the amount of health recovered.
Purification System
The purification system will only activate when there are enemies who have low health within the visible area of the screen. To get the enemy to low health, players will have to use their debuffing skills and support the companion so that the companion will have an easier time attacking the enemies as well as having a lesser risk of dying. The objective of the game is to reach the end with both the player and the companion alive, otherwise, it would be a game over.
We removed the idea of mana in our game as it will hinder the experience of playing as support. Instead, we implemented a mechanic where random key combinations will be needed when purifying an enemy with low health. the enemy will be defeated when the player successfully completes the key combination correctly. Only the player will be able to defeat the enemy when they are in low health as they possess a defensive wall defending them from the physical attacks of the companion.
There was countless iteration before we managed to lead our project in the direction of what the team has envisioned. In this team project, I helped in the creation of our 2 most important systems in the game. Aggression System and Purification System.
PROCESS
Design Lead
Level Designer
UI Artist & Animator
VFX Designer
PRAYER
is a really cute puzzle platformer RPG. Enka our protagonist, with the abilities of her two spirits, go through treacherous terrain to stop the evil Ranka from harming everyone she loves.
RESEARCH
A short hike is a simple atmospheric exploration game where the player hike, climb and soar through peaks. We took inspiration from the simplicity of climbing up high places from a short Hike. We also took the soaring mechanic but it didn't went very well as we want the player to keep going up rather than soaring from places to places.
We took the inspiration from Super Mario Odyssey. It is a Mario game with lots of transformation. With each transformation, Mario has access to new abilities.
The last inspiration is from Indonesia mud volcano that swallowed a town and continued erupting from this day. We wanted to create a myth and story that tells of a tribe that lives in a volcanic mountain.
STORY
For Prayer, we wanted a compelling story with memorable characters and motives. We have a very clear goal in our game, we wanted the player to reach the top of the Volcano. Why would our protagonist climb a volcano? We considered a mystery where the player finds out what's happening to the village. But as our art style feels attractive to younger audience, it was easier to create and antagonist that the Hero who the player is playing needs to defeat.
PROCESS
Tutorial Stage
Player uses their abilities to gain the fruit that will be offered during the ritual.
Level 1
We are introduced to the villain who came to steal the seal of the ritual and stoned all the villagers. Player will traverse through the platform levels as they chase after the villain to take back the seal and restore her people back to normal.
Level 2
Player enters the level and sees the lava overflowing. The spirits tells the player that they need to regain the seal and complete the ritual before the lava flows to the village.
Resolution
Ranka who was preparing her ritual to release the lava was stopped by the player Enka. Enka then starts the ritual for the sealing of the lava with the help of the spirits, returning the mountain back to normal. Ranka however, escaped.
Describe your image
Covid-19 Work around
For the designers to plan out a level more efficiently, I have created an icon sheet which the level designers can use to create levels.
The storyboards also helped a lot in fleshing out the story and the sequence
As the Design Lead, I would flesh out the base idea or concepts before presenting it to my team and gathering feedbacks. The changes based on the feedback will be pass off to the task - in - charge. Let's say this task is regarding level design, after my first initial draft, the re iteration will be done by the level design lead.
This method works very well as it was easier to explain and change things when there is something concrete already in place.
RESEARCH
ARTWORK
