Shadow Crypt

Shadow Crypt is a Zelda-like third person puzzle RPG where the player makes use of various spells that allow them to navigate dungeons.  Each dungeon has a centre piece environmental feature the player interacts with, such as changing the height of water across the dungeon or moving a massive central structure. 

Shadow Crypt was one of my two third year final projects.  I took the entire project from concept phase to a completed prototype,  which in this case consisted of one completed dungeon that makes use of the majority of the spells the player would unlock in the complete game.   

The core design element of Shadow Crypt is the collection of spells the player can acquire. When designing the player’s spells I tried to create a collection of spells that each felt unique and would allow for interesting challenges to be presented to the player when combining them together.

In addition to designing each of the spells and the puzzles to go with them, I also created a set of rules to define how a standard dungeon should be designed.  I decided to create these rules as it would allow for multiple dungeons to be more easily produced. It also sets expectations for the player on what to expect within each dungeon and can help act as a subtle way to guide the player through more complex dungeons. These rules dictate the number of rooms within each ‘zone’ of the dungeon and the items needed to reach the dungeon’s boss. The player can change which of these zones are accessible by interacting with the centre piece feature.