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A personal custom DLC for MotionTwin's rogue-metroidvania Dead cells
Context
A solo project focused on documentation, analysis and system creation
My tasks
- Analyse the base game and its existing DLCs
- Designing a new biome with its foes
- Boss design
- Mix the project with the already existing content
- Creating new weapons and perks in coherence with the project's intentions
The Biomes and enemies
The main intention for the project can be summed up in a few words: A deep dive underwater.
This intention adds diversity with the already existing biomes focused on surface-level and underground ambiances.
To start, the first biome is old mining tunnels named "Flooded tunnels" filled with water in which the player must activate buttons to lower the water level and open new ways.
With this mechanic in addition with a vertical-oriented biome, the player perceives this feeling of going deeper and deeper in the tunnels.
Intended for a low-difficulty biome, some enemies from other early biomes will be present.
The new enemies will be mainly creatures adapted for both grounded fight and water-filled environment.
After completing the tunnels, the player discover ancient ruins as the new biome named "Atlantean's ruins".
Separated in three parts with gravity-altered zone where characters jump higher but fall slower.
In addition, the biome is a swirl in which the player's character goes from the exterior to the middle, giving this feeling of exploring the ruins and searching the core of it.
To keep a fast pace in the conflicts, the enemies are mainly Fishmans, inhabitants of the ruins, focused on aggressive approach to the player's character.
By reaching the end of the two biomes, the player arrives in the boss arena, the "Murk water's Acropolis".
To keep the coherence between the biomes and the boss, the arena is inspired from antique architecture.
As the player encounters many Fishmans previously, the boss being the Fishman's Chief keeps the coherence both in narration and gameplay wise.
Items & mutations
For the design of items & mutations, I had to do an analysis of the current stats system in the game. With my analysis and the content previously made, I designed exotic weapons and new passive abilities which would bring diversity and fresh ways of play while calling back the new foes and biomes my project adds.
By the crabman design, a skill can be made out of it for the player's arsenal
Bonus
Full document
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