Mantra
Role: Combat Designer
Studio: Rubyshark
When: April 2021 - Jan 2024
Mantra is a sci-fi first-person shooter inspired by Titanfall and Doom 2016, featuring combat areas and advanced movement like wall running and highspeed sliding.
My Tasks Included:
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Weapon Design: I designed and tested over 15 possible weapons.
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Enemy Design: I helmed the design and implementation of a new enemy type, "The Cricket."
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Weapon and Enemy Balance: I was in charge of tweaking various weapon values like projectile speed and damage, alongside enemy traits like health and movement speed.
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Encounter Design: I created engaging enemy encounters to challenge the player.
Shotgun
- Holds two shots that can be fired individually before reloading.
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- Encourage players to be more aggressive and get in close to enemies due to its short-range and high pellet spread.
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- Most effective against large enemies so all pellets can land on target.
SMG
- Capable of more sustained DPS.
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- Higher vertical recoil is a lot higher than other weapons in the sandbox.
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- Can be used most effectively against fast enemies like the drone.
Magnum
-Designed to support the rest of the weapon sandbox by having unlimited ammo and enough damage output to finish off damaged enemies.
-Capable of shooting nimble drones out of the sky due to its fast projectile speed, allowing players to collect ammo drops for the other weapons in their arsenal.
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-First weapon available to the player.
LMG
- Has the largest ammo capacity of all the weapons in the arsenal.
- Has a steady rate of fire and a slower projectile speed
- Best suited against slow-moving targets like the tank or stopped charger.
Alternate LMG V.
An alternative version of the LMG, designed to be more dynamic than other weapons in the sandbox.
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- Features a dynamically changing rate of fire and bullet velocity based on how long the trigger is held down.
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- Encourages players to consider positioning and target priority. using its fast inaccurate fire on closer enemies before transitioning to more distant targets when the weapon "spin downs".
Charge Pistol
Created as an alternative to having no always-available way to deal damage (i.e. a Melee)
- Has a heat gauge that cools down when not in use. able to overheat when fired for too long
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- Can overcharge a powerful tracking shot with damage based on current heat level
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- Tasks the player with keeping track of heat levels and overcharge shots to use effectively.
