trials of pandora
A first person doom-like adventure
background
Entering this personal team project, my goal was to create a game experience from scratch and outside our studies.
During summer 2024, a group of us met up and made a plan to have a prototype to showcase in our portfolios, and to improve our skills in game development and agile working. This game is still a work-in progress.
Diverse combat
Fast paced gameplay
narrative story
Breakdown
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Team of 4 Designers, 3 Artist, 3 Procedural Artists & 2 Programmers
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Summer project of 2024
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Made using Unreal Engine 5
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Goal to have a prototype as portfolio piece
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Worked as a Generalist Designer
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Produced one playable level and worked on game design rules & narrative
Narrative summary
Set in ancient Greece, you play as a young girl granted divine powers by Prometheus, the last descendant of Pandora. As a deadly plague and natural disasters threaten your homeland, rumors whisper of Pandora’s Box, the key to salvation, containing the goddess Elpis. Sealed away by the gods, it remains out of reach, forcing you to embark on a narrative-driven journey to reclaim it before time runs out.
level overview
map legend
Faun
Harpie
Minotaur
Collectable
Player path
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Flowchart
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1. Player sees a foreshadow of the end area and temple that they later will get to.
Some light parkour takes them to the first combat arena.
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4. A collectible can be found on broken spiral stairs above. Backtracking, players can discover a hidden passage to it, easy to miss unless they’re actively searching.
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2. The first enemy encounter leads to a bait and switch: a statue hides a button that opens a secret room with the first of three collectibles.
Turning back, the player spots stairs to continue forward.
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5. Enemies lurk around sharp corners in the labyrinth. A detour reveals a secret chamber with the final collectible, and at the heart of the labyrinth, the player faces the first minotaur.
3. After a brief pause, the player enters a second combat arena with a central pit, ideal for knocking enemies down.
Elevated foes promote ranged combat and add vertical challenge.
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6. After defeating the minotaur, an elevator lifts the player above the maze toward the foreshadowed temple. Battling through enemies leads to the level’s end.
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player mechanics & abilities
mechanics
At the start of the experience, the player wakes up from falling into a pit with an item on their wrist: The Olympian Bracelet, a sacred relic created by Prometheus.
Granted by the powers of the ancient greek Gods, the bracelet serves as the player's core mechanics, besides basic jump and vault mechanics.
As the game progresses, a Skilltree will be provided between levels where the player can upgrade the bracelets different crystals, giving the player agency and strategic choice during the experience.
olympian bracelet
upgrade room
dash
Melee combat
Block & parry
ranged combat
abilites
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Power from Hermes Crystal grants the player the Dash Ability for quick avoid and traversal movement
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Athenas Shield grants the player the Block & Parry Ability for defence
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Power from Ares Crystal grants the player the Melee Sword for Close Combat and heavier damage
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Zeus Crystal grants the player Zeus Lightening, giving the player ranged shooting for ranged combat.
enemy types
The player will encounter three different enemy types that serves as different Challenges for them. These are within the fundamentals of Orthogonal Enemy Design, giving the player different types of challenges for each enemy and in combination.
fauns
Fauns serves as fodder enemies that are quick and easy to kill, but can make serious damage in crowds.
harpies
Harpies are ranged enemies that keep their distance, whose attacks stuns the player for a while.
minotaurs
Minotaurs are tanks that give great damage and have a big health pool, though their attacks are much slower.
screenshots
comment
This project is a work in progress, yet so far has been a fun and educating experience, taking a lot of initiative and freedom while working alongside a team of driven game developers.
Before going into the production of my level, my team and I decided that my level would introduce the Minotaur. Therefore, I did some research of its origin and decided to make the environment dedicated to this enemy type. Since it lived inside a labyrinth, designing one for my level was a must.
I plan on iterating my level further, by for example incoporated the player mechanics more often and doing some more playtesting, both internal and external.