Initially created as a DES 310 Professional Project, 'Braise Satan' was designed to fit our client brief : ‘A twist on the mundane’.
Braise Satan is a first person frantic cooking game, set in Hell.
I took the role of Lead Designer on the project, overlooking all aspects of design in the game.
Some parts of the game I worked on were :
Level design and layout of all elements in the game
Mechanics and Systems Design
Audio Asset Sourcing
Dialogue Writing
Niagara FX Design
Cutscene and Cinematics Design
Tutorial Design
+ More
I also conducted playtesting during development on the game. I observed playtesters and took notes and received feedback, which I used to make informed design decisions moving forward.
One problem we had during development was that players did not realise that the 'Imp' characters who feature in the game were stealing the players' food. I solved this by designing a visual indicator that would inform the player of the direction of the incoming imp, as well as an audio cue that would play alongside it. We also applied this to the cooking stations in the level to tell the player when the food they were cooking was about to burn, which solved both problems.
Another problem that we encountered during development was that players would place items on the chopping board or on a cooking station and they would roll off or fall due to the nature of the physics system. I solved this by creating lock points that players could place items on which would lock certain objects into place, creating a much smoother and tactile feel for the game. This meant that players could perform actions more efficiently and faster during the frantic nature of the game.
Braise Satan was selected as one of six finalists to feature in Abertay University's Dare Academy competition and was showcased in Dundee, Edinburgh and London at a number of events including EGX/Comic-Con.
We were also proud to release the game in November of 2024 on Steam for free on PC.
