Level Features
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10-15 Minutes of Gameplay
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1 Main Quest
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Teleporting Lightning Slash Mechanic
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Cinematic Moments
Project Details
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Creation Kit (Skyrim)
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Systems & Level Designer
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Solo Project
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Development Time: 200 Hours
Introduction
"The Lost Apprentice" is a single-player mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The player ventures into a dungeon used by the Order of the Spellswords. The player finds Storm-Caller, a unique magical sword that allows them to teleport themselves and enemies by using lightning slash attacks.
The player must use Storm-Caller's teleportation ability to traverse The Lost Tomb and defeat the undead enemies to reach the final chamber and complete the Spellsword Ritual.
Scripted a unique player mechanic: Warp Lightning Slash.
Design Goals For This Mechanic
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Create a new way for the player to traverse through a dungeon.
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Add combat capability using the new mechanic.
Teleporting Traversal
The player can only teleport by hitting these special statues with their new lightning slash attack.
This allowed me to control where the player could teleport to and prevent the player from having a new skill that would break the game.
Teleporting Traversal Uses:
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Solve environmental puzzles.
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Explore new areas.
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Traverse past obstacles.
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Teleporting Enemies
This new mechanic can also be used in combat by teleporting distant enemies to them.
This gives the player an advantage against ranged enemies by closing the distance and bringing the fight within range of the player's melee attacks.
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Since using the Lightning Slash required such a power attack (which uses a significant amount of the player's stamina), especially for a low-level player, I created a new feature to balance this: Ward Blocking.
This ability grants two key benefits:
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Gives the player more protection from spellcasters.
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Regenerates their stamina to allow the use of the Lightning Slash more often.
Regenerating Stamina
When the player blocks with Storm-Caller, they cast a ward spell that bolsters their defense against magical attacks.
At the same time, this spell regenerates their stamina (green bar), allowing them to use Storm-Caller's Lightning Slash Attack in exchange for magicka (blue bar).
To balance the stamina regeneration from being too powerful, I set a minimum amount of magicka required to cast the regenerating ward spell.
This feature allowed the player to have enough uses of the Lightning Slash Attack, while also creating a fair limit that required them to be strategic in battle.
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The player is initiated into the Order of Spellswords by their ancient ritual.
Background
The player finds Velena, a spellsword apprentice, who has died before she was able to complete the trial of mastery. She was the last of the dwindling Order and with her death, there were no more masters to pass down the secret arts of Storm-Caller.
The Quest
When the player finds Velena's corpse, he also discovers Storm-Caller and a note describing her goal to complete the trial of mastery to continue the lineage of her Order. The player must now take up the sacred blade and complete her quest in her honor.
The Aftermath
Upon completing the trials of The Lost Tomb, the player is initiated into the Order of Spellswords and earns the right to wield Storm-Caller as a Master Spellsword.
What Went Well
Feature Implementation
By implementing the feature early on, I had plenty of time to iterate the mechanic throughout production to fix bugs and polish.
Outlining Strengths and Weaknesses of the Mechanic
By assessing what kind of level would best serve the new mechanic to make it fun in pre-production, I was able to save time iterating the layout of the level and combat encounters.
Balancing Based On Feedback
By having fellow designers regularly test the mechanic, I was able to get feedback and advice that expedited my iteration time.
What Went Wrong
Unable To Fix Every Edge Case
Due to the nature of moving the enemy in 3D space, there are still some odd occurrences that can happen occasionally.
Limits To The Engine
Unfortunately, some things I had planned for could not be executed given the restraints of the engine. However, I was able to find suitable solutions.
Difficulty Aiming Lightning Slash At Statues
Some playtesters struggled with hitting the special statues due to them not having the same aim assist that enemies have when targeted by the attack.
What I Learned
Minimize Edge Case Frequency
While I could not fix every bug or edge case within my time constraint, I was able to decrease the frequency of certain issues by altering the level or how the mechanic functioned.
More Forgiveness Over Frustration
It is usually better to first make something too easy rather than too hard and cause frustration for the player.
Balancing Is A Process
By focusing on balancing the mechanic early on, I had plenty of time to iterate and find the ideal values for several key factors: damage, stagger amount, and frequency.
