Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC Engine: In-house (Scripts in LUA) Release Date: August 8 2024 Genre: Turn-based Strategy
SteamWorld Heist 2 is a lighthearted turn-based strategy game with a bullet ricochet mechanic at its core.
I joined the project at the start of production as an intern Level Designer, and continued working there after the internship. I worked on the game for close to a year.
The game contains many bite sized levels and scenarios. A lot of effort went into quick iteration, mission and level scripting and and designing interesting encounters.
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My design philosophy while working on this game was to shake things up. I enjoyed the first SteamWorld Heist, but I felt that missions could get repetitive. I put a lot of thought into scripting new kind of missions that made you play the game in unexpected ways.
RESPONSIBILITIES
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- Ownership of 14 levels. Scripting the level events in LUA, creating fun and varied enemy encounters, blocking out and iterating on designs and scripts.
- Defining design goals for each level in close collaboration with the Game Director and Design Lead.
- Giving and receiving feedback within a set structure. Evaluating and iterating based on feedback.
- Observing and interviewing during external qualitative playtesting.
- Writing design specs.
A SELECTION OF MISSIONS:
LOOT OR LEAVE​
​​I scripted a new mission scenario for this level based around risk/reward. The level offers greater challenge and better rewards the deeper you go, but the player is free to leave after each encounter if they feel like they can't handle the pressure.
SMOKING BARRELS
There are plenty of barrels to take cover on, but they all break when shot. The goal is to survive long enough while the amount of cover is reduced over time. With this mission I wanted to do something silly and unexpected with the things that we had. The game had no logic for survival missions of this kind, so I scripted it myself.
IT'S A TRAP!
A simple twist where the player has to drop down into the middle of an enemy encounter, instead of the usual opening of a door to discover the enemies ahead. Creates for an unexpected situation and puts the player on an unusual spot that forces them to play differently from how the usually do!