Dalilya Rakhmatulina | Technical Game Designer
Radiant
Unreal Engine 5
5 Developers
Puzzle-Platformer
2 Months
Radiant is a puzzle platformer where you play as the angel that luminates the path of a child lost in the darkness. Guide them by holding their hand and protect them with your light as you watch the child grow and learn to face their fears.
Companionship
The main gameplay loop revolves around Player holding hands with Child. The action of holding hands is associated with safety and is encouraged throughout the game in puzzle solving, in action sequences etc.
Separation Anxiety
Because Child's life is dependent on holding hands with the Player, Player gets separation anxiety when Child is not close by. A lot of the puzzles play on that feeling and create suspense this way.
Game Trailer
Project Role
Game Designer/Technical Game Designer
On this project, I did the work of a Game Designer and a Technical Game Designer. I developed the concept and built functionality to support it. This functionality included:
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Prototyping controls
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Developing base AI follow behavior
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Designing and prototyping a dynamic interaction system with AI Companion
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Implementing a ladder climbing system
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Designing, implementing, and creating the VFX for the Shadow Monster
Prototyping Controls
Description
This is a movement and camera prototype.
It’s a third-person character, the camera has a slight lag and moves smoothly.
The character can “flap wings”. The button for flapping wings (RT) is used as:
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a backward dash when the character is static,
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a forward dash when the character is moving,
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and an upward dash (basically a second jump) when the character is in the air.
Why was it built?
This was built to explore a direction of camera, character, and controls of an Angel player character. We were thinking that since our character is an angel, they should have some angel-like abilities. A floaty moon jump felt fitting. I also thought that it would be nice to give the character a dash ability. And then I thought that it would be cool to combine these abilities in one action: flap wings. I made this prototype to test whether having 3 abilities (which activate in different states) on one button would feel natural or annoying.
Camera, Character, and Controls Prototype
Conclusion
3 abilities on 1 button felt natural for this concept once the testers got used to it. It makes sense and creates a link between the wings’ abilities and the button. However, in the end, we removed the dash entirely, as our game had no combat and had a generally slow pace: dash was not a fitting ability. We kept the double moon jump, but the button no longer combined 3 abilities in 1.
Developing Base AI Follow Behavior
Description
This is a prototype of Child AI follow behavior.
When you call the child, they run towards you. When you press the same button again, the child stops following you, as if you let go of their hand.
Why was it built?
It was built to create a base for handholding logic with the Child AI companion. I built it so we could start testing how it feels to have a character follow you and manage whether they should move or stand still. Since our idea revolves around this core mechanic, we needed a prototype to start building the game around the handholding logic.
Conclusion
This prototype, in combination with our Monster AI prototype, created a great understanding of the handholding mechanic.
We saw in which direction the handholding logic had to be changed. We didn’t want the child to run towards the player when called but instead, only start following us if we initiate the handholding while standing close.
We used this setup and built the rest of the handholding logic on top of it.
Base AI Follow Behavior Prototype
Designing and Prototyping Dynamic Interaction System with AI Companion
Description
In this prototype, you can call out to your AI to make them to move to you and receive one of the 2 possible responses based on whether the AI is blocked and can't move to you or it's not blocked and is moving towards you.
Why was it built?
I was exploring the possibility of having a call-out ability to check on the Child AI’s state in case you can’t see them. Since the player has no way of knowing when the child is being attacked by the Shadow Monster and is close to dying, I thought it would be nice to give the player the ability to check on the Child using sound. I felt like I would also give the Child AI some life by making them respond with voice. I was largely inspired by Sky: Children of the Light when designing the Child AI companion, specifically by their handholding and call-out mechanics.
Conclusion
This prototype created a good understanding and feeling of the idea and let us determine its value better. We considered including this mechanic to check on the state of the Child regarding how close they are to death/are they attacked instead of whether they're blocked. However, eventually we could not implement this, as we were a small team, and we were too short on time to develop this idea any further. Looking back at this prototype, I wish I had put more effort into making it closer to our idea: for example, found better sounds to reflect the feeling we were going for.
AI Dynamic Call-Out Prototype: 1st Iteration. AI reaction when moving and when standing still
AI Dynamic Call-Out Prototype: 2nd Iteration. First, AI is blocked, and next, AI can move towards player
Implementing a Ladder Climbing System
Description
This is a climbing-on-a-ladder prototype. Player can toggle climbing when close to a ladder, and can climb up/down. When the player reaches the top of the ladder, they get moved up and forward to stand on the ground.
Why was it built?
It was built because we considered giving the character climbing ability, and wanted to test out whether a climbing system would take too long to make and if it was worth the time investment.
Ladder Climbing Prototype: 1st Iteration
Ladder Climbing Prototype: 2nd Iteration
Conclusion
This mechanic felt nice, and it worked with no issues. We implemented ladder climbing in our game.
Designing, Creating, and Implementing VFX for Shadow Monster
Description
This is an actor that plays a Niagara particle system as a visual for a shadow enemy. It starts playing after some time of the Child being separated from the player. When the player interacts with it, it dissipates gradually to create a smooth feeling.
Why was it built?
The Child character in our concept gets scared if left alone for a while, and it was important to visualize the slowly increasing danger, a shadow monster that consumes the child. I worked on this “prototype” to look for a visualization of the shadow monster that would feel fitting.
Conclusion
This system worked well and was used in our game. Looking back however, I should have balanced the timing of the system more and experimented with longer time before the system appeared. In our game, the Shadow Monster was appearing almost immediately, and because of that, I think, it didn't feel that dangerous after some time.
Shadow Monster Prototype: 1st Iteration
Shadow Monster Prototype: Smooth Dissipation