Chlorofell (Academic, Systems and Level Design)

Download Chlorofell from Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3476180/Chlorofell/

This was an academic project I created as a sophomore at DigiPen. Working in a multidisciplinary team, I took the role of Lead Designer. Chlorofell is an isometric top-down shooter featuring an elemental ammo system and a manual reload system.

I ideated the core design of the game, including the elemental ammo and manual, reload systems, as well as ensured that the design of the game remained on track throughout the course of development. I designed the level progression and physical space for the second level of the game, ensuring consistent and engaging play spaces. The levels were built to push players to utilize all aspects of their abilities, and play as aggressively as possible.


A core feature of Chlorofell's gameplay loop was the manual reload, and one of the initial issues that came from this system was that it was tied to the R key, which proved to have some issues with ergonomics with players. Changing the key bind to allow for both spacebar as well as R greatly improved the player experience by letting them reload without it impacting their movement capability.

The elemental ammo system was intended to be in the game from the start of conception, but through testing, we found a few issues that made us deviate from the original concept. Moving the system from a direct selection to a cycle system was initially more complex in theory, but through playtesting, it proved to be the better option as it reduced the learning curve.