Hoag's End

Hoag's End is a multiplayer real-time strategy battle game. The game took place in the galaxy "Hoag's Object".

In Hoag’s End, you need to analyze the situation, gather information, and make decisions on technology upgrades. At the same time, you also need to engage with the enemy at close range, report the location of the enemies. You will also need to communicate with your teammates and cooperate to achieve victory.

Hoag's End is a strategy-oriented game with less learning cost. If you are new to RTS, we have minimized the impact of micro-operations so all operations can be done with only the mouse. If you are an experienced player, custom hotkeys can make you more comfortable in the battle. All players can have a unique experience.

This game is made as part of Sheridan 2021 GLD/GDAP Capstone.

Click here to play the game and view the full credits.

Team: 8

Role: Game/Level Designer, Project Manager

Tools: Unity

Timeline: 13 weeks

Outcome

Designed the gameplay, maps, ships, skills and technology upgrades.
Analyzed players' feedback and implemented updates and iterations to the game.
Used tools and tables to visualize the parameters, analyzed the game data and made balance adjustments.

Key achievements

Highly polished student project.
Received recognition from professionals within the industry.
Achieved a perfect rating on the peer evaluation.
Generated a high velocity of tester interest.

Trailer

Prototype

At this stage of the game, there is a lot of content and we use tables and mind maps to organize our ideas.
In the original scenario, each team would have a commander and a number of soldiers. The commander was responsible for the strategic deployments, such as technology upgrades. Soldiers, on the other hand, were responsible for maneuvering the ships and engaging in close-range combat. The role of the commander was subsequently removed and integrated.

Game Design Document

During this phase, we break down the various systems within the game and write detailed documentation for them.
As the game is developed, some gameplay are added, some are removed, and the documentation is constantly updated.

Playtest

As a multiplayer game, player feedback is paramount. We conducted multiple rounds of playtesting, both internally and externally.
We compromised on some comments that conflicted with our design intent, for example, we added a mini-map and hotkeys to the game. But in other design perspectives, we also stuck to our original thought.

Final build

Supports up to 4-on-4 matches.
Five types of buildable ships, each with its own characteristics.
Two types of buildings are available for construction, turrets and portals, providing players with tactical versatility.
Each type of ship has a choice of attribute upgrades and special feature upgrades.