Role: Game Designer, Gameplay Programmer, Director
Engine: GameMaker Studio 1.4
Platforms: Steam
Downloads: 200,000+
May 2018 - October 2020
KNIGHT CLUB + Is a casual 2-4 player action platform-fighting game that brings traditional fighting game mechanics into a platform fighter style game. Fighting games have always had a high barrier for entry for a number of reasons. I wanted to lower that barrier as much as possible, while still giving players lots of options to engage in exciting combat.
Knight Club was originally developed as a Humble Original in 2018, and later re-released as Knight Club+ on Steam with various enhancements.
Contributions
I fully designed Knight Club, and wrote code for a few of the systems such as character controllers, combat mechanics, and anything related to game feel.
I developed the original prototype which I then pitched to Humble to get the funding needed to complete the full game. I vetted and hired an additional engineer, artists, and sound designers. I then managed and directed all contractors throughout the development of the game.
I designed and documented how the characters would be animated, and how those animations would be used in game. This included a style guide that was given to the artists.
Design Goals
Fighting games have, traditionally, required a lot of dedication before players get to the “good” part of the game. Aside from an execution barrier, there are also knowledge checks that come in many forms, often taking months or even years to overcome.
I chose to keep the number of attacks low, and to remove any complex execution required to perform those attacks. It was important that players be able to perform the exact attack they wanted to perform under pressure without thinking.
However, fighting games with limited attacks also means the players expression is limited. To compensate for this, I left the door open for lots of complex and interesting movement options. Players can dash, air dash, wave dash, super jump to move around the stage and position themselves to attack. A slew of other fighting game mechanics are present as well such as counter hits, backstabs, cross ups, instant block, and push block.
The end result is a fighting game that allows players to get into the mind games as fast as possible, and it never asks them to perform complicated motion inputs or long combos.
Duel Arms
A direct sequel to Knight Club titled Duel Arms was in development, but was ultimately cancelled due to a lack of funding and time.
Duel Arms featured 4x as many attack options, and allowed players to equip multiple weapons to build their own playstyle. This created a game with much more complex and varied gameplay, but retained its simple to execute designs.
An in development version of the game was released on itch.io.
