OBEC is a 3D roguelike action boss combat game that combines Third-person ARPG and Solo Narrative Boss-rush elements.

You can watch a trailer of the game here :

I worked on a vertical slice of the project, which we used to pitch to publishers. Unfortunately, despite several promising leads, we weren’t able to secure a deal. Still, I contributed to many aspects of the game’s development.

I was responsible for most of the player and camera movement systems, which required extensive tuning and iteration. To find the right feel, I benchmarked other games with similar design philosophies - including Hi-Fi Rush, Sekiro, NieR: Automata, and Kingdom Hearts 2. Each of these titles has a distinct game feel, and we carefully picked elements that fit OBEC’s style. For example, we liked how Hi-Fi Rush keeps the camera stable during jumps, so I implemented that behavior.

I believe that game design doesn’t always mean reinventing the wheel - sometimes, studying and adapting what other games do well helps establish strong gameplay norms.

The team followed an agile workflow, which fit perfectly for building a vertical slice. This aligned especially well with our goal of making a vertical slice. During our sprints, I developed several gameplay systems, including player movement, camera, combat, pet AI and movement, the buff system, and level design tools.

Overall,this project was a fantastic learning experience for me, as well as my first paid position as a gameplay programmer. I touched on a lot of different aspects of the game, and learned a lot in the process. My main takeaways were the importance of benchmarking other games effectively and the value of being versatile when working in a small studio environment..