Dawn of War 4
Senior Game Designer
Project info
Duration: In development since 2021
My participation: January 2022 - Present
Team size: 50+ people
Engine: Unity
Release date: 2026
Duration: In development since 2021
My participation: January 2022 - Present
Team size: 50+ people
Engine: Unity
Release date: 2026
Since 2022 I have been working on Dawn of War 4. My primary tasks are System Design and Balancing the in-game gameplay (match pacing, unit strength, combat, economy). I also work on the in-game camera, matchmaking, and the metagame.
My contribution
Combat System Design
Using extensive research and reference, I have slowly built out and iterated upon the combat system for this game. How should damage be exchanged, what impact does the player have on any given combat situation, and what features do we need within the combat system to give units and factions defining qualities and weaknesses? These are questions I have tackled in order to create an easy-to-understand combat system that has lots of depth for players who want to maximise every encounter.
To create this system I worked closely with the Creative Director, Game Design Lead, other designers, programmers, and animators. We identified constraints and references, and I prototyped a variety of systems with different advantages and disadvantages. We used that to establish a strong foundation and built on top of that throughout the development of the game.
Using extensive research and reference, I have slowly built out and iterated upon the combat system for this game. How should damage be exchanged, what impact does the player have on any given combat situation, and what features do we need within the combat system to give units and factions defining qualities and weaknesses? These are questions I have tackled in order to create an easy-to-understand combat system that has lots of depth for players who want to maximise every encounter.
To create this system I worked closely with the Creative Director, Game Design Lead, other designers, programmers, and animators. We identified constraints and references, and I prototyped a variety of systems with different advantages and disadvantages. We used that to establish a strong foundation and built on top of that throughout the development of the game.
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Balancing RTS Combat & Units
Game Balance is one of my core responsibilities. I establish a vision and expectations with the Game Design Lead and Creative Director and translate those into values and dynamics. I start with the "cornerstone matchups." Certain weak and strong unit interactions must feel a specific way, and are characterized by being easy to evaluate by others ("This feels right!" or "This made no sense, why did unit X win?"). From there I branch out to other impactful units and integrate them. Afterwards, I incorporate the remaining units and add nuance to match-ups. Faction identity, pacing, and many other things influence combat and unit balancing. Send me an email and I can tell you more! |
Economy
Snowballing is a classic RTS problem. How much should a player be rewarded for playing better than an opponent? The in-game economy is a key example of this. Capturing more resource points means more income, which leads to more units and possibilities, which leads to victory. To limit such snowballing, I proposed adding many levels of granularity. If losing one resource point can be compensated by upgrading another, players have options to consider. By adding many ways to increase a player's income, as well as providing players with chances to do limited damage to an opponent's economy, snowballing is contained.
Snowballing is a classic RTS problem. How much should a player be rewarded for playing better than an opponent? The in-game economy is a key example of this. Capturing more resource points means more income, which leads to more units and possibilities, which leads to victory. To limit such snowballing, I proposed adding many levels of granularity. If losing one resource point can be compensated by upgrading another, players have options to consider. By adding many ways to increase a player's income, as well as providing players with chances to do limited damage to an opponent's economy, snowballing is contained.
In-game Camera
The in-game camera in RTS games is quintessential since it dictates the information the player receives and can act on at any given moment. One of the core problems with comparing multiple camera presets (FOV, distance, angle) is that it difficult to assess the "best" camera angle when there are 10 presets to evaluate.
To solve this problem I used an ELO system in which every preset is assigned a rating value. Testers test 2 different presets at a time and then pick their winner. This is repeated until the tester has seen every preset and tried a variety of matchups. At the end of many tests, the presets with the highest rating are most preferred. Together with input from artists and deliberation with other Game Designers and the Creative Director regarding gameplay consequences, we settled for one of the presets with confidence.
The in-game camera in RTS games is quintessential since it dictates the information the player receives and can act on at any given moment. One of the core problems with comparing multiple camera presets (FOV, distance, angle) is that it difficult to assess the "best" camera angle when there are 10 presets to evaluate.
To solve this problem I used an ELO system in which every preset is assigned a rating value. Testers test 2 different presets at a time and then pick their winner. This is repeated until the tester has seen every preset and tried a variety of matchups. At the end of many tests, the presets with the highest rating are most preferred. Together with input from artists and deliberation with other Game Designers and the Creative Director regarding gameplay consequences, we settled for one of the presets with confidence.
