The Aztec calendar has ended, and the apocalypse has begun. A fierce battle erupts between the god of light and his brother, the god of darkness. Although the latter has won the battle, there is still hope for Quetzalcoatl and his light: You, his daughter. You are sent to restore balance to the lands ravaged by the terrible Tezcatlipoca, and to help nature reclaim its rights.
Explore a village inspired by 15th-century Aztecs, converse with its inhabitants to uncover the secrets of their mythology, and use the powers of your scepter to repel the shadows of the dreadful Tezcatlipoca.
Tezca is the year-end project I participated in as a Game Designer, Narrative Designer, Level Designer, and Programmer during my first year of Master’s degree in Game Design at 3iS Paris. Our team consisted of 10 people: 7 3D Game Artists, 2 2D Game Artists, and 1 Game Designer. The only constraint given to us was to create an open-world game using Unreal Engine 4.26 within six months.
For this project, I was in charge not only for the design and programming of various game mechanics but also for the narrative design and the level design of the open world.
Additionally, at the start of the project, I had to write a One Page Document to present the project to the jury, followed by a Game Concept Document during our concept milestone.
In parallel, I also wrote the Game Design Document to ensure the entire team had the same knowledge base and could work cohesively.
Designing and integrating engaging and satisfying game mechanics in an open world was the biggest challenge. To make this possible within the project’s timeframe, I had to learn to use the necessary software and, most importantly, learn to program in Blueprint.
The game is aimed at casual players, so the difficulty had to be adjusted to suit this target audience. To achieve this, the 3Cs (Camera, Controls, Character) also needed to be adapted for the general public as much as possible. The atomic parameters that allow for difficulty management in the gameplay had to be carefully considered to ensure the game was fun for everyone.