Shared Lands
Shared Lands is an online versus strategy game somewhere between 4X and virtual board game, taking place in a world ruled by a huge titan.
My job
System Designer
Design of game systems
Production of design documents
UI/UX Designer
Design of UI wireframes
Production of game UX solutions
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I had to create systems and make them understandable to the whole team. I also took care of designing the UI of the game and the UX aspect of it.
Context
Year : 2023/2024
Type of project : strategy game
Team : 3 Game designer, 3 Game Art and 3 Game Programmer
Role : System Designer / UI/UX Designer
Time limit : 1 year
Constraints :
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No constraints
Lot's of systems
Shared Lands is a strategy game borrowing heavily from the 4X / Strategy board game genre. Players compete on an evolving map by taking control of one of the two asymmetrical playable factions, while taking into account the actions of a destructive titan which is the players' victory condition.
The systems present in the games are therefore very numerous and I worked on their design, documentation, testing and adaptation throughout the project.
The length of the project
This is my first project lasting more than a few months, which involves a real pre-production time which allowed us to iterate a lot on the Game Design of the game. We were therefore able to correctly organize the scope of the game.
The length and intensity of the production allowed me to break away from the habits of academic development that I had adopted, it was necessary to change my way of thinking and my way of working.
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The project not having imploded in mid-air and the scope reductions not having distorted the gameplay intentions of the game, it was a success.
UI and UX in Shared lands
Link to the interaction paradigm
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On different games, I have already worn the hat of UI/UX Designer more out of necessity than desire. But on Shared Lands, given the necessity of the game, I wanted to take the hat and I threw myself into it. I really enjoyed the experience and found a new path for myself in Game Design.
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In addition to UI drafts, I studied a lot about the different interactions in the game, how to guide the player during the game and provide them with relevant information throughout the game.
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Designing and documenting systems remains my specialty, but UI and UX are now a second field of action for me.
What did this project taught me
UI and UX, it's important
This project allowed me to work equally between system design and UI/UX of the game, I tried, failed, re-tried, re-failed etc., until arriving at an experience of game that I hope is understandable, well-feedbacked and enjoyable for all types of players.
Systems, always systems
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This project, given its nature, made me do a lot of different systems, I realized that I could do this for an entire project and that I was getting better and better at sharing my systems with the rest of the team.
Learn the job
Being part of a larger project than a regular student project allowed me to have a real development experience over a year. I learned to manage the ups and downs of motivation to stay continuously productive.