SUMMARY
I joined the team on For The King II, a turn-based four player fantasy RPG, to revamp the user interface and improve the user experience. I then worked on the launch of two DLC, the Tinkerers of Fate/Child of Chaos Update and the Fallen Oaths/A New Age Update.
By gathering user feedback, reworking flows, and clarifying visual elements, the team was able to bring the game’s rating from Mixed reviews to Very Positive on Steam.
overhauling
One of the major tasks I took on as part of the team was overhauling the entire look of the user interface. This included all aspects of the game, including the overworld overlays, the combat HUD, and the pre-game menus such as adventure selection.
As part of this overhaul, I also led the addition of numerous usability and accessibility features, such as controller callouts, colourblind-friendly iconography, and a complete overhaul of the tutorial system.
A side-by-side view of the old overworld iconography versus the current one.
future proofing
As the game grew, many of the flows and systems that had been set up initially were growing cumbersome. I redesigned many of the systems of the game to work better with the new content and created systems to allow for the game to continue growing into the future.
One example of this was the Adventure Selection screen: as the game grew, the amount of character customization options expanded. The initial customization screen grew crowded and unintuitive. I led the redesign of the character customization screen, breaking up the flow from a single view to an expanded view where each character was spotlighted, allowing for players to see in detail both a live preview and expanded list options as they customized their characters.
Screenshots of the character customization system.
We initially considered having several player classes that used different types of weapons. In later iterations, we narrowed our scope to a single player character that could choose between weapons over the course of the game.
cross-platform clarity
When For The King II launched onto Xbox and Playstation, I oversaw the reconfiguration of our UI to work for controllers. This included implementing controller callouts and hotkeys for each aspect of the game, as well as fully redesigning screens that were not created with controller in mind.
One of these screens was the adventure selection: the initial layout of a map did not translate well into controller. Additionally, as more adventures were added, the map became crowded and cumbersome. I redesigned the adventure selection into a carousel with selectable tabs that allowed players to quickly navigate to their selection, as well as highlighting splash art for each adventure that allowed for more distinction between the chapters of the game at a glance.
The original adventure selection screen.
Screenshots of the current adventure selection flow.
reflection
IronOak Games has been my first time leading a design team and has given me valuable experience in establishing scope, communicating across teams, and iterating based on user feedback. I had the opportunity to work closely with the community, creating surveys, A/B tests, and engaging with playtesters. I gained valuable experience in translating user data into actionable changes, as well as quickly iterating based on community feedback.
Demoing For The King II at the Vancouver Game Garden.