christopher Ellington
Game and Narrative Design
Force of Nature
VFS GD Projects
Documentation and Art
Overview
Force of Nature is a concept for a radial tower defence game for mobile tablets. It began as a group design assignment at VFS. We liked the idea so much that after graduation we developed a design document and submitted the concept as an entry in the Nexon Initiative.
The Nexon Initiative is a funding project hosted by Nexon America aimed at indie game developers. Our entry included a game design document, an art design document, concept art, and an example budget.
My Roles:
Game design, Art design/documentation, UI design.
Force of Nature Team:
Christian Casper, Clinton Ma, Oscar Israel Marin, Cody Shankey, Joeson Yu, Christopher Ellington
Concept Images
These are a few rough concept images and sketches illustrating the characters and world of Force of Nature.
In the world of Force of Nature, monstrous creeps from parts unknown are trying to chop down the Tree of Life. To protect the tree, the player places elemental spells on the map. The player combines the powers of fire, water, earth, and wind spells to slow, block or destroy the enemies as they invade from all sides.
User Interface
In Force of Nature, the player combines Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth spells via the Element Wheel shown here.
Fire spells damage enemies directly, Earth spells block enemies, and Wind and Water spells slow down or disrupt enemy movement. The player can also heal the tree and the surrounding soil via the central Life element. Healthy soil means faster regeneration of the tree's energy and more rapid use of spells.
As the player advances, the weapon wheel expands. This opens up more complex and powerful elemental combinations. The results can be unpredictable, and the player is encouraged to experiment and discover new strategies for defending the tree.