An Intense Action Rogue-Like Designed By:
Philip R. Smith
Email: smithphilip515@gmail.com
Experience:
5+ years of UE4 and 5 collectively
5+ years of Blender for 3d modeling & animation
Graduated with an Associates Degree in Game Design at Full Sail University on April 4th 2025
Role:
My main role and focus on this project was its combat design. In retrospect I learned that I should focus on the tutorial to better teach players about the combat, but with that said the combat perfectly encapsulates the freedom of quickly canceling multiple attacks into each other. Providing an experience of having a low skill floor, but high skill ceiling.
Software:
The main software I used to make this game is Unreal Engine 5. Starting with a plain base model and animations made in Blender, combat was the initial focus to plan out. After coding a very simple combat system against a boss enemy, I then expanded upon it by opening up the players choices. Allowing the player to freely cancel attacks into each other with ease similar to combat in games like Devil May Cry and Guilty Gear. Finally after finishing the combat, creating numerous tile sets for a dungeon layout, and generally more content the project was complete.
Concerns:
The overall idea of this project went very well. From its combat to its visuals the game’s content came to fruition exactly the way as planned. The main goal of Harder is to be a casual game you can freely play whenever you have the time to do so. With this in mind, I set out to make a character action game first and a rogue-like second. With said rogue-like elements being the main drive of player retention and extending gametime based on individual skill level.
Challenges/Solutions:
As the sole developer, my main concern on this project has always been marketing and bringing more eyes to my project. To try and remedy this I made content built around the game which has had small yet impactful success. This project has also been submitted in the GDWC to hopefully gain more attention, and although unlikely some potential funding.