The Genesis Project
Game Trailer
​​Engine: Unity
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Team Size: 50+
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​Platforms: PC
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Developer: Perfectly Generic Team
90,000 Unique Players!
Very Positive on Steam!
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​The Genesis Project is an isometric RPG with house/tower building mechanics that aims to replicate SBURB, the universe creating game, as seen in the webcomic Homestuck.
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General gameplay features include: ​
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Randomly generated dungeons and planets
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In-depth character customization
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Player-to-player ability interaction
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Hundreds of weapon variants
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12-person multiplayer
Showcase: Ability Balancing Sheet
I wanted to explore replicating the class/aspect system in Homestuck. We had basic abilities tied to just aspects, but not the unique combination of class AND aspects. After spearheading the description of what each ability did and programmers implementing them, we needed a way to then track and balance all of these arbitrary values that were placeholder.
Player Stats and Weapon input
Snippet of Spreadsheet
Color Key:
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Green > Improves stat
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Red > Lowers Stat (not seen)
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Orange > Improves and Lowers stat
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White > Non-Stat-Change Effect
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Maroon > Special formula in comment/Listed elsewhere
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Purple > Flagged for potential reworking/scaling
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Design Goals: Create a way to track values of every unique ability in the game relative to a player's stats.
Problem:
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We had already created an spreadsheet containing all 144 abilities in written form and the programmers had gone ahead and implemented all of them. Also, certain classes used unique formulas when calculating the value of the skill relative to a player's stats. There was not an easy way to view all of this information all at once, let alone balance it. ​
Solution:
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Working alongside the head programmer, we recorded all the current values into a spreadsheet and made note of what stats were changed along with color coding for easily identifying their effects. Any additional notes such as knockback distance or range of an effect were also commented on the cell itself.
Results:
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Now anyone is able to use this and see the value of abilities for an individual player given level, health, and weapon equipped. More so, programmers now have a tool that they can directly reference without having to go into the game to see values, or alternatively when testing we can make sure that the abilities are balanced the way we want them to be. There is still of course room for improvement such as going back and organizing items better.