Three Blades Ranch [On-Going]
Three Blades Ranch [On-Going]
Three Blades Ranch [On-Going]
overview
overview
overview
Newest Trailer for the Rising tides ChallenegE!
Newest Trailer for the Rising tides ChallenegE!
Newest Trailer for the Rising tides ChallenegE!
Update! We Placed 18th overall in the Blue Ocean Games Rising Tides COmpetition!
Update! We Placed 18th overall in the Blue Ocean Games Rising Tides COmpetition!
Update! We Placed 18th overall in the Blue Ocean Games Rising Tides COmpetition!
Come be a Ranch Hand out in the wild west with a high fantasy twist. it's up to you to rebuild, resettle, and reclaim your homestead from the beast's fiery claws.
Come be a Ranch Hand out in the wild west with a high fantasy twist. it's up to you to rebuild, resettle, and reclaim your homestead from the beast's fiery claws.
Come be a Ranch Hand out in the wild west with a high fantasy twist. it's up to you to rebuild, resettle, and reclaim your homestead from the beast's fiery claws.
Role
Design Lead / Technical Designer
Narrative/System Designer
Engine
Unreal Engine 5.1
Duration
8 months
Team Size
6-8 People
Platforms
Three Blades Ranch is a cozy, side-scrolling ranch builder where I serve as Design Lead and Technical Designer.
Quick Impact Highlights
Redesigned tutorial flow and level → reduced cognitive overload.
Built economy system with goblin raid risk.
Designed cinematic Sequencer events which boosted emotional immersion.
Revamped documentation pipelines which improved collaboration across companies.
Three Blades Ranch is a cozy, side-scrolling ranch builder where I serve as Design Lead and Technical Designer.
Quick Impact Highlights
Redesigned tutorial flow and level → reduced cognitive overload.
Built economy system with goblin raid risk.
Designed cinematic Sequencer events which boosted emotional immersion.
Revamped documentation pipelines which improved collaboration across companies.
Three Blades Ranch is a cozy, side-scrolling ranch builder where I serve as Design Lead and Technical Designer.
Quick Impact Highlights
Redesigned tutorial flow and level → reduced cognitive overload.
Built economy system with goblin raid risk.
Designed cinematic Sequencer events which boosted emotional immersion.
Revamped documentation pipelines which improved collaboration across companies.
COntributions
COntributions
Design
Design
Design
Tutorialization of Opening Level
Design Pillar: Clarity + player retention for cozy audiences
Objective: Make introduction feel more epic and a better introduction to systems present in the game
Observed issue: Too many tutorials for different systems happen too close to each other leaving players overwhelmed with information and makes the game feel like it's holding your hand too often and for too long.
Solution: Have smaller bite sized interactions broken up by moments of rest and exploration with some story beats so players have external motivation in the game for doing the things they need to do.
Outcome: Play testers found tutorials easier to digest and experiment with and the different unlocks of core mechanics spread out felt more rewarding rather than receiving them all in a small period of time.
Tutorialization of Opening Level
Objective: Make introduction feel more epic and a better introduction to systems present in the game
Observed issue: Too many tutorials for different systems happen too close to each other leaving players overwhelmed with information and makes the game feel like it's holding your hand too often and for too long.
Solution: Have smaller bite sized interactions broken up by moments of rest and exploration with some story beats so players have external motivation in the game for doing the things they need to do.
Outcome: Play testers found tutorials easier to digest and experiment with and the different unlocks of core mechanics spread out felt more rewarding rather than receiving them all in a small period of time.
Miro Board Breakdown where different parts of the level is divided into what would be required from each role.
Miro Board Breakdown where different parts of the level is divided into what would be required from each role.
Simple Breakdown of Cow to Cheese Production with risk from Goblins. This is one part of a greater system
Simple Breakdown of Cow to Cheese Production with risk from Goblins. This is one part of a greater system
Balancing Resource Management
Design Pillar: Progression + systemic depth
Objective: Balance Resources so Players feel rewarded for doing work and that upgrades feel satisfying to get
Observed issue: We had simple resources to get wood and stone to build buildings, but no motivation to get more buildings.
Solution: Make Buildings Give off Resources that can be sold to get resources unable to be scavenged elsewhere. Have Buildings generate resources that connect with other buildings so there is a sense of progression for the player.
Outcome: More emphasis on building up the Ranch and wanting to invest in defense to protect against Goblins and Trolls that try to steal resources.
Balancing Resource Management
Objective: Balance Resources so Players feel rewarded for doing work and that upgrades feel satisfying to get
Observed issue: We had simple resources to get wood and stone to build buildings, but no motivation to get more buildings.
Solution: Make Buildings Give off Resources that can be sold to get resources unable to be scavenged elsewhere. Have Buildings generate resources that connect with other buildings so there is a sense of progression for the player.
Outcome: More emphasis on building up the Ranch and wanting to invest in defense to protect against Goblins and Trolls that try to steal resources.
Production
Production
Production
Game Design Documents Rework
Design Pillar: Clarity + onboarding
Objective: To create a system for designers to write documents to make sure engineers artists and technical artists understood what was needed from the systems.
Observed issue: Systems and Designs didn't have a clear goal or intention. It's mostly been vague ideas with no clear plan for implementation leading to team unclarity.
Solution: Designers had to submit a GDD and a MIRO board breaking down tasks per discipline and a frame-by-frame breakdown of a mechanic or system.
Outcome: People on the project could easily see what needed to be done for a certain mechanic and could see how if it fits into the larger picture.
Game Design Documents Rework
Objective: To create a system for designers to write documents to make sure engineers artists and technical artists understood what was needed from the systems.
Observed issue: Systems and Designs didn't have a clear goal or intention. It's mostly been vague ideas with no clear plan for implementation leading to team unclarity.
Solution: Designers had to submit a GDD and a MIRO board breaking down tasks per discipline and a frame-by-frame breakdown of a mechanic or system.
Outcome: People on the project could easily see what needed to be done for a certain mechanic and could see how if it fits into the larger picture.
Tasks are broken up by role to understand how long it would take to finish and accomplish it.
Tasks are broken up by role to understand how long it would take to finish and accomplish it.
Trello Example - I use Labels, Descriptions as Bullet Points, Images and Bullet Points for easy understanding
Trello Example - I use Labels, Descriptions as Bullet Points, Images and Bullet Points for easy understanding
Filling Out Trello
Objective: Give enough Context to People to check Trello Card and know what to do.
Observed issue: Have several meetings over what needed to be done, and how it's supposed to be done. Asking of specifics again and again.
Solution: Writing in-depth Trello Cards making small diagrams/charts to make it as clear as possible. I talked to Engineers and use technical phrases to help them remember solutions they threw out during meetings.
Outcome: People on the project could see what needed to be done, have all necessary context and don't need to keep asking about specifics as everything is linked in the description of the video to the MIRO board with all the GD's.
Filling Out Trello
Objective: Give enough Context to People to check Trello Card and know what to do.
Observed issue: Have several meetings over what needed to be done, and how it's supposed to be done. Asking of specifics again and again.
Solution: Writing in-depth Trello Cards making small diagrams/charts to make it as clear as possible. I talked to Engineers and use technical phrases to help them remember solutions they threw out during meetings.
Outcome: People on the project could see what needed to be done, have all necessary context and don't need to keep asking about specifics as everything is linked in the description of the video to the MIRO board with all the GD's.
Cross-Studio Pitching
Design Pillar: Alignment + collaboration
Objective: To get feedback from the original team that started the project and add more twists they may have not thought of.
Observed issue: During company all hands meetings if there were questions or mechanics that seemed worth pursuing the original team hadn't thought of there was no way to know if they would be okay with it or not.
Solution: Made notes from design meets, framed them into small bite-sized presentations and GDDs to share with the company while getting on Voice Calls through Discord.
Outcome: Gave designers more freedom to think of new mechanics and feel like their voices were being heard leading to increased motivation and healthier team dynamics in the project.
Pitching Mechanics to Quailcore Games
Objective: To get feedback from the original team that started the project and add more twists they may have not thought of.
Observed issue: During company all hands meetings if there were questions or mechanics that seemed worth pursuing the original team hadn't thought of there was no way to know if they would be okay with it or not.
Solution: Made notes from design meets, framed them into small bite-sized presentations and GDDs to share with the company while getting on Voice Calls through Discord.
Outcome: Gave designers more freedom to think of new mechanics and feel like their voices were being heard leading to increased motivation and healthier team dynamics in the project.
Design Breakdowns
Design Breakdowns
Design Breakdowns
Sequencer Events
Sequencer Events
Result🎉
Events that give a cinematic flair to the world while being able to guide players to feel more emotions and therefore more immersed into the world that we've created.
Result🎉
Events that give a cinematic flair to the world while being able to guide players to feel more emotions and therefore more immersed into the world that we've created.
Result🎉
Events that give a cinematic flair to the world while being able to guide players to feel more emotions and therefore more immersed into the world that we've created.
Problem 🔍
Play testers felt that there wasn't a strong enough hook and felt the introduction was too flat. It was fun, but didn't "wow" them
Problem 🔍
Play testers felt that there wasn't a strong enough hook and felt the introduction was too flat. It was fun, but didn't "wow" them
Problem 🔍
Play testers felt that there wasn't a strong enough hook and felt the introduction was too flat. It was fun, but didn't "wow" them
Solution 💡
Making Cinematics for certain moments let us do more visually impressive things that give players more to see and feel like their actions have a bigger impact.
Solution 💡
Making Cinematics for certain moments let us do more visually impressive things that give players more to see and feel like their actions have a bigger impact.
Solution 💡
Making Cinematics for certain moments let us do more visually impressive things that give players more to see and feel like their actions have a bigger impact.
Design Process
Design Process
Why Cinematics?
I first try to break down why something needs to be a sequencer event. Is this something that I can turn into a system for further gameplay sections or is it unique enough to require using sequencer.
I then try to figure out the emotions I'm trying to generate and what are the important bits to really showcase in that sequence as well. It's important to understand what needs to be communicated before trying to communicate it.
Why Cinematics?
I first try to break down why something needs to be a sequencer event. Is this something that I can turn into a system for further gameplay sections or is it unique enough to require using sequencer.
I then try to figure out the emotions I'm trying to generate and what are the important bits to really showcase in that sequence as well. It's important to understand what needs to be communicated before trying to communicate it.
First Draft of Train Scene
Look at the Assets
This being an artist heavy team meant that I could get some assets if required, but it was also important to make sure that I was using what we already had in place. That meant going back and taking inventory of what was already present or was in the pipeline.
I let this guide my first few ideas for the cinematics. What are assets that really helped sell the theme, what are experiences people would expect from this experience, and can we add surprise?
These questions helped formed mental images in my brain that made me excited to put them in-engine.
Look at the Assets
This being an artist heavy team meant that I could get some assets if required, but it was also important to make sure that I was using what we already had in place. That meant going back and taking inventory of what was already present or was in the pipeline.
I let this guide my first few ideas for the cinematics. What are assets that really helped sell the theme, what are experiences people would expect from this experience, and can we add surprise?
These questions helped formed mental images in my brain that made me excited to put them in-engine.
Why Cinematics?
I first try to break down why something needs to be a sequencer event. Is this something that I can turn into a system for further gameplay sections or is it unique enough to require using sequencer.
I then try to figure out the emotions I'm trying to generate and what are the important bits to really showcase in that sequence as well. It's important to understand what needs to be communicated before trying to communicate it.
Get Feedback, Iterate, Repeat
The important part is to show off cinematics to the team. When working on cinematics, it's easy to get lost in detail or want to touch up some aspects that never come to view, so getting a pair of fresh eyes on it helps out a lot. You can miss obvious issues, change the vibe of a scene by adding something, or even missing train tracks!
It's also good to hear out other ideas from people as to what they seem excited about in the shot. They might like how a shot is composed, a certain element that they think needs more emphasis which are important things to keep in mind. It absolutely matters how other people view these events so the sooner you get eyes on it the better.
Get Feedback, Iterate, Repeat
The important part is to show off cinematics to the team. When working on cinematics, it's easy to get lost in detail or want to touch up some aspects that never come to view, so getting a pair of fresh eyes on it helps out a lot. You can miss obvious issues, change the vibe of a scene by adding something, or even missing train tracks!
It's also good to hear out other ideas from people as to what they seem excited about in the shot. They might like how a shot is composed, a certain element that they think needs more emphasis which are important things to keep in mind. It absolutely matters how other people view these events so the sooner you get eyes on it the better.
Before Feedback
After Feedback
Food System - In Progress
Food System - In Progress
Intended Impact🎯
Common Currency that allows for simple understanding, but also a system that interacts with the rest of the planned systems to create a fully realized system that provides interesting player decisions and allowing players to immerse themselves into the fantasy of Ranching. It creates a sense of forward momentum for players to fall into s they know what they need to make as their next goal and take the necessary steps to do so.
Intended Impact🎯
Common Currency that allows for simple understanding, but also a system that interacts with the rest of the planned systems to create a fully realized system that provides interesting player decisions and allowing players to immerse themselves into the fantasy of Ranching. It creates a sense of forward momentum for players to fall into s they know what they need to make as their next goal and take the necessary steps to do so.
Problem 🔍
When trying to create an economy of both gold and food, it became hard to differentiate the difference between the two. They both ideally had the same purpose in any breakdown we had but weren't unique enough to stand apart from each other.
Problem 🔍
When trying to create an economy of both gold and food, it became hard to differentiate the difference between the two. They both ideally had the same purpose in any breakdown we had but weren't unique enough to stand apart from each other.
Problem 🔍
When trying to create an economy of both gold and food, it became hard to differentiate the difference between the two. They both ideally had the same purpose in any breakdown we had but weren't unique enough to stand apart from each other.
Solution 💡
Instead of two separate currency just go with one universal currency to make it easier. Easier to design around and more interesting gameplay opportunities allowing for more player agency and an easier way to have progression.
Solution 💡
Instead of two separate currency just go with one universal currency to make it easier. Easier to design around and more interesting gameplay opportunities allowing for more player agency and an easier way to have progression.
Design Process
Design Process
Sources
When making a system like this, you want to have things to generate resources. When it comes to food as a currency, it leads to several interesting design places. This is where we came up with Harvesting. Harvesting is great as it trades one slowly continuous resource into a one-time use resource.
Sources
When making a system like this, you want to have things to generate resources. When it comes to food as a currency, it leads to several interesting design places. This is where we came up with Harvesting. Harvesting is great as it trades one slowly continuous resource into a one-time use resource.
Drains
You want to have drains that make improving and increasing sources feel vital and important. It creates a sense of forwards momentum for players to keep wanting to improve and imagine better and bigger rewards. By increasing pressure to do so, it's easier for players to fall into the gameplay loop and want to play the game for longer.
Drains
You want to have drains that make improving and increasing sources feel vital and important. It creates a sense of forwards momentum for players to keep wanting to improve and imagine better and bigger rewards. By increasing pressure to do so, it's easier for players to fall into the gameplay loop and want to play the game for longer.
Card MiniGame - WIP
Card MiniGame - WIP
Intended Impact🎯
That positive feeling of gaining money through the card game will spike players dopamine making them more endeared to the town keeping them invested longer while making the town feel more alive because there is some interactivity present.
Intended Impact🎯
That positive feeling of gaining money through the card game will spike players dopamine making them more endeared to the town keeping them invested longer while making the town feel more alive because there is some interactivity present.
Intended Impact🎯
That positive feeling of gaining money through the card game will spike players dopamine making them more endeared to the town keeping them invested longer while making the town feel more alive because there is some interactivity present.
Problem 🔍
There weren't a lot of activities to do in town which runs the risk of players not feeling connected to the town
Problem 🔍
There weren't a lot of activities to do in town which runs the risk of players not feeling connected to the town
Problem 🔍
There weren't a lot of activities to do in town which runs the risk of players not feeling connected to the town
Solution 💡
I wanted to make a super simple gambling game for the town. Players will have a chance to earn more money for building up the town but also feel the thrill of excitement of winning money.
Solution 💡
I wanted to make a super simple gambling game for the town. Players will have a chance to earn more money for building up the town but also feel the thrill of excitement of winning money.
Solution 💡
I wanted to make a super simple gambling game for the town. Players will have a chance to earn more money for building up the town but also feel the thrill of excitement of winning money.
Design Process
Design Process
Looking at Card Games
I want the card game to be easy and simple to understand. It's a cozy game so making a complicated gambling game feels at odd with that design decision. It should drive motivation to play it.
Card games especially Blackjack have anticipation when it comes to revealing cards and there's a thrill of flipping just one more card to maybe hit 21. Other card games usually reward you for getting two of a kind, three of a kind so what if my game did the opposite?
What if in my card game, players had to avoid getting the same number but keep pulling cards to reach a score.
Looking at Card Games
I want the card game to be easy and simple to understand. It's a cozy game so making a complicated gambling game feels at odd with that design decision. It should drive motivation to play it.
Card games especially Blackjack have anticipation when it comes to revealing cards and there's a thrill of flipping just one more card to maybe hit 21. Other card games usually reward you for getting two of a kind, three of a kind so what if my game did the opposite?
What if in my card game, players had to avoid getting the same number but keep pulling cards to reach a score.
Paper Prototyping
I first used a standard deck of cards to test how fun it would be. It started off nice, but I felt like I didn't really have any motivation to push forward with the card flipping. I needed more than just a score.
Which is what led me to two ideas.
You had to reach the score within a certain number of rounds
You get more points for chaining together longer stacks.
Paper Prototyping
I first used a standard deck of cards to test how fun it would be. It started off nice, but I felt like I didn't really have any motivation to push forward with the card flipping. I needed more than just a score.
Which is what led me to two ideas.
You had to reach the score within a certain number of rounds
You get more points for chaining together longer stacks.
Adding Surprises
Now that I had this in place, I needed more surprises which led to effect cards. At the time of writing, I've come up with two which is a second chance so players can pick up another card with the same value without going bust. With the other being a Reset which would either give you a 10-point penalty or you had to restock the drawing pile with the discarded pile making card counting harder.
The reset one was born from trying to make this in-engine and realizing that I would need to have a card array, and playing array. The card array could let me decide what the values would be like whereas the playing array would be cards that have not been discarded or in-use by the player.
This also meant I could rig odds of the game in different areas, giving more life and personality to those areas keeping the game alive and fresh throughout the game.
Adding Surprises
Now that I had this in place, I needed more surprises which led to effect cards. At the time of writing, I've come up with two which is a second chance so players can pick up another card with the same value without going bust. With the other being a Reset which would either give you a 10-point penalty or you had to restock the drawing pile with the discarded pile making card counting harder.
The reset one was born from trying to make this in-engine and realizing that I would need to have a card array, and playing array. The card array could let me decide what the values would be like whereas the playing array would be cards that have not been discarded or in-use by the player.
This also meant I could rig odds of the game in different areas, giving more life and personality to those areas keeping the game alive and fresh throughout the game.
Project Highlights
Project Highlights
✅Achievments
Placed 18th overall in Blue Ocean Games Rising Tides competition.
Trailer drew interest from publishers (incl. Humble Bundle).
Improved documentation/onboarding pipelines for smoother volunteer collaboration.
✅Achievments
Placed 18th overall in Blue Ocean Games Rising Tides competition.
Trailer drew interest from publishers (incl. Humble Bundle).
Improved documentation/onboarding pipelines for smoother volunteer collaboration.
✅Achievments
Placed 18th overall in Blue Ocean Games Rising Tides competition.
Trailer drew interest from publishers (incl. Humble Bundle).
Improved documentation/onboarding pipelines for smoother volunteer collaboration.
⚠️Challenges
Volunteer Positions: A lot of the work done on this has been volunteer work, so work has been at a slower pace due to uncertain cycles of people working on the project
Solution: Making the most of the time that people can join in. Find our schedules of how long they can work on project, and how many hours can be given. Divide work into small achievable tasks that can be completed and over time have those build up into bigger systems. The new document system works great for onboarding new people on project.
Working Between Two Companies: This game being a collaboration between Quailcore Games and Mountaintop Entertianment means working both within the team and with the external company.
Solution: During company all hands meetings if there were questions or mechanics that seemed worth pursuing, I would take note of them. I would then go to the Quailcore Team and ask the questions and pitch mechanics to them and see if they line up to their original vision of the game.
⚠️Challenges
Volunteer Positions: A lot of the work done on this has been volunteer work, so work has been at a slower pace due to uncertain cycles of people working on the project
Solution: Making pipelines easier for onboarding and making tasks small enough to be done in one maximum two week cycles.
Solution:
⚠️Challenges
Volunteer Positions: A lot of the work done on this has been volunteer work, so work has been at a slower pace due to uncertain cycles of people working o nthe project
Solution:
Shifting win/loss conditions: Frequent changes to the core gameplay loop made system design unstable and delayed polish.
Limited dialogue pipeline: Only engineers could implement dialogue, creating long turnaround times and reducing iteration speed for narrative content.
📘Takeaways
Strong onboarding systems = stronger team momentum.
Sequencer + systemic design can coexist to balance spectacle with gameplay.
Collaborating with external studios sharpened pitching and alignment skills.
📘Takeaways
Strong onboarding systems = stronger team momentum.
Sequencer + systemic design can coexist to balance spectacle with gameplay.
Collaborating with external studios sharpened pitching and alignment skills.
📘Takeaways
Strong onboarding systems = stronger team momentum.
Sequencer + systemic design can coexist to balance spectacle with gameplay.
Collaborating with external studios sharpened pitching and alignment skills.
Platforms
Steam
Role
Lead Designer/Producer
Duration
On-Going
Team Size
6-8 People
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