A digital-to-analog game conversion.

Highlights:

Systems Design - Data Analysis

TL;DR

The purpose of this project is to create analog systems which emulate the gameplay interactions within a digital first-person-shooter. It’s an exercise in Systems Design, Level Design, Character Design, Reporting Analysis, and working within an existing IP. I chose Overwatch as my template, and did some creative things to transfer their content and feel onto a tabletop. I used screenshots of Overwatch levels, segmented into regions as my maps. This way, much of a character’s interactions with the map can be intuited by players familiar with the digital game. I created a 5-dimensional combat system in which all character’s attacks are assumed to be taken simultaneously. However, damage is dealt in order of projectile speed. This allows for differentiation between hitscan, projectile, and melee weapons simply by assigning a character an attack priority, and without tethering that priority to their range. I also created complex testing materials using excel in order to compare my abilities’ cooldowns with those in the digital game. Using that data to drive my decisions, I strove to find the most fun dichotomy between emulation and balance.

Level Design

Facilitating complex systems using existing content.

In order to provide every character with decisions that are as meaningful as they are in the digital game, and which should be made for similar reasons, I broke the level design of Overwatch down into it’s most fundamental pillars.

Pillar 1: Elevation is advantageous.

Height advantage is a mainstay of first-person shooters, and Overwatch is no different. I wanted to take advantage of the expertise of the Blizzard designers as much as possible, so I (conceptually) took a heightmap of each level I worked with, and truncated each height value into a 2, 1, or 0. Then, each region would assume it’s average elevation. Green regions are of elevation 1, yellow 2, and uncolored regions are of elevation 0. Elevation provide characters with a combat advantage. More info on elevation and combat can be found in the ‘Systems Design’ section.

Pillar 2: Sightlines exist on a bell curve, from spawn to spawn.

Creating a sightline system was the most difficult part of this project. The challenge is to take the complex web of sightline restrictions in an Overwatch map, and communicate them in a similar way to that of movement restrictions. The goal was to create a system that is logical to Overwatch fans, with an interface that exists on the map itself, and is available at each relevant character’s feet. In my experience, most board games that include sightlines will either use patterned grids, often hexagons, or in the case of miniatures games, laser pointers or string. I wanted to create a system that enabled me to keep the board 2-dimensional, and use my non-uniform regions as a grid.

The solution is ‘Sightline Zones’, or groups of regions, numbered, and used to show the relationship between a player’s position and their sightline options. Much like individual regions, sightline zones are assumed to have sight of themselves. Each region exists in one or more sightline zones. If any number within a character’s region matches that of their target, that means they exist in the same sightline zone, and have sight of each other. This system allows for any variety of angles into a region to produce any variety of sightline availability. For example, the roof of Carl’s gas station has sightlines to Zone 4 (South), Zone 7 (North), and Zone 8(East). It does not have sight from any western regions due to the large “Carl’s“ sign existing on it’s western face.

Pillar 3: Genji can climb walls.

Some characters can naturally ascend terrain. Some can do it using abilities. Some can’t, and will not be able to reach certain regions without assistance. Considering that I am using only a still frame of an Overwatch map, and from a perspective seldom achieved from the first-person view, I needed to communicate to players how and why certain regions can and cannot be entered. The perspective also made for overlap of some areas within the map, and to an untrained eye, may seem accessible, when in fact they are not. I found a solution in highlighting region borders with colors that denote the circumstances in which a character’s ability to cross. Plain black borders may be crossed by any character. Blue borders my only be crossed by characters with the ability to climb terrain, namely Genji, Lucio, Widowmaker, etc. However, any character can cross a blue border if they are dropping down in elevation, as opposed to climbing up. Red borders cannot be crossed by any character. Highlighted borders are a diegetic interface that makes itself known as characters attempt to move their player pins from region to region.

Download the maps as pdf.

Systems Design

Emulating game feel.

Overview:

When creating the combat system for OW: TBG, I came to the conclusion that it would be very difficult, if not impossible to emulate the entire Overwatch combat experience. To simplify my design, I split the combat experience of the digital game into it’s core components, which I call ‘Vertical Slices’, then chose the slice I determined to be most appropriate. These slices are similar to the level design ‘pillars’, however, slices can be derived from emergent properties of the combat design in Overwatch. The intricacies of movement and input in the digital game are afforded by the combat design, but are emergent properties, as opposed to pillars.

Phases:

A turn in OW: TBG consists of two phases; Move and Attack/Combat, in that order. Players take turns ‘owning’ the turn, with the owning player moving their team during the move phase. During the Move Phase, the active team may move each of their characters any number of regions up to that character’s movement value. During the Attack Phase, all characters take turns attacking with their weapons, using basic abilities, and using ultimate’s if able. Each turn, each character may use their weapon and basic ability once, unless instructed otherwise.

Hit Priority:

Each character is assigned an attack priority, which determines the attack order. If multiple characters with the same attack priority are able to make an attack, the player who owns the turn (made their movement) chooses one of their in-priority characters to attack first. Attacks are make in descending order of attack priority.

Elevation / Hit Chance:

Each region is assigned an elevation. When attacking, the difference in elevation between you and your target determines a modigication to your accuracy. Shots taken from above a target are more likely to hit. For each elevation your target exists below your character, subtract 1 from your hit-check. Inversely, add 1.

Range:

Each character is assigned a range value. This number represents how mayn regions away this character may attack an enemy. A character may only declare an attack on an enemy at or less than that many regions away, and within sight.

Sightlines:

A character may only declare an attack on an enemy if they are within sight. An enemy is in sight if any of the numbers in their region match any of the numbers in your region. Most regions are assigned at least 1 ‘Sight Zone’, which can be seen in the map’s sightline reference. Regions marked with ‘Vision Loss’ are neither visible from any other region, nor can see any other region.

Status Effects:

Status effects are described in the enacting ability, and include, but are not limited to; slow, stun, Dragonblade, Coalescence, Wraith Form, etc.