Cosmic Cowboy

Cosmic Cowboy is a Tactics turn-based RPG inspired by the likes of Fallout 1 and XCom, where the player must navigate the distant planet of Proxima Centauri B and its dangerous inhabitants in this character-driven Space Western narrative.

About the Game

The game is a turn based tactics game reminiscent of XCom or Fire Emblem, the key principles behind it is to capture the feel of a methodical yet quick and dirty gun fight in the West, ways of implementing this have been done by having enemies and the player die in a few number of hits and it being highly volatile. There is still the key pillar of capturing the very human stories portrayed in Western movies with a focus on the story it being told to the player throw dialogue and comic strips between levels.

My Role

I am the lead lead mechanics and narrative designer on Cosmic Cowboy, meaning I work closely with the lead programmer and writer. I work with the lead writer to ensure that any mechanics developed remain cohesive with the narrative of the game as well as working in collaboration to help bring the narrative ideas and mechanical property to life. Whilst working with the lead programmer to convey the mechanics designed and communicate whether there are any problems and how to alleviate them.

My Work

Level developed and designed by lead level designer on cosmic cowboy Jack Mulford

For Cosmic Cowboy, the primary body of my work is in developing the systems and mechanics that the player must utilise within the game, this ranges from creating the specs of the character and enemies dictating what they are able to do, and also the weapons that are utilised, balancing their values ensuring a fair but challenging experience for the player. I also design the primary systems on how combat works ranging from different actions the player can take to how the environment might react.

My Process

A large portion of my work starts with discussing with the other members of the team about what we would like to see within the game, from there I would pick out a handful of ideas discussed and then work on the spreadsheets outlining key features that are needed giving them succinct descriptions and then working on that values given to them, ranging from things like if there was a new enemy type added how much health to give them or if there was a new type of terrain how would it affect the player and boiling that down into numerical values. After this, I would discuss with the lead programmer about their implementation, how long it would take, and how if needed, the features would be tweaked, depending on what needs to be changed, I would make the necessary changes and then, hand off the programming, and once done I would work in engine to utilise the tools.

Home