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Razor Cyclone
Store Page: https://expiredjam.itch.io/razorcyclone
Genre: Single player first person shooter
Engine: Unity
Team Size: 6
Role: Game Designer, Game Lead
Duration: 10 months
(Aug 2024 - May 2025)
Platform: PC ( Windows & Mac)
Game Summary
Razor Cyclone is a single-player, first-person endless arena movement shooter. The game’s core mechanic revolves around rotating the weapon and shooting to move, requiring players to eliminate enemies to replenish their ammo.
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This game has 2 weapons, each one having its own unique movement and attack patterns. The player must rotate their weapon (which is a bike) and shoot in various directions to move around and attack enemies.
My Role
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Project Lead
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Directed the Project
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Decide on which features the team works on
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Ensured balance between team capability and project scope
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Game Design
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Came up with and iterated on the initial design
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Created and filled out the game design document
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Conducted playtest sessions and made iterations based off of feedback
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Integration
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Setup 3D assets provided by artist for Enemies and Player
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Adjusted model origins​
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Imported textures and setup materials
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Art
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All Menu UI​
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Player HUD (except crosshairs)
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Game Logo/Icon
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Enemy Icons
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Weapon Icons
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Programs Used:
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Google Docs for Documentation
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Unity for making the game
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Blender for adjusting model origins
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Jira for task management
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Adobe Illustrator for game UI
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Photoshop for promotional art
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Design Philosophy
Razor Cyclone combines movement and combat into one mechanic, pushed to its limits. I prioritize multi-purpose design, providing a small set of tools that do several things. I don't like games with several generic abilities; I prefer a small pool of versatile features.
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Razor Cyclone's control scheme is simple compared to other shooters. There are no inputs for weapon switching, reloading, special abilities, or quick melee. Everything is done through WASD, M1, M2, Space, and Shift. Despite these few inputs, I designed the game to make the most of them.
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Even with at high speed, combat is thoughtful and deliberate. This isn't a mindless shooting gallery; the Player must analyze the arena and dissect waves. Carefully designed enemies paired with a versatile kit make the game an almost high octane spatial puzzle.
Controls
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The following inputs points the front of the Bike in a specific direction
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Directions can be combined for diagonals
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W - Forward
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A - Left
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S - Right
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D - Backwards
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Space - Up
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Shift - Down
The controls commonly used for movement in FPS games don't move the Player in Razor Cyclone. Instead, it rotates the front of the Bike to face the direction of the input. So holding the input for "right" will point the Bike to face to the right. In order to move, the Player must use their weapons to propel themselves in the direction the Bike is facing. ​
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Different directions can be combined to get diagonals, for instance "Forward" and "Right" will rotate the bike 45°. Combining directions also works for the vertical rotations as well. While Space points the front straight up, W + Space gives the Bike a 45° upward tilt. Ultimately these controls allow the Player to point the Bike in any direction, allowing them to Fire their weapons in any direction, subsequently allowing them to move in any direction.
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Because of how flexible and freeform the Bike rotation is, there is a lot of freedom and problem solving with movement and aiming. Since the Cannon (ranged attack), shoots out the back of the Bike, the Player must learn to point the back of the bike at their target.
Vacuum
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Continuous movement in the direction the bike is facing
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Pulls nearby Enemies towards Player
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Kills Enemies that come in contact with it
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Killing Enemies with Vacuum awards the Player with fuel
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Low Fuel cost
The Vacuum is where most of the Players general movement is going to come from. Its low fuel cost and continuous firing makes it a good tool for precision and control. Moving around with the Vacuum controls similarly to strafing in most FPS games. WASD is used to rotate the Bike in the desired direction and holding the Vacuum input will pull the Player in that direction.
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Because of how forgiving it is to use, it is generally the easiest way to kill most Enemies. The Player is only required to drive up to them, and as long as the Vacuum input is held, Enemies vulnerable to the Vacuum will get sucked in and killed. Additionally since Vacuum kills award Fuel, it's a reliable way to restock on Fuel.
Cannon
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Burst movement in the direction the Bike is facing
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​Fires a projectile in the opposite direction the Bike is facing
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Point Bike backwards to shoot forwards
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Requires precision
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Kills most Enemies, stuns others
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Medium Fuel cost
The Cannon supplies the Player with a ranged attack, as well as a burst movement option. It's high speed allows the Player to quickly doge attacks, or rapidly build speed but at the cost of lots of Fuel. Because the Cannon moves the Player in the direction the Bike is facing, it's easy to use alongside the Vacuum for movement. While this game doesn't have a "jump" input, the Player can emulate this by pointing the Bike upwards (with space) and using the Cannon.
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While the Cannon offers an option for ranged combat, it requires precision and costs Fuel. Unlike the Vacuum, the Player isn't awarded Fuel on Cannon kills, instead the Fuel is dropped where the Enemy died.
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Despite the apparent downsides of the Cannon, it is still heavily utilized for combat. One main use case is for Enemies immune to the Vacuum, forcing the Player to use the Cannon. A big benefit of using the Cannon is it's Ricochet capabilities.
Ricochet
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Spinning the bike 360 degrees builds up Ricochet
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Next Cannon projectile will Ricochet between Enemies for every spin the Player performed
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Ricochet auto aims between Enemies
The Ricochet is where the Cannon really shines. Its ability to auto aim to multiple targets allows the Player to clear swarms of Enemies, regardless if they're grouped up or not. Since the Ricochet shot costs the same amount of Fuel as a Cannon shot, its extremely economical considering the number of Enemies it can potentially take out.
Despite its major upside, the Player must still put in the time to spin the Bike beforehand. To benefit from getting several kills with the Ricochet the Player must spin the Bike several times, once for each Ricochet they want. Spinning the Bike puts the Player in a position where they temporarily have to give up movement control, potentially leading to them becoming a sitting duck. A common way to mitigate this is to go in the air and spin while falling, this allows the Player to remain mobile while spinning.
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Once spun, the Player still needs to land the Cannon shot to actually trigger the Ricochet. So despite its auto targeting capabilities, it still requires skill to trigger.
Enemy Colors
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Yellow - Vulnerable to Vacuum & Cannon
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Blue - Vulnerable to Cannon
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Green - Vulnerable Vacuum
The Enemies in Razor Cyclone each have Colored Lights on them. These Colors are used to communicate an Enemies' vulnerabilities. Because of how fast pace this game is, this information needs to be communicate clearly and quickly. It also helps differentiate Enemies that share similar models.
Shielded Bird
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Relentlessly chases Player
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High move speed
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Immune to Vacuum while Shielded
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Shield can only be disabled by Cannon
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Gets Stunned when hit by Cannon
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Falls to ground while Stunned
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Dies if falls into lava
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Vulnerable to Vacuum and Cannon while Stunned
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Will recover from Stun after duration
While the rest of the Enemies in this game pressure the Player to move around, the Shielded Bird takes this to the extreme. Its high speed and Vacuum resistance forces the Player to move fast and keep their distance.
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The initial Vacuum immunity also challenges the Player with their Cannon aim. Unlike the Turtle with its large hitbox, the Shielded Bird is smaller and requires more precision. While landing this shot may seem challenging, the Player can use their mobility to bait the Shielded Bird into a position where it easier to hit.
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While the Bird is Stunned the Player is put on a timer to follow up and finish up the kill. They either have to Cannon it a second time, or they can follow up with the Vacuum. Finishing off the Bird with the Cannon may be more convenient for the Player, but it takes precision and consumes fuel. Using the Vacuum to secure the kill can be easier and it rewards the Player with fuel, however it forces the Player to reposition to where the Bird landed.
Turtle
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Randomly moves around, floating on lava
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While alive, the lava will rise
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Must be shot with Cannon to
expose Weakpoint -
Weakpoint can be killed by Cannon and Vacuum
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Weakpoint will be retracted if not killed fast enough
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Lava lowers when killed
Instead of directly attacking the Player, the Turtle will cause the lava to rise while its alive. This forces the Player to avoid the ground and play higher in the air. Additionally, since the Turtle sits in lava, it forces the Player to learn how to aim down with the Cannon.
While the initial shot must be from the Cannon, the follow up to destroy the Weakpoint can come from either the Vacuum or Cannon, giving the Player options on how they'll finish it off. Using the Cannon on the Weakpoint allows the Player to kill it from a distance, however they wont be able to get Fuel out of it. Alternatively the Player can destroy the Weakpoint with the Vacuum, awarding them with Fuel at the risk of flying low over lava.
Centipede
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Spawn in as a long Centipede
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Moves in circles around the map
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Each segment fires a Missiles that predicts Player movement
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Splits into multiple Segments if middle segment is destroyed
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Vulnerable to both the Vacuum and Cannon
The Centipede serves as a Miniboss almost, it is the most threatening Enemy and it takes the most amount of effort to kill completely. This Enemy challenges the Players Vacuum skills as well as their maneuverability.
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Because the Centipede is made up of several Segments that must be destroyed individually, the quickest way to kill it is to fly through it with the Vacuum, sucking up each Segment in one fell swoop. This requires careful positioning and precise Vacuum manipulation.
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Its Missile barrage is no joke, each segment individually fires a Missile at the Player that predicts their movement. The Player must pay attention to these Missiles and move unpredictably to avoid them.
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If the Player is not careful with how they kill the Centipede, they risk splitting it up. When split up, the segments spread out, firing Missiles from multiple directions. On top of that, the Player needs to track down and kill all the loose segments, the Cannon is good here since the segments are smaller and spread apart.
Laser Crab
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Stationary
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Fires continuous Beam
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Perfect aim
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Damage increases after duration
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Vulnerable to Vacuum
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Cannon temporarily Stuns it
The Laser Crab is one of the most threatening Enemies in the game. While other Enemies encourage the Player to play in the air, the Laser Crabs perfect aim challenges the Players airspace. Since the damage it deals increases after attacking the Player for a duration, the Player cant ignore it.
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It is the only Enemy in the game that cant be killed by the Cannon, forcing the Player to approach it to kill it with the Vacuum. However, while immune to the Cannon, this weapon can be use to temporarily Stun it, stopping its attack and resetting the damage spike. Additionally breaking line of sight prevents the Crab from attacking.
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The Laser Crab synergizes well with the Turtle, these Enemies being a push and pull on the Player. The Turtle forces the Player off of the ground and into the air, but the Laser Crab challenges the Player when they are out in the open. Another consequence of the Turtle is that the higher lava level gives the Player less places to break Crab line of sight.
What I learned
Don't forget about the Skill Floor
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I went into this project with the fallacy that having a high skill celling leads to a high skill floor, so I didn't design this game to be very approachable. I was designing the game for people like myself who are experienced with movement shooters. As a result, I overlooked players who are new to the genre.
Later in development we implemented easier enemies but this wasn't enough and more invasive changes would need to be made. Considering the skill floor earlier in development would have made it easier to make the game more approachable to players.