Powerbomb Heaven

2D, Fighting Game, Wrestling, Prototype

In a fantastical, futuristic universe in the year 31XX, all kinds of strange and exotic fighters come from all over the galaxy to the universe’s greatest wrestling promotion: POWERBOMB HEAVEN. Their goal? Prove their mettle and take the title of GALACTIC CHAMPION.

Powerbomb Heaven is a prototype for a sci-fi and pro wrestling themed 2D fighting game. Attack, Grapple and Sell your way to victory as one of 3 unique characters. Playable in 2 different game modes: Classic, and Tug-of-War.

The development for Powerbomb Heaven is unfortunately in indefinite hiatus due to production issues following the COVID-19 pandemic. While the team currently has no plans to continue, we hope you still enjoy the world and concept we’ve put together.

Project Role

Lead Programmer, Game Designer

Collaborators

Lucas Valensa
Korben Dennis

Responsibilities

Game Design: I worked together with my collaborators as Game Designer on the project. Together, we determined the core game loop, and I brought new ideas and concepts to the table, including the idea for the Tug-of-War gamemode and pinning as a mechanic as part of a more classic 2D fighting game.

Programming: I handled all of gameplay programming as the Lead Programmer. I scripted combat and the core game loop for multiple game loops, as well as implementation of all animations and art assets, in Unity. Additionally, I programmed the AI for the CPU in Solo mode to react to the movement and playstyle of the player.

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Powerbomb Heaven hit a number of production issues throughout its development, including poor time management and miscommunication between team members that led to it remaining ultimately unfinished. While I’m not perfectly satisfied with its current state, I am proud of what I learned and how it has helped me grow as a designer and as a team member. This project taught me the importance of organized and clear production, and I was able to strengthen my technical problem solving skills and programming fundamentals.

Process

This project was developed as my Senior Project for my BFA in Game Design at MICA, in collaboration with Animation students Lucas Valensa and Korben Dennis.

Lucas and Korben developed the world, character designs, and art assets, while I was responsible for gameplay testing, programming, and design.

The idea that was the forefront of gameplay development was to create a fighting game that has a low skill requirement for entry into the fighting game genre, but still allowed for high level play in reading your opponent. That meant creating a simple combat system, without having to memorize complicated inputs for special moves.

With gameplay simplicity in mind, as well as the pro wrestling theme, we decided to include 3 different types of skills the players can use: Attacks, Grapples, and Sells, which work like rock-paper-scissors.

Sells utilize the concept of “selling” a hit in wrestling– you act out the attack in an effort to hype up the crowd and fool your opponent, and it provides you with an opportunity to parry. Attacking takes priority over a Grapple, by hitting your opponent before they get the chance to grab you. You can Grapple through an opponents Sell to suplex them.