Warden's Will

Warden’s Will is a third-person movement shooter with bullet hell combat and roguelike mechanics, playable in single-player or up to 3 players co-op.
Available on Steam

Responsibilities

Specializing in AI and character development.

Gameplay Programmer

Responsible for planning gameplay features, determining which to implement, and ensuring the team meets deadlines.

Gameplay Closer

AI

I joined the project mid-development, with many enemies already implemented by Arthur, a talented tech artist. Building on this foundation, I maintained the existing flow of ability and animation integration while refactoring behavior, navigation, spawn logic, and abilities. I also developed new systems and additional enemies.

Enemies

Currently, there are nine regular enemies (or "minions," as we call them) and four mini-bosses or bosses, though not all are showcased here.

Minions are the standard enemies players encounter. They vary in abilities, from shooting projectiles to displacing players, blocking abilities, and controlling zones.

Defender is a support-type mini-boss that protects other enemies and creates opportunities using crowd control abilities.

Smasher is a deadly mini-boss with frequent, high-damage attacks that pose a serious threat to players.

Target Selection(Aggro)

Upon spawning, enemies select an initial target—the player with the least aggro weight—then add their own aggro weight to that player. This approach helps balance the challenge across players in multiplayer mode. After selecting their initial target, enemies teleport around that player.

Once initial targeting and teleportation are complete, enemies continually update their target based on players’ aggro levels. Aggro is generated as enemies take damage from players, factoring in distance. If a player gets too close to an enemy, their aggro value automatically becomes the highest.

Slots

I designed the Slots system to create a balanced challenge for players facing groups of enemies. This system informs each enemy on how aggressive they should be, aiming to give players a fair experience. Enemies attempt to occupy slots and adapt their behavior based on slot ownership. Those within the player’s view are prioritized for slot assignment, while enemies outside the view require more slots to claim one.

Each enemy type responds uniquely to slot information: some won’t attack without a slot, others hold a slot but maintain regular behavior, and some reduce aggression if they lack a slot. By tailoring enemy behaviors, the Slots system ensures a balanced yet engaging challenge for players.

Wardens

Like the enemies, the wardens were initially created by Nizamettin and Anas before I joined the project. I redesigned and implemented combat and movement abilities for the Dasher and Leaper.

Dasher

E - Trailstring

Q - Bladestorm

Leaper

Q - Singularity

Shift - Leap & Dive

Weapons

In Warden’s Will, weapons don’t use a traditional ammo magazine. Instead, primary fire generates heat, and secondary fire consumes it—a system and weapon architecture developed by Nizamettin, a talented GAS specialist. I contributed by refining the aiming system, which presented challenges in capturing the desired behavior due to large camera offsets and piercing weapon mechanics. Additionally, I refactored some existing weapons and created a new weapon, the Electrilance.

Electrilance

Acknowledgments

A quick reminder that the footage above is still a work in progress. If you liked what you saw, I highly recommend checking out the incredibly talented team at Elyzio. None of this work is created by a single person, and I feel fortunate to be part of such an amazing team.

A special thanks to my colleague Nizamettin, whose generosity in sharing his knowledge has been invaluable. His support was instrumental in helping me get onboarded with the project quickly. I’ve learned a great deal from him, and we’ve grown our skills by working together.