From Tartarus They Came

Once the theme was revealed to be Abyss, I began by running different concepts for story beats and world design. I pitched the idea of an ancient warrior dropping into a pit called the Abyss, which we eventually settled on.

At this point, I created a guideline for narrative beats that I wanted the player to experience. This included a prologue sequences, two cutscenes, and the placement of powerups after receiving that list from our lead designer. This would be trimmed down as we eventually gauged our ability to finish the game on time.

I created a bestiary, as well as pushed our UI programmer to go with a more grimoire design to allow it to synergize along with that idea. 

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The bestiary has three different sections, to feel like it's a living text that has been updated through generations. The first paragraph is prose like, the second gives helpful information about the enemy, while the final comment is written by our main character showcasing his personality. 

Once we had our base narrative set, I began to create references for the Abyss. The team settled on the idea of different stages being time periods. I collaborated with our background artist and level designer to create our map. 

I researched and created references for our main character artist and animator. We had two different angles for our monsters, so I created a reference sheet for both, but we eventually went with the more biological angle. 

Finalizing our 'Grimoire' I wrote up the tool tips for each 'power up' and ability in the game. I maintained the same three style writing from the bestiary.