Fat Princess

Senior Designer

I was the senior designer on Fat Princess, the #1 selling 1st party title for the Playstation Network. Fat Princess is a downloadable tactical team action game, combining an adorable cartoon art style with buckets of blood. Each team is attempting to rescue their princess from the evil clutches of the enemy kingdom in a capture the flag style match, but moving the princess back to your castle will not be easy as her voracious appetite for cake has made her almost impossible for one player to carry her. Team up with friends and battle online.

"Fat Princess is really, really good." - 9/10 - IGN

"We've managed to find an absolutely brilliant and addictive game that was certainly worth waiting for." - 9/10 - Destructoid

"Fat Princess stands out as one of the most original downloadable games to date. The amount of strategy that exists is plentiful..." - 9/10 - GamePro

My main responsibilities included:

• All levels
• All single player arena challenges
• Tutorial story mode
• Sound implementation
  
• Assisting in high level game design and balancing

Map Philosophies and Notes:
I spent the largest amount of my time bringing levels from paper design to final product, which included scripting, block outs, flow analysis, collision and object placement. Below are some images and thoughts on the maps that I created.

• Symmetrical maps level the playing field since each team's task is the same.
  
• Centralize one of the two resources to encourage fighting
• Provide multiple ways to get at each princess, thus preventing "turtling" in a castle
• Access to some paths around the map must be earned and will be fought over
• Smaller is better...force players together by providing lots of options that lead to the same destination.

Coco Cliffs - Upper Path

High above the main battlefield, this narrow path provides easy one-way access to the throne room. Once in the castle, players will still have to fight their way back out through the front doors.

Coco Cliffs - Castle Entrance

Multiple approaches to the castles on Coco Cliffs make assault strategies seem endless. Narrow paths encourage conflict and a path along the bottom of the castle provides a secret way in for those skilled enough to avoid detection. Ninjas do well here.

Coco Cliffs - Middle Map

Down in the bottom tier of this map, an epic battle often breaks out over the resources on the second level. When the map starts, there is no way up to the ore. Capturing the outpost grants access to the top as well as building ladders.

Brownie Town - Town Center

The center of the city map, Brownie Town. Here players battle for control of the bridge, which acts as the quickest path to the enemy front doors. Defending from the rooftops is a common strategy while gathering ore from the water can prove a dangerous task. Bring backup.

Candy Mountain - Castle

In this winter wonderland, the multi-tiered castle makes for some amazingly unfortunate attempts at the caged beauty. The cliff on the left side offers some classes a chance to leap in for a surprise attack, but even then it will be a battle across the middle tier to get to the cage.

Frostbite - Frozen River

Two forts on either side of a large frozen river make a fantastic set up for a bloody day slipping and sliding on the ice. Melee classes will find a more difficult time to land attacks while crossing the ice and falling into the frigid water will slowly drain life for all classes.

Great Gorge - Resource Choke-Point

Above the main battle area is the central ore location and some rickety rope bridges. I misstep or a shove from a fire mage will send you to a quick death. The top paths grant access to the enemy castles, but passing through this highly contested area will not make the journey a cake walk.

Great Gorge - Castle Entrance Clearing

A main path runs directly between the two castles, providing a speed boost to those who take the central route. The boost is significant enough that it makes for high traffic and dangerous encounters.

New Pork - The Long Way

The second city map, this one has far larger roads and is the only map with multiple layers of defenses that will need to be destroyed, unless, of course, one team decides to build their spring bucket, which will help launch your team right over the enemy walls.

New Pork - The Short Way

The shortest route to the castle from the middle of the map has been blocked with debris at the start of each round. A few bombs will clear the way, but getting the bombs to the debris wall may be a challenge.

New Pork - Central Circle

A view of the center of the map as well as an unbuilt spring bucket, which is used to avoid the central area completely. The team that captures the middle area first usually has a difficult time holding it as the enemy can approach from any direction.

Rocky Road - Southern Resource Area

High above the green valleys below, players struggle for resources in this sparse environment. Capturing this outpost not only provides a place to deposit resources, but also grants access to a secret entrance into the nearby castle.

Tropical Punch - Stone Fortress

While the most simple of base designs, don't let the simplicity fool you into thinking it is easy to sneak into. Lapping waves limit pathways, but secret caves help move players quickly around the map.

Tropical Punch - Boardwalk

The two main paths across the map can be seen here. The tide is out in this image, but when in the boardwalk provides a clear way along the reef. The upper path is covered in palms and provides access to the ore in the upper center of the map.