SYNCED: Off Planet
Overview
SYNCED is a co-op looter shooter developed by NExT Studios where players fight alongside tamed Nano companions. I joined the combat team for Season 1 and stayed through the Season 2 content update.
My work concentrated on three pillars — bosses that close the main story beats, a procedural Rift system that reshapes the endgame loop, and a VR Training space that teaches the game without a single tooltip.
Contributions
- Multiple boss fights for PvE — including the Season 1 final boss Lambent Mind and Season 2 additions.
- Designed the Rift system — the core endgame feature in the main PvE level.
- VR Training level — tutorial, loadout sandbox, and leaderboard challenges in one.
Boss Design
Lambent Mind — final boss walkthrough
Design approach
Boss attacks are designed around the core combat system — firearms, AI companions, and the nano leap — not despite it. Bosses close distances and switch targets fast, forcing strategic movement and positioning over hold-the-trigger play.
Vulnerable parts create puzzles inside the fight; they reward precision and timing, and punish players who try to brute-force the health bar.
Lambent Mind · Phase 01
Two bosses — one close-range bruiser, one long-range punisher. They heal each other, flank together, and force the squad to split attention. Players who ignore one get punished by the other.
Lambent Mind · Phase 02
The two bosses merge into a single, larger entity — faster, stronger, and carrying combined attack patterns from both earlier forms. The fight escalates into a combined exam of everything the player learned in phase 01.
Additional bosses
Other PvE bosses I contributed across Season 1 & 2 — each built on the same puzzle-inside-the-fight principle: vulnerable states, telegraphed windows, and cooperative interruption.
The Rift System
Rift gameplay (top) · Rift Chaser story trailer (bottom)
Launched · Sept 8, 2023
Rifts are controlled, sub-level challenges layered into the open-world Dead Sector. Each Rift introduces randomized mechanics and drops narrative fragments that uncover the origins of Nano creatures.
Placement and completion order are randomized, so every player assembles the story in a different sequence.
Experience goal
Enrich PvE gameplay by offering controlled, sub-level challenges beyond the standard open-world combat in the Dead Sector — a second loop inside the main map.
Dynamic Rifts — core game flow
Dynamic rifts
Each Rift introduces randomized mechanics to keep gameplay fresh. Players collect narrative fragments to uncover Nano origins. Randomized placement and completion order yield unique story interpretations per player.
VR Training
Three functions, one room
I conceptualized and refined the VR Training level — a space where players test loadouts and tackle a variety of challenges. Three core functions, no tooltips.
01 · Onboarding
Acquaints players with nanos, perks, and weapons. A concise tutorial ensures players extract maximum value from the VR Training space.
02 · Loadout Testing
Players evaluate chosen combinations of perks and weapons against test dummies. The VR also previews weapons and perks they haven't unlocked yet — letting them experiment before committing.
03 · Skill Challenges
Mobility tests and combat scenarios, each tied to a leaderboard. Competition replaces tutorial fatigue — players stay to post a time, not to tick a checkbox.