Solo Game Developer

Infinite Opera (WIP)

Note: this project is currently in development, therefore the following page is subject to change over time!

Project

Infinite Opera is a narrative-driven roguelike/survivor game. It takes inspiration from survivor-likes like Megabonk or The Spell Brigade, while also taking cues from the storytelling and social systems found in games like Fire Emblem Awakening and Fates.

Follow the story of Ren, Kyra, and Roderick, who are forced to join the Imperial Army of Oria after their village is destroyed. At the controls of their heavily armed mechs, these young pilots and their allies will stop at nothing to defend their planet and the Tree of Life against the assaults of the mysterious Specters, whose invasion seems tied to the empire's past.

Experience

Started in February 2025 and rebooted in February 2026, this project lets me work as a solo developer on Infinite Opera. This journey has given me the chance to pick up new skills while strengthening my expertise in narrative and game design.

INFORMATION

Project: Full Game

Genre: Thrid-Person auto-shooter / Roguelike

Engine: Unreal Engine 5

Platform: PC

Team Size: 1 person

Role: Solo Game Developper

Duration: February 2026 - Present

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Solo Game Developper

Designing, scoping, and iterating on core gameplay loops and systems to ensure project viability.
Prototyping and developing character controllers and gameplay mechanics through visual scripting (Blueprints).
Establishing narrative frameworks, worldbuilding, character arcs, and dialogue.
Researching and setting up the art direction.
Researching and setting up the sound direction.
Upskilling through projects, game jams, and self-learning on engines and tools (BP, Sequencer).

I learned how to script in Unreal Engine 5 to prototype my project, test its mechanics, and iterate on my game design.
I leveled up my technical and artistic skills in Blender, as well as with Unreal's shader and VFX tools.
I got hands-on experience with project management, learning how to properly scope and prioritize my ambitions while anticipating production needs and costs.
I sharpened my game and narrative design vision by finding ways to make both aspects resonate with each other through complementary mechanics and storytelling frameworks.

Dialogue system and accessibility

Introduction

I worked for several months on a personal project called “Infinite Opera,” a turn-based tactical video game with role-playing elements, inspired by the “Fire Emblem” and “Advance Wars” franchises.

But as I progressed, I realized that the project was starting to hit a wall, particularly due to its complexity and scope for a solo developer.

So I decided to reboot the project after 9 months, while trying to keep some of the work I had already done, particularly on the narrative side.

After thinking for a while about the type of game, its mechanics, and my ability to make

it on my own, I decided to go for a game that would mix auto-shooter/survivor gameplay like “Vampire Survivors” and “Megabonk” with a story, characters, and relationships like “Fire Emblem Awakening.”

The game would follow a reworked version of the story from my previous project and would take place in the same universe: a techno-fantasy/sci-fi/JRPG world.

Based on these ideas, I decided to introduce two unique systems for a “survivor-like” game:

A companion system, where players will pick up companions on the battlefield who will reinforce their squad and multiply their attacks.
A system of relationships that develop between characters as they fight together, adding dialogue between them based on their relationship rank, but also adding combat bonuses when these characters are together.

Goals and Intentions

From there, certain goals began to emerge:

To ensure narrative immersion through the story, the universe, the characters, and the evolution of their relationships.
To offer new mechanics that are consistent with the narrative aspect, but also with the mechanics and fun specific to “survivor” games.
To create a universe and characters that are distinctive and memorable, both in terms of design and personality, capable of generating a “fanbase” effect.

From these objectives, the following intentions were identified:

Intention #1: The carnage+

Offer players an intense carnage experience in the spirit of the “survivors” genre, while standing out thanks to IOL’s unique content and mechanics.

Intention #2: The narrative

Create a complete story for a game genre that normally uses very little narrative, adding originality to the title and allowing us to establish a strong and memorable world and characters.

Intention #3: The “community” effect

Through its universe, story, characters, backgrounds, and relationship systems, Infinite Opera aims to build a strong community around the game. The goal is to craft a world and characters that players can connect with, relate to, and feel inspired to create content around.

Narration

With the game's format having changed, the narrative also had to be modified, whether in terms of the story's progression and proportions, the way it is delivered to the player, the way it is integrated, or even the ties and consistency it shares with the gameplay, artistic direction, and other aspects of the production.

Synospis

For several centuries now, the Vokhyn Empire has unified the planet Oria and offered peace and protection to all its inhabitants thanks to its ships and armies of “knights,” huge mechanical suits piloted by loyal servants of the emperor. The stability of the world is ensured by the Emperor himself, chosen by the Tree of Life, which nourishes the world and ensures the longevity of the eternal ruler.

But for two decades now, Oria has been the target of attacks by strange invaders from the far reaches of the galaxy, the mysterious “Wraiths,” ghostly aliens controlling robotic bodies. No one has yet been able to determine where these brutal beings come from, nor the reasons for their attacks, but the empire, the protector of humanity and the Tree of Life, is doing everything in its power to drive them back into the void of space.

After the destruction of their village and the loss of their loved ones during their childhood, Ren, Kyra, and Rodrick joined the Oghma Military Academy to become knight pilots. But when their academy itself is targeted in an assault, and our trio are among the few survivors of the slaughter, their training is cut short and they are ordered to immediately join a group of ace pilots to counter the imminent invasion approaching on the horizon.

Then, fate leads them across countless battlefields on land and in space. But during their journey, our young heroes uncover ancient secrets about the deep ties between their invaders, the Tree of Life and their empire, which they thought they knew so well.

Discover the truth and forge unbreakable bonds that will bring down the most brutal waves of mechanical wraiths and uncover the darkest secrets surrounding the very origins of your world.

Messages and themes

The game highlights several themes and messages, whether through the main story and dialogue, character interactions during relationship rank-ups, or the universe itself.

As a result, the narrative explores three different yet interconnected subjects to varying degrees:

Ecology: Our relationship with the planet and its changes, social inequalities in the face of disasters, looking for a new home versus saving the old one, resource sharing, and the balance between nature and progress.
War: The cycle of violence, past grudges, forgiveness, the scars of war, and resource conflicts.
Authoritarianism: Propaganda, repression, surveillance, and the hoarding of wealth.

Challenges to solve

How do you implement an engaging narrative that stays consistent with the gameplay in a survivor-like game, where gameplay usually takes priority over story?

Decisions made

By combining fixed, story-driven main objectives with random secondary objectives that add variety to missions.
By building the narrative around the playable characters—giving them distinct personalities, backstories, character arcs, and bonds through both the main story and the relationship system.
By creating a feedback loop between narrative and gameplay: character choices and relationships grant in-game bonuses that make progress smoother, while playing the game is what actually improves those relationships and, indirectly, your progress through the story.

The results

By applying these methods, I was able to build systems that reward player investment during missions and cutscenes, without alienating players who care less about the narrative.
I crafted a story scaled properly to the game's scope that works in total synergy with the gameplay.

What I learned!

I learned how to design simple systems and stories that remain coherent with the genre, the nature of the plot, and the delivery method, while adapting them to the specific constraints and limitations of the project.

Game Design

Core Loop

The goal of a mission is to survive waves of enemies within a time limit while completing the main objectives and defeating the boss that appears once they are done.

The character must defeat enemies to gain experience and level up. Upon leveling up, the player can choose from three random upgrades to strengthen their build and adapt to the increasing difficulty. As the match progresses, the number, power, and types of enemies increase, pushing players to stay on their toes and keep up the pace.

Players can also attempt to complete secondary objectives to earn extra bonuses and experience. Among these, certain objectives allow the player to call in another character as reinforcement. This ally joins the squad to help out while also leveling up on their own, expanding the player's tactical options and firepower.

When the player loses all their health, the mission fails and must be restarted from the beginning. Winning unlocks the next part of the story and completes any finished challenges.

At the end of a run, the player can choose to repair (and reset) their mech, or keep it as is for the next mission (which will be more difficult). A meta-progression system is also in place between runs, letting players earn currency to purchase permanent upgrades.

While missions feature fixed main objectives, a specific boss, a set biome, and predetermined environments, the secondary objectives and the maps themselves are procedurally generated.

GDD

In order to bring together the main outlines of the project and all of its components in a single document, making it easy to find all the ideas and decisions made about Infinite Opera: Legion, as well as simplifying exchanges with potential colleagues, I have started to create a Game Design Document that will grow alongside the project.

> Game Design Document in progress here! <

Développement

As with the previous version of Infinite Opera, I chose Unreal Engine 5 for the development of “Legion.” Alongside production, and with a focus on perfecting my expertise in Blueprints and programming logic, I completed several projects and took specialized training courses. The results of these efforts have been directly applied to IOL.

I am currently working on a prototype of the game, starting of course with the

3Cs, enemies, combat mechanics, some weapons and playable characters, as well as the data tables and the pooling system that allows me to summon a large number of actors (exp, bonuses, bullets, mobs) while limiting the resources of a normal "spawn actor".