"Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive." —Elbert Hubbard
Game Designer |
Adventure | Beta
Timeframe: 6 Weeks
Pre-Production
DESIGN CONCEPT
Genre: Adventure | Time period: Modern-ish | Location: Earth | Inhabitants: None
I was inspired by Tomb Raider, Zelda and Fenyx Immortal Rising. I enjoy games that has a lot of exploration in it and treasure hunting. This walking simulator is a great way to create items to collect along the way.
Main Mechanics
As an explorer I created tools such as pickaxes and hatchets to use in my level. Players may find themselves in the dark so I created torch checkpoints and a glow stick. The character could already walk, jump and climb.
Team Decisions
We unanimously decided to use the same ledge climbing asset to connect out levels together and the order in which the player travels through our levels.
CREATIVE VISION & LEVEL OUTLINE
I mapped out a design from the photo references of real world places I was interested in for my project. Preparing to blocked out my level which I insisted my team do the same.
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EXIT TRANSITION
Before & After
In order to connect our levels we needed to create an area for transition. My level was connected to the start level and to Audrey's. I created a terrace in the trees from the castle and use the same trees she had in her level so the change would be seamless.
INTERACTION & COLLECTIBLE
Climbing Gear
I started creating game mechanics to lift restrictions I placed on the things like the first ledge the player needs to climb to continue.
Lamp Light
I created the light asset to assist the player in the towers because it is intended to be dark inside there.
Falling Ledge
I added a level of awareness the player needs by adding dangerous situations like stopping the player movement on a ledge about to fall. Not every ledge but the first one. So when the player hears the sound that comes with it, they know to act fast.
PLAYTESTER'S FEEDBACK
AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
After the Playtest I did a redesign and expanding on the suggestions.
The Big Dig
No longer filled with water the player can map out the golden path.
Villa Nilla
Before entering the castle the area felt too bare so I added a small villa to utilize space efficiently.
MAJOR EVENT
I wanted an event in my level to wow the players and came up with pushing a rock from a height that can break open a door. The player should follow the line of vines that have the door stuck. I learned how to use and used quite a few sequences in this project. The player should see the rock on the edge of the top of the structure.
EVENT TRANSFORMATION
Immediately I wanted to improve my major event. It is the part I am most proud of in my level Here I show the transformation from Pre-Alpha to Beta.
INTERACTIVE TRANSFORMATION
Immediately I wanted to improve my major event. It is the part I am most proud of in my level Here I show the transformation from Pre-Alpha to Beta.
Collectible Upgrades
Created new items to get the player more engaged with their surroundings
Functional Collectibles
Immediately I wanted to improve my major event. It is the part I am most proud of in my level Here I show the transformation from Pre-Alpha to Beta.
Trigger
Mechanisms
Immediately I wanted to improve my major event. It is the part I am most proud of in my level Here I show the transformation from Pre-Alpha to Beta.
Superficial Collectible
Immediately I wanted to improve my major event. It is the part I am most proud of in my level Here I show the transformation from Pre-Alpha to Beta.
AREA UPGRADES
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A redesign this late in the build is frowned upon but I couldn't help myself. I didn't add anymore blueprints or sequences but structures like a roof for the terrace viewable from the beginning of my level. My level is fully build for a release but this is a group project and the other areas do have some unfinished things or place transform issues. I hope you enjoy watching!
WHAT WENT WRONG
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It was brought to my attention midway that my level was out of bounds and I needed to reshape it. That wasn't a major problem but it did take me some time to figure out how to achieve that. What was a major problem was the play through of my level was over 4 minutes and that is the limit that was in place to keep our project simple. Again I had to redesign which caused more problems than it solved with my overzealous blueprints. They caused inconsistent bugs that made it hard to pinpoint the problem.
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WHAT WENT WELL
We connected our levels geologically and created an exit transitions from one level to the next without a hitch. My level was a coastal area and was chosen to be first because everyone else's level was inland. We wanted the player to feel like they were climbing to higher heights as they played. We have a wooded level, a level on peaks and a level in a valley. We use Inkarnate to design maps of our area or used an screenshot above our level to help decide the order of transition.
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My team discussed what assets we wanted to use and suggested assets for each other. I personally used my teams asset textures to keep the overall project balanced. I didn't go overboard using their assets, so when the player reaches their level the experience is still fresh. I migrated a few assets to use in my level as collectible items for originality. We all decided to use the same vines as a indicator to the player that the ledge was climbable.
Sometimes words can't fully explain a situation so we shared our screens to show exactly what we are trying to communicate and watched how one would play our level. It was an eye opener for sure, as I didn't notice some parts the players can slip by blocked parts in my level. This practice also helped me assist a team member to recreate the fog in their level from persisting over the entire project to localizing it.
HIDDEN PASSAGES
During every redesign I left behind secret passages. These passages were meant to cut my levels time down to under 4 minutes and required a timer. I used sequences to block the players from the golden path forcing a shortcut. In some cases in a few cases a chest drops the item needed for the shortcuts. The last passageway is a dead end but brings the player to a ship where a treasure map is found.
The Big Blue Door
Locked Temple Door
PLAYTHROUGH COMMENTARY
LEVEL DESIGNERS ASSEMBLED
My Coast
Audrey
Woodland
Jacob
Underground
Garrett
Peak
Gerald
Valley
Team
Nephrite
In order of Transition
On a team of 5 including myself we created this mini game called Adventure. Each of us was responsible for a maximum 150x150x150 or minimum 50x50x50 playable area.
