Embedded Files
-First Weeks:
For the first week, I was tasked with familiarizing myself with the project; the lore, the mechanics, the puzzles, etc. During this time, my role was mostly as a QA Tester, giving my feedback on the demo and its mechanics, and testing the preliminary puzzles of the game. After this, I'd be only working level design.
I was tasked with designing the three areas that serve as chapter endings, following this chart: →
Due to time constraints, I was only able to build the blockings for "Animals 2" and "Plants 2", in that order.
My design process was as follows:
-Early prototyping on paper. (Brainstorming different ideas, quick layouts...)
-Short meeting with leads to discuss prototypes.
-Documentation of definitive prototype. (LDD, intensity graph, detailed layout...)
-Start of blocking on sublevel.
-Meeting for progress check and possible iterations.
When working on my blockings (Unreal Engine 5), I made heavy use of BSPs, the modelling toolkit, the landscape tools, and general level blueprints for small scripting work.
-Level Design Work:
Every area is unlocked after completing the puzzles in the Tower, so I approached these levels as final tests, while also presenting new mechanics, and carefully studying the players sensations.
All three areas were to have, at least, one or more wow-moments, so I took special care with the spatial design and pacing.
-Animals 2:
When briefed about this level, my only requirement was for it to feature a new mechanic, the Ridable Quadruped.
I decided to approach this level designing three clear distinct playable spaces; a narrow traversal as an introduction, a claustrophobic cave to present the Ridable, and a big payoff as the end, contrasting all the previous spaces.
Here's the final LDD for "Animals 2", in Spanish.
LDD_Animales2_Xerme.docx-Design Breakdown:
-Funnel before Reveal → Player starts in a ravine, very narrow and dark, and after walking along and reaching a drop point, they exit to a much more contrasting space, with big and tall walls of rock to each side, and plenty of sunlight.
-Bait & Switch → Players turns around when they realize they can't progress, and as they do, camera work reveals a tucked-away cave entrance.
-Entering the cave, players are gated again, preventing them, once more, from backtracking.
-Contrast → Cave is small, dark, and only goes down.
-After a big drop, space, composition and lighting is arranged to offer a clear view of the new space, but not immediately of the next objective.
-Once players advance, they are presented with the new mechanic, the Ridable Quadruped.
-Players use Ridable to progress through the cave, towards the light at the end, high above the entrace.
-Wow-moment → Players jumps big gap, originally seen from start of the level, and keeps riding towards...
-Funnel before Reveal + Contrast→ Player jumps into a huge plain, with several giant animals, only seen once before, earlier in the game.
-Puzzle using Ridable in plain section to end the level.
Lastly, here are a couple of comparison shots between the blocking I submitted, and a later art-pass (non-final):
-Plants 2:
I had no real requirements for this next level, although since it was going to be featured earlier in the game, I decided to tone it down with the intensity and difficulty.
Here are some quick sketches with anotations of all three original concepts/proposals. After discussing them with my leads, we ended up discarding the third proposition, and going forward with a mixture of the first two.
Several slides featuring a minigame for energy recollecting, unlocking progress.
Big slide down into a giant forest, full of vines for traversal between trees.
A buried giant, with a level inside of him. (DISCARDED)
This level is based on a big hillside, with small patches of trees scattered around, but as players advance through the space, they arrive at a forest with giant trees, interconnected via traversable vines.
Primarily, players traverse the space via sliding, while taking in the vistas, but the main gameplay focus is still on puzzles.
Also, for this level, I personally conceptualized two different new mechanics, and presented them, appropriately, throughout the level:
-Spores: Infinite sources of energy when standing nearby.
-Grindable Vines: Lock player into a defined path, for quick traversals.
Contrary to Animals 2, this level did overgo some layout changes.
The first section was shortened, in order to accomodate for a more interesting gameplay loop. Instead, players were redirected towards a previously-optional area, serving as a shorter loop.
-Machines 2:
Nearing the end of my internship, I began brainstorming ideas for the last level, Machines 2, which would take place nearing the end game. As I had planned before, the rise in intensity between Plants 2 and Animals 2 was to be translated into Machines 2. This level had to be challenging, but keeping in mind this is still a puzzle game.
With this in mind, I aimed for it to be very visual and cinematic. It had to have players at the edge of their seats, but the difficulty had to be managable, and perceived, rather than felt. I landed on an approach very Uncharted-like, featuring lots of platforming, and intense scripted events, such as cave-ins, floodings, collapsing walls, etc.
As I didn't have time to build anything in-engine, I simply wrote two variables of the sequence, and lastly, I made a quick doodle to sum-up the idea, during our meeting.
Although exagerated in this concept overview, the platforming aspect ought to be managable, as the player should be familiar with the character's movement at this point of the game.
-Final Thoughts:
Working on Acariño Games was one of the best things that could have happened to me during my college years. Getting some real world experience in the videogame industry is key nowadays, and Xerme is a promising project, that can surely be a strong name on my portfolio.
I had tremendous fun working on the game, and knowing that I had chosen the correct career path, made me very happy.
Google Sites
Report abuse