Project Info
Genre:
Reference game:
Engine:
Project Length:
Platformer, 2D Sidescroller
Celeste
The Game Engine (via Unity)
12 weeks (half time)
My Role:
Level Design (co-owned all levels)
Game Design
Co-writer, Co-Narrative Designer
Sound Design
Music
Scripting/Programing
The third project focuses on pipelines and responsiveness to feedback. We use the TGA’s engine with the challenges that comes along with starting without a framework for creating prototypes early.
In the LD-team we both wanted to experiment with a less rigid ownership of levels and as such worked on all sections of the game together, splitting tasks rather than sections. This worked great and created a much more coheasive experiance. We became intimatly familar with all issues in all levels and could easily switch task when we ran into creative blocks or when the other designers strengths or different perspective could benefit the design.
I worked together with a team-mate to take the main responsibility for the Narrative Design and writing of the game as well as making all the sounds and music. I also worked with the programers to write some basic code for the story events in the game.
We wanted to lift some of the storytelling techniques from Celeste and also needed the player character to have mechanical progression. We settled on the solve of having the character struggle with feeling useless and relearning how to move as a metaphor for the creative process.
As Level Designers we tried to be very concious of the mood and using the game space as an emotional metafor.
I challenged myself to be involved in as many aspects of the storytelling as possible. Each screen in the game adds something to the story, through gameplay, dialogue, sound and mood. The team worked to give me access to some tools to write code and create scripted events for the game, and i learned a lot about the programming workflow in the process. Since the other Designer had experience in coding we as a team could be very technically involved and work with other disciplinces to find solutions.
