BOXY TOWN
Project Description:
A co-op experience where the players are sailing a ship which was made in unity. The project objective was designing a game where players have to collaborate control the ship and reach a goal with lives intact. The first prototypes were used to test our designs of the intractable stations to steer,sail and defend the ship. We then advanced to involving character controllers , designing levels to navigate through and creating enemies to add complexity.
Role: Level Designer
Tools Used: Unity
Duration: 4 months
LEVEL DESIGN PROCESS:
DESIGN GOALS:
Familiarity with the Genre:
As I am a big fan of platformers I decided to make a level that is based off a genre I am very familiar with. In this case, I chose to do platforming and adventure. Since I didn't have much time to figure out what other level software there was for me to choose from I decided to stick with the boxy project I was given in a previous year of my studies. At first the level was nice and simple and quite grey boxed. I implemented some assets that I found online and used them to give the level a forest kind of vibe
Adapting Designs from Platformer References:
As a small child, I grew up playing many platformers especially Mario games. Except instead of having players search for stars/moons, I simply had them move in a straight line for casual gameplay so they can enjoy the experience without feeling rushed or under pressure after all the was the main purpose of Boxy. I might make changes to it over time when I get the time for more entertainment
Gain more knowledge of Open-World Design:
As I said earlier, I grew up playing many platformers and I have a lot of experience in playing them that I don't struggle too much with in completing them. I mainly used Super Mario 64, and Super Mario Odyssey to complete this task. As I continue to make more levels like these I hope to add a bit more difficulty so players will continue to be encouraged to keep playing the game/levels I make. I feel that if I keep them nice and simple, players won't feel motivated to continue playing, so I hope my open-world design skills improve as I continue to work on projects like these.
LEVEL DESIGN SHOWCASE:
TAKEAWAYS:
Coming from a level designer's point of view, I learned it's important to know how to lay out the environment art as you turn any current greybox levels
It's also important to make the environments/layouts have neat and great assets otherwise the levels/racetracks look boring and simple