CT4105: 2D Tutorial level

This is my mood for the 2D tutorial level we have to do,I started looking at a bunch of different 2D games from the games Going with my theme I want to create an eerie,creepy mansion level consisting of an attic,multiple rooms a library and blocked off sections that the player needs to get through,I'm thinking of using the same theme as Old Castlevania games,I want to try and re-create the same atmosphere

i've sketched out the rough idea of how i'd want my level to look,I'm really taking inspiration from the Castlevania games,I've looked at how they have designed their levels and art styles,Taking in from what I've learned from class I can really see how they've used tile sets to create their levels and how it all comes together

I've started designing my tile sets ,I'm using a 16x16 grid to design my tiles,I feel like I can do a little more than with the 64x64 but I can always re scale if needed,The tiles are basic wood tiles that I could use for the floor ,bricks & stone pillars for structure and purple tiles for different styles of the house,I'll still do more research on more tile sets

I had no special training at all; I am completely self taught. I don't fit the mold of a visual arts designer or a graphic designer. I just had a strong concept about what a game designer is. Someone who designs projects to make people happy. That's a game designer's purpose.

Toru Iwatani

From the book Programmers at Work by Susan Lammers

I played around with the tiles I created in Unity and feel like I should add a lot more to get the desired look, I'm still unsure about the whole level design and how to build around it and inside the level itself, like backgrounds and foreground, props and lighting,I want to make the house(mansion) look haunted and run down but still kind of lived in ,The whole idea is to have the player control a ghost character that's awakened by lightning striking a coffin in the (locked) attic and to have a NPC character instruct the player to scare off the inhabitants of the house which would be the tutorial level(once the player exits the house after scaring off the (kids,demons)and then moving on to different neighbourhoods.

I've designed the ghost for the game and created different animations for him including a jump animation (that's really just a float upwards)My lecturer pointed out that shadows aren't necessary because you can add that in on unity, Although not necessary ,I had a lot of trouble working on the animation because the animation completely flipped my player model and I had to rewrite some code to fix it which my lecturers helped me with,I also had a problem with leaving spaces after typing and that caused some parameters to not function

“Complicated programs are far easier to write than straightforward programs.” - John Page.

After looking at references and other games,I've come up with different assets for my game,Using the traditional haunted house castle feel from the Castlevania series I made my own little set of assets varying from old bookcases,shackles,bottles,skulls and bones, torches and drapes and curtains, I also added big manor like windows so that the background of the game would show when the player walked passed it

I've created a small area to test out my assets that I've made to decide how I'll build my level,I'm thinking of keeping the downwards level design instead of the traditional left to right gameplay because games in the metroidvania genre normally have a lot of verticality, I'll need to add a background to the game so that the window's aren't blank

"Good game design happens when you view your game from many different perspectives, or lenses"-Jesse Schell

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Game-Design-book-lenses/dp/0123694965

I finally got my character controller working and my ghost can move throughout the quick level I built, I'll now begin to add the props, I decided to use one system and use different layers to build my game so that I have objects that can be in front of each other

I've added different rooms where there would be broken staircases and possibly floating objects that the player can jump on if he falls off and still wants to collect the coins,The tables can be modified to be longer and bigger with objects on top of them I also decided to use the drape/curtain in 2 variations where they look more torn up adding to the haunted mansion effect

The theme is what your game is about. It is the idea that ties your entire game together— the idea that all the elements must support. If you don’t know what your theme is, it is very likely that your game is not engaging people as much as it could. Most game themes are experience based; that is, the goal of the design is to deliver an essential experience to the player.
Schell, Jesse. The Art of Game Design : A Book of Lenses, Third Edition, CRC Press LLC, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uniofglos/detail.action?docID=5842983.
Created from uniofglos on 2021-01-11 13:49:41.

I decided to make an easy Cat NPC that had also "died" and haunts the house,the design is simple and he basically just bobs his head up and down to give the indication that he's moving,I'll add the dialogue to him so that he guides the player throughout the level

I expanded my level downwards into different rooms and different paths,I want some rooms to be hard to get into but then have better rewards(collectibles)I added the torch animation and added it as a prefab to easily decorate my level and give it more life,The stairs can be wonky looking while going over them but I kinda like the effect it has on the ghost

I added a complete platforming section where the ghost has the choice to either jump and make it to the last pillar where all the coins will be and risk to fall down and have more obstacles to pass while the timer goes down, Since my character is a ghost a health system wouldn't make sense so I decided to make the timer system the ghost's "life" until he respawns at the top again to start over, You can also decide to rush straight to the end and get no coins or see how many you can get before the time runs out using the different paths

Game mechanics are the core of what a game truly is. They are the interactions and relationships that remain when all of the aesthetics, technology, and story are stripped away.
Schell, Jesse. The Art of Game Design : A Book of Lenses, Third Edition, CRC Press LLC, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uniofglos/detail.action?docID=5842983.
Created from uniofglos on 2021-01-11 13:51:43.

The resurrection time would be the ghost's health which would go by in seconds before he respawns, I decided to make the the Cat NPC somewhat of an ignorant spirit almost mocking the player and asking them to beat his score before he gets resurrected again, So I made a little alter for him to guide and shove the player around, Using the torch prefab and pillar top I created bowls that could hold fire which look really nice when animated, I also started adding bones around the level to add to the whole aesthetic

Further level decorations to add to the theme of the dining area

I started working on my Menu items and having a go at adding sound to the menu which helped a lot in the creative process, I downloaded a spooky font to use for my ui text which suited the theme nicely

I also connected the main scene to the menu scene so that the whole menu process could work and then added the exit menu to the game so the game had a full up and running menu system I decided to call the Game Ghoul Manor at thre time I don't have any other idea's what to call it

I added in the score system to the game which worked really well even counting numbers fast, the dialogue box had a few issues where it wouldn't transition correctly but it was soon fixed with help from my lecturer,The whole point of the game is to get as many coins as possible to be able to beat the cat npc but there aren't enough coins to beat him and at the end of the level he sends you back anyways

Any activity whose goal is victory cannot be play, if you are trying to win, you are not engaged in true play.

Adapted from #ad No Contest: The Case Against Competition by Alfie Kohn

My background was connected to the camera so wherever the player moved the background followed which was a cool action, the dialogue box was fixed and iI could implement the cat to annoy and guide the player throughout the level with a working continue box to move on the conversation

The level is complete with a respawn/killbox at the end that resets the player whenever they get near it, the cat NPC will also greet the player at the end next up would be to add the mobile controller for the ghost and finally audio to the level

I got all my Audio assets from ZapSplat which only required a sign in to download and I could get all the Audio I needed without worrying about copyrighted assets,These two audio's were used for the main menu and the main tutorial level music, which definitely ads a Castlevania feel to the game

I finally got all the Audio set up for my level and player controls for the ghost so now I can build and run my game to my Android device and do my Video documentary

Game view with mobile controller and added UI effects, I changed resurrection time to Life remaining and Score to Souls as it fit with the goal of you having so much time left to collect all the souls to beat the cat

CT4105: 2D Tutorial level

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CT4105: 2D Tutorial level

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