Floating Training Level

Introduction

The world that i built was a world with many coins and floating islands. What makes this world interesting is that it has well hidden gems.

Reflection

I didn't have an original idea when i started on this world, i just created as i went on. The most fun parts of the level to make were deciding where to hide the gems. The most useful tools that helped the most while making this was the spawn at camera tool and the content drawer. I'm most proud of how many coins and gems i put in the level. This is because there are many coins and 1/10 as many gems. If i could improve one thing with more time, i would make something to make the game a bit more engaging, like enemies to fight.

The Valley

Introduction

The valley is a very foliage filled land, with varying heights. New features in this unit I added include foliage, landscaping, more unique checkpoints, and even an castle.

Reflection

The parts of my world i expanded on the most in this unit was me designing areas of a map. Tools that were most helpful were foliage and landscaping, and a technique that was really helpful was castle building. I am most proud of The starting area of the valley because it is very simple and does its job as a starting point well. My world looks different due to the fact that i hand made the terrain. If i had more time, i definitely would want to improve literally every other area in the world.

Challenges

Introduction

The valley, now that it has hazards and gameplay, is an engaging challenge the player goes through. Challenges i added include sweepers, big boulders, a mixed challenge with various hazards that is timed, and turrets. These mechanics change the player's experience by making it so the player has something to do in the valley instead of just walking through the valley.

Reflection

The challenge that was most difficult to create was The cannon section. This was because i needed to balance between making it too easy and too hard. I balanced difficulty by making it so hard parts of a challenge have checkpoints so it isn't as difficult and not as frustrating restarting from the begining. The mechanic that I'm most proud of is the cannons, this is because i made so many variations of the cannon to spice it up a bit. The cannons add to the story of the valley because most of them are flying, which begs the question as to why. If i had more time, i would make more cannons and more unique hazards.

UI and Cutscenes

Introduction

I learned that story telling through visuals and sounds can help enhance the experience the player has in a game. I believe the music of a game enhances the player's emotional experience. If i could add a new auditory asset, it would be an area where the player knows they have to be prepared for what's coming.

Reflection

Story telling doesn't necessarily have to be completely clear when telling a story with audio and visuals. The story you want to tell could be progressively hinted at when using audio and visuals. Music in a game impacts the player's emotional experience the most, because music allows a player to experience the general tone of the area they are in. If i could add a new cinematic or auditory element, i would choose to add a new auditory element. I say this because i feel like i could add new music in areas where the base music didn't fit.

Game Installer

I would make it so that the starting map when a player is playing the game is the main menu, I would Package the game as shipping, then i would list the levels that will be used in the game and activate the cook listed levels only. I would only support windows devices.

Level Expansion Project

Pre-Production Planning

The Level that i am making is supposed to act as a sort of final challenge for the player, The level will be composed of two parts, the mountain and the dungeon. The rating of this game would probably be E10, this is because there isn't any blood, but there might be parts that could be considered violent. The challenges of the level will be mainly inside the dungeon part of the level. The way this level connects to the rest of the game is because it shows how the crystals (Goals) before would teleport the player to different areas.

Game Design Documentation

The objective of the player in this level is to destroy the core of the dungeon. There will be a mountain part that the player will have to go through before reaching the dungeon, this part will be mainly just composed of hazards that move around an area and weaker cannons. In this challenge, the player will have to open doors in order to progress, which will have the hazards i just mentioned around the challenge. The dungeon will be the next area the player encounters, it's worth noting that the mountain and the dungeon will have different challenge and main music. The dungeon will be composed of 4 levels, the first level will keep a similar theme to the mountain, having hazards being ice themed. The dungeon acts as a sort of gauntlet, as the challenges inside it are mostly just hazards. New hazards in the dungeon include cannons that block the path, objects that drop ice blocks which will only appear in the first level, ice sweeper that rotates and acts similarly to the rotating arm, different types of traps that activate when the player activates it and appear in different levels of the dungeon, Crossbow traps that constantly fire,, icicle cannon that has big projectiles but is slow, versions of the ice sweeper, crossbow trap and blocker cannon that are fire themed, and cannon that fires projectiles that have a sort of lingering effect that can damage the player. to progress to the final level of the dungeon, the player must find 3 dungeon keys. Originally, i was going to have all of them be in the third level, but i just now decided that they should be across each level excluding the final one. Since they'll be hidden, i'll need to make a UI warning the player that they missed it in each level.  In the final level, it will include hazards from other levels as well as new ones which include a cannon that starts by firing slow but will speed up in time, a double cannon version of the blocker cannon, a fireball trap, and a cannon that can shoot multiple different projectiles.