Ant Game:Title Pending

Visit our Itch.io and try the game for yourself https://teambugfix.itch.io/untitled-ant-game

Personal Contributions:

At the start of the project, I created a basic level design to experiment with puzzles and triggers. Here I could see exactly what worked and how the fixed cameras may look in the final product. However, after this scene the team ran into complications on the art side, meaning many of the environments were left with basic Probuilder models, and we could not achieve the realism goal we were going for. On the other hand, this allowed me to adapt very quickly and gain more of an understanding to everything Probuilder has to offer. I helped build many of the levels in Ant Game, using Unity's modelling tools as well as the terrain and foliage tools.

In this project I developed on my previous understanding of Unity's particle effects, and how they can be used as a gameplay element, or to improve a scene's atmosphere. I created intricate particle effects from flowing water, to fireflies and objective effects. In terms of puzzle design, I mostly focused on physics based puzzles, due to the mechanics of our game consisting of throwing and climbing.

Design Philosophy: The Garden Level

This level, although limited to just two axis of direction, is in full contrast to the bin level that takes place previously. This diversity comes from the sudden change in environment, from the fixed cameras of the confined bin, to the camera following the player in the vast outside garden. Putting myself into the players perspective, I would expect them to feel much more curious in the open environment than when they are inside the bin, so I wanted this level to feel more explorative instead of mechanic heavy to ease the player into the game. 

The garden level uses a physics based puzzle to lower a bridge, allowing the player to safely cross over the rapid water below. To hit the web that is holding the bridge, the player must throw a berry, found in and around the cans, from the top of the cans to reach the web. During playtesting, many of the players would pick up a berry and walk past the platforms to scale the cans, however once they see how high up the web is they always come to a satisfying realisation of how the puzzle works due to the previous information that was given to them.

The next section of the level takes place on a garden table, where it appears there has been a party of sorts. The player must navigate the table without falling off, climbing through broken cups and teetering on bridges of cutlery. Once on the table, the camera slightly angles downwards so that the player can see exactly what's around them, as during playtesting it was hard to view over the cluster of objects on the table.

The camera is tilted around 20°, showing off the optimal route.