Snowen
Overview
Snowen is the game I've developed as my term paper project in the Industrial Design Course in UFSM. My objective was create a platformer game which uses both mechanics and aesthetics to evoke a non-verbal narrative.
I used Fumito Ueda's Design by Subtraction in order to create mechanics that fits with my idea of what this story should be, and taking off what isn't.
The movie Blade Runner (1982) was the inspiration to create the narrative of a Snowman that is trying to play one more time with his 'creator kid' before the winter ends.
The games Celeste (2018) and The End is Nigh (2017) was the inspiration to create the platformer mechanics in Snowen, while Hollow Knight (2017) was the aesthetic influence for this project.
I've challenged me to create almost every element present in this game and get this prototype and monograph done in 10 months, without break the deadline.
So I used the first 5 months analyzing the Design by Subtraction concept as well as the Game Design, Level Design and the use of art in the games I've chosen as references in order to create a solid foundation to begin my project well informed.
The rest of the time I dedicated to create the game itself.
Game Details
- Name: Snowen
- Release Date: December 12, 2018
- Genre: Platformer
- Engine: Unity
- Platforms: Windows, MacOS, HTML5
Credits
- Game Design: Bruno Gatiboni Carpes
- Programming: Bruno Gatiboni Carpes
- Level Design: Bruno Gatiboni Carpes
- Art: Bruno Gatiboni Carpes
- Sound Design: Bruno Gatiboni Carpes
- Supervisor: Bruno Da Veiga Thurner
- Font: Hubert & Fischer (Rubik)
softwares Used
- Engine: Unity
- Coding: Visual Studio (C#)
- Art: Procreate, FlipPad, Photoshop
- Music: Garage Band
- Sound Effects: Audacity
Story
In the winter a kid build the Snowman to be its friend and play with it, and they did it everyday since then. But, one day the kid didn't shows up to play, neither the other day, nor the next. The winter is ending and the snow is melting, the time of the snowmen is already over but not for one of them, this Snowman wants to see its friend one last time, and it will do everything possible to reach his dream before the spring arrives.
Gameplay
I used the ideas of "Impossible Objective", "End", "Solitude" and "Give yourself for your goal" to create the core mechanic of Snowen that is the "Snow life".
The player has five points of life in the start of the level, it means that in order to pass through the map he can fail 4 times and still be able to go to the next level. But if it's needed the player can use one of its life points to use some of the special abilities of the Snowman, like wall-jump, dash or use a snowball to destroy or freeze some elements.
This mechanics makes "risk vs reward" choices to the player, where it is able to choose what kind of challenge it wants in the adventure, if its more important use one point of live to use a dash to be sure that you will pass this hole, or try something else more risky in order to save your lives to another challenge.
Almost every level in this prototype is able to be completed without lose one single life point of the player, only the first level asks you to lose one point of life, in order to teach you this mechanic. There is some hidden movement mechanics in Snowen too, that makes players able to express themselves thought the gameplay.
Art
I created the sprites for the game using primarily the app Procreate for iPad Pro. The app Flip Pad was used to create the animation's sketch of the Snowman and the Photoshop to insert the text in the menu buttons.
Snowman
Background Element
Interactive Element
Grass Tile
Pavement Tile
Snow Tile
UI
Sound
I composed the musics for Snowen using the app Garage Band for iPad, using the loops presents in the app. I was trying to create an increscent soundtrack, starting with sad sounds growing into more energetic musics as long as the Snowman is closer to it's goal. There is five musics for this prototype, one for each level and one for the menu.
The hardest moment after compose the musics was programming them in the game, due to the intense repetition in this kind of game the music shouldn't restart after every death or when the player goes to a different menu screen.
I create the sound effects in the game using the Audacity, recording sounds and manipulating them to create effects that combine together.
Screenshots
