CRYOGENESIS
Platform: PC (Downloadable)
Engine: Unreal
Team Size: 5
Project Duration: 10 Weeks
Playtime: 15 minutes
Build: itch.io
Game designer
Designed water/ice state change mechanic and other systems; assisted in level/puzzle designs
Additional Responsibilities
UI Designer
Wireframed and implemented menu UI
Postmortem
Iteration: Main Water Mechanic
As the class was largely focused on making a prototype around a single strong design pillar, I focused on the aspect of affordance, and chose water as my medium to deliver that message. The main water mechanic went through several iterations before we landed on the final version.
Version 1: Heat and Freeze rays can switch water's states between ice, water, and steam.
Steam has less mechanics that would clearly demonstrate its affordance (compared to water and ice).
It is awkward to design the state changes: should the player click twice to go from ice to steam? Or just once? What's the implication of that? Where would we position water there?
Version 2: Heat and Freeze rays only affect the area that they were hit in.
Implementation is much harder than other versions that produce a similar outcome.
Most people associate water and ice as binary states of being, but this will create a connotation of gradual change. It might take longer to onboard players to this version of state change.
Different element, but Zelda puzzles making platforms with water and magma was an inspiration here.
Final Version: Heat and Freeze rays affect all connected bodies of water at once.
Makes our game stand out compared to other games with similar mechanics.
Difficult to communicate at a first glance without significant handholding- would have been an opportunity for better UX/level design.
Much, much easier to implement.
This sort of binary state delivers the initial goal (easy, intuitive affordance) better.
Conclusion
This was my first Unreal game, and I am glad that this project made me want to make even more Unreal games.
+Made me realize the power of Unreal, especially in 3D.
+Iterating puzzle mechanics was a valuable experience since they require me to step into the player's shoes.
-I was too busy to work on implementing major mechanics.
-No time for visuals- this became an issue when trying to showcase the connection between different bodies of water.
The game actually had a drastically different origin (a Divinity-inspired terrain-based puzzle RPG) before pivoting to the current design.