Harvest
Harvest
Embedded Files
Game Overview
Game Overview
Harvest is a first person survival horror game, with main core elements being the farm level and the scarecrow monster that chases the player with a sort of weeping angel AI.
The player can inspect and read notes, use a flashlight, along with basic first person movement and a sprint.
Video of me playing the game with my level design thought process
Responsibilities
Responsibilities
Produced and developed horror game jam onto Itch.io
Developed in the Unity Game engine, Uploaded on Itch.io
Implemented Code, Design and used assets from the unity asset store in conjunction with assets provided from an artist
Worked closely along side artist Jessica Stanjo, she provided key hero assets such as the scarecrow, barn buildings, and furniture.
Owned the entirety of the gameplay and level design process
Process Outline
Process Outline
My process for the project goes as follows:
Made a small pitch deck for the project, collaborated and worked closely with an artist
This document would highlight key areas for the game similar to a Game Design Document, but solely focused more on the aspect of the one level
Things that were listed were project goals, list of mechanics, and the sequence of what would happen in the game.
I would then sketch, and make a level plan of how these things would come together
I would continue iterating alongside my artist, continuously getting feedback form each other on the game and assets too.
Early concepts of the scarecrow's head drawn by our artist.
Original Pitch Deck for the game Jam
We would then start working on the game's main mechanics in test scenes. Once that was complete we would then move onto blocking out a grey box in the scene using prominently Pro builder and the Terrain editor
Once the block out phase was good enough we would then implement all the remaining features I had listed to be added in on a note pad document. This mostly included more aesthetic features.
A before and after shot of the starting area of the game, I thought I would try grey boxing with lit up areas of the game using boxes with no collision
This would include assets, gameplay features, post processing etc.
This would be done alongside continuous playtesting to make sure the game was in working order and that the experience was matching what was initially set out. We would continue this process until we shipped the game.
When I put the main path at the start of the game I wanted to use the trees and light to draw the player in. the trees would be angled over, acting similar to leading lines. I would utilize this and the lights to constantly tell players where to go next, informing them where to go using this design language.
Post Mortem
Post Mortem
Negatives
While the premise has potential, the game does not do a good enough job to deliver fear to the player. The game is also very boring in most parts as there is a lot of roaming around without enough interesting key things happening to make the player tense or interested. While cool the scarecrow could have really benefited from a previous encounter just so the player could understand what precisely is the danger. Some of the level triggers didn't make sense or were unclear for guiding the player, it did feel the level design really emphasized the player trying every pathway they can reach until they can't.
Positives
The atmosphere and visuals are pretty good, I did manage to get the feeling of being in an isolated forest well. The audio was an alright fit for the game, I managed to get triggers working accurately to how I wanted as well which was good to learn.
Takeaways
Think more critically about the game you work on and how the level design could best help it along
Keep consistently asking why for design choices
Footsteps needed more attention too, especially since the player is going to be hearing it throughout the whole game
More focus on what is scary and how to make the player tense through as many opportunities as possible
Need to act more like a tour guide for you overall level design detail for the game
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