Coming to the end of the first segment of the project, I was able to finish the proposal and spent the first part of the week collecting tutor feedback on my proposal. Being able to have second opinions gave me the confidence I needed to move on and develop what I had already started in my research. Since I had collected some useful sources over the last two weeks, I could then use those as a foundation to develop my research. By looking into the games we had discussed to be of the most interest, we can further achieve the intended genre, allowing us to get the most out of marketing the game to an intended audience. The games researched were helpful to look at for the feedback on their structure, as this form of criticism is helpful to my role. For instance, Minecraft's complete lack of linearity left players to feel free to explore an open environment, having randomly generated areas kept it constantly fresh, so players weren't stuck in repetitive open-world zones. Dragon Quest Builders 2 uses pre-set levels and guides the player around, however, little is stopping them from going off the beaten path and finding a hidden chest, rare item or challenging mini-boss that, when defeated, gives the player access to a new crafting recipe.
Since everybody in my team is doing research, we can bounce off each other and share our findings to develop our understanding and generate a shared idea with greater effect. Focusing on the essentials this week allowed me to lean more into specifics for style and my roles next week, using target audience and influence, along with researching existing game features and their importance.
To begin with, anyone who isn't familiar with the idea who may answer the form by giving them some context and asking for a simple rating on my concept. As my individual form, I can make it more specific to my situation by asking some general questions to familiarise the player with the idea and then lean into more specific ideas once the player has more context.
Looking at the ratings, people seem to like the idea based on the description, meaning the concept was clear and easy to understand.
Getting peers to suggest a name could be helpful, given the context of the last question; it makes sense since they can provide a name based on what they know from the question prior. This could help to reveal what connotations the description provides and what ideas it presents in the response.
Since the game is targeted at a 12, using a portmanteau would still be fitting. To tie in with the simulation theme subtly, a title like Project Whiteout references the more temperate and colder climates that are shown within the game and doesn't give too much away, potentially leading to the player having to piece together what is happening within the game.
Since there is more than one type of open level, I asked how much guidance they prefer. Games like Dragon Quest Builders guide players through a narrative, whereas Minecraft lets players do as they want by providing an infinite number of biodiverse worlds to explore.
Reflecting on these results, I have concluded that these results make the most sense due to Minecraft's lack of linearity being a large payoff, so I will design an open level throughout the project.
During my research into existing games and I evaluated some familiar tropes in survival games and asked which aspects players of survival games found to be what draws each player to them.
Nobody had voted for the building, and the majority preferred collectable-related options. Because of this, I should isolate each resource into different segments of the map in varying quantities to get players to experience as much of the map as possible.
By making different question types, I can experiment with how helpful the results are between types. By making a ranking system, rather than seeing which players they thought were their favourites, I get to see which they like the least as well. This allows me to not only know what to include in my level but also to what extent I should include each factor, since, depending on the answers, I will be able to build my level with differing quantities based on the results of my form.
From the results, the difference in my responses proved very helpful. Evaluating this allows me to infer that I should prioritise structures for players to raid for resources, since it's the most consistent. Diversity in biomes and roaming hordes of enemies did reach the top spot, but they also placed last twice, averaging out their final score. It's clear to me that I should stay away from platforming challenges. I may be able to include a few scattered around for a collectable reward to make the platforming more engaging, but I will avoid making it a main feature of my level's design.
The last three questions cover balancing the game to see what an audience my age would be the most interesting, as this could help appeal to a desired audience. Having an open ended question on statistics is helpful as responses can either agree or suggest another damage statistic that they believe would make the game more balanced.
The responses I received on this question were helpful in giving me an idea of what difficulty players are looking for. Since having the enemies do 20 damage means the player can only take 5 hits, this may be frustrating for a survival genre. If the hits are quick and close together, the player can be easily overwhelmed.
This will help me to determine what difficulty I should aim for. Difficulty can vary across games sometimes despite the target audience to challenge player expectations. This makes sense as a follow-up question in the form's structure as their decision may be influenced by their previous answer.
From these results alone, it seems players think the game should have a middling experience of challenge with some harder elements. Since there was a little divide, it may vary on how many Scrappers spawn in a horde from 3-6.
Using an example, I can get players to think about how much basic healing items would help with allowing the player to recover HP. Based on this information, I can see how much players are tempted by challenge as players who prefer a lighter experience may suggest a higher number than players who seek a challenge.
Since the berries are the weakest healing item, it makes sense for them to be a common resource, and for this reason, 20 or 25 is a reasonable number. Thanks to one of the responses mentioning that 25 HP would make it so the player could out-heal the enemy but in a fair way. This is to balance the game accordingly to avoid the player feeling underwhelmed by the amount of healing, not having the berry fully heal the player means they need to use it more cautiously as they need to figure out how much HP they need to have lost to get the maximum value out of the item.
After writing this form, I found the feedback I received insightful, it helped me look at each aspect I consulted my peers about from a different perspective. Using different styles of questions was beneficial and a major benefit of sending out a survey. While useful, I think I will try a new primary research method later on in the project, as some live feedback has the potential to be a more noteworthy source. I believe the best way to do this would be through a focus group, as that way I can get not only live feedback but also get multiple people to talk to each other about their thoughts, which could help develop ideas rather than individual opinions. I can do this in the form of playtesting, where players can review my level after production, and I can see if my design intentions are secure enough for the players to play the level as I intended. I can also make use of carousel feedback, where I get responses based on my research, next week, to see what people think of my findings and references.
When beginning research, I gave myself 5 sections to look into. Style and Audience would cover how I believe my vision of the project concept will align with common styles and players, so that I can better tailor my level toward my desired audience. Games Inspiration will cover any game I look into for factors that could prove useful to note down during various stages of my creation process.
This would help break down my research into areas that felt more manageable, so that the process and the time I gave myself to complete it weren't too overwhelming. Having finished my intended targets for research during this time, formatting research in this way works the best for me, being a method I can rely on through other projects and apply to other criteria, so that the best quality I can produce can be realised.
To decide a rating for the game, I need to look at similar games of varying ratings to understand why they were given that rating and the content descriptors. The grid below covers games of varied Pegi ratings, with the justification of why I believe each game received the appropriate content descriptors and warnings.
Bartle's taxonomy is a practice on how players can be split into 4 main types. These types allowed me to discover which types of players are more interested in my levels. I can use this to my advantage by designing my level around the more favourable audience, since I have the ability to design the level around their interests.
Making areas around the map complete and adding collectables increases the interest of achievers. Similarly, having non-linear structures will help draw more explorers to the game.
Later on, I intend to use playtesting in a focus group and ask players which aspect of the level they found the most interesting. This will allow me to conduct my own Bartle's Taxonomy test, as I can see if players prefer looking around the environment for clues or exploring for enemy bases to test their strength. By doing this, I can test if I appeal to each player type enough, and it may offer me some results on how I can adjust the level to cater to these needs.
Since the snow environment will lack a lot of vibrant colours, I need to evoke isolation through paler tints to give the world a sense of loss. Using these will allow stronger colours from tools, characters and structures to stand out against the natural environmental pieces. Games designed to appeal to younger audiences use brighter colours, so using a paler colour scheme with the combination of cel-shading should set a middle ground of 12.
Blanc uses monochromatic cel-shading for eye-catching environmental pieces, helping the two characters stand out as contrasting opposites. Snow environments contain a mix of live and dead trees, which can help define the environment. Dead trees connote emptiness and help give the world a more destructive narrative. From my search into 3D styles, my key takeaways are that selecting an in-between style is the most time-consistent and quality-consistent balance, so I don't fall behind. I can use these in my own work by applying a toon-shader to a model in Blender or in the Unreal editor itself, later being able to experiment with which looks best.
Tools look different from game to game based on how advanced crafting can be. Since the game tests the player's survival skills, crafted items will be less modern or mechanical and more primitive to maintain a system with more realism. This would be in a similar vein to Animal Crossing's "Flimsy Axe" where the two materials are loosely attached and use less refined shapes for a more rugged natural look.
Lower poly games are great for simplicity and time efficiency. Sometimes simpler designs can make people lose interest, so to counter assets or characters being too basic, it would be best to use a middling poly count for the greatest balance of quality and time.
3D realism focuses on higher poly models to give games more immersion. Due to time constraints, this isn't the best choice to select as an art style, given the aim is to have a playable vertical slice. This form tends to be used for games of a higher age rating, so using a simpler style may be more appealing to other age groups.
Cel-shading is the style we have chosen. Having a hand-drawn look, this gives 3D models a 2D stylised appearance. Cel-shading presents us with more options, since many cel-shaded games can be more laid-back or offer a serious narrative, giving us more control over how the game's characters and environmental pieces appear to the player.
Evaluating research into this process, I used The Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell to analyse psychological game tropes and adapt them into how they suit my own level's purpose. For example, lens 16 (The Lens of the Player) got me to ask some critical questions like "What don't they like?", "If I were in their place, what would I want to see in a game?". This was useful for me to start thinking about how I could design a stage using existing survival tropes that would engage the most popular audience. Similar to this, lens 8 (The Lens of Holographic Design) covers the constant acknowledgement of both the player experience and the elements causing this. Being able to understand what aspect is causing each effect allows you to filter a game down to the best it can be. Without this book, it would have been more difficult to come to these conclusions and expand what I already knew going into the project to better understand the principles of Game Design. This segment of research set me up for my next task of the week, which is to look into games that appealed to me due to how they may benefit the production of this project.
Since Minecraft has been around for so long and is still outstanding in today’s market, it sets a standard for crafting games to beat. Using random generation helps the game to feel infinitely fresh, so I want to see what I can do to make a set landscape interesting by looking into the game's biomes and structures.
To make the world generation seem natural, there are different iterations of trees, and procedural generation helps add variation in textures. Using different sub-biomes to break up the level will make my level more recognisable by players, rather than each area being a blank, snowy canvas.
The salvagers in our game will function similarly to how Wandering Traders do. Players will be able to go around the map and find NPCs with whom they can trade items. This will help socialisers as they are provided with something to look out for, along with explorers, as the items they trade for are likely to be worth the player's time, causing them to look out for the items they need that are placed around their level.
Maps help to guide players across a randomly generated world. While the map only covers a certain section. Since the crafting is quite primal, the map is an object that would be visible to the player but not the protagonist. Maps can help players visualise the world and form strategies, potentially attacking bases from different angles for the best success.
Snow biomes have some exclusive mobs and content that make exploring worth the journey. Sensical natural hazards like thick powdered snow to slow you down make the environment more hostile. For this reason, it may be beneficial to include natural and human enemies within the level.
Structures make the world feel more alive. Scrapper settlements will function like Pillager bases, locations approachable by the player that have some loot inside, but are guarded by groups of Scrappers. While the groups will be small, each settlement will be a collection of bases, meaning Scrappers from other bases could be alerted to the player.
Minecraft has its unique crafting system. Using a 3 by 3 grid, the player can craft a variety of items. This used to be required, forcing players to remember recipes at least for the PC version of the game. Now the game just requires the items needed, without the player needing to remember where the items go.
In the modern PC version of the game, you can see each item you can craft and how many of that item you can craft. Showing what can't be crafted with a red box around the item helps players to know what they need to be able to craft the items, helping them search for items they can craft.
Each tool has its own proficiency outside battle, like axes that chop wood faster, pickaxes that break harder materials like stone and ore. While most tools can do all these things, there are some punishments like swords using 2 durability points if you use them for mining, and some drops don't work if you break certain items with the wrong tools.
Combat has evolved a lot throughout Minecraft. Players have multiple weapon options like swords, axes, and bows. Shields helped make combat more strategic, rather than running into enemies and attacking over and over. This is likely to make up for the lack of a signature dodge or parry button, as our game includes these, there's less need for a shield.
Minecraft's attraction to so many different audiences makes it the best-selling game of all time. Giving the player so much to do and not limiting players to how they have to play allows them to write their own story within the game.
Minecraft took a concept and adapted it to be unique, giving players a space that is diverse and different every time. This take on the survival concept left the experience feeling a lot more personal to the player due to the randomly generated worlds. While this meant the areas lacked narrative, the players could always find structures hidden within each biome to keep things interesting. The UI was noteworthy as the simplified style matches the aesthetic of the rest of the game. From looking at the reviews, most are positive and constructive about the revolutionary changes Minecraft made to make their game substantial. The game appeals to fans of adventure and exploration, and the game allowed standards to be set for what players should expect of survival games. The success of Minecraft led to them being able to market other games to please a greater audience.
The Last Campfire is a puzzle adventure made by Hello Games. While the gameplay and atmosphere will differ from what we intend to create, I have chosen to play this game myself to look further into the art style and other aspects that make the game compelling. By doing so, I can divide what can be used as a reference in my own game between what we do not intend to include. Since the game is a main source of interest for the simplified style, it strikes a good balance between the topology of models, so I can use this to my advantage as a guide to building the environmental assets I have given myself to complete.
Explore mode offers a laid-back experience that removes puzzles who wish to take in the visuals. The game keeps its in-world puzzles to maintain some of the flow from Normal Mode. This option helps to include a greater audience who play for the immersion of the environment as opposed to the inclusion of diverse puzzles.
Voice narration helps to guide players in the right direction throughout the game. This feature is also used during puzzles, saying something to help the player know they are doing the right thing. Having an unknown narrator tell the story gives the game some greater depth and makes me feel like a character in a storybook.
Throughout the game, treasure chests are scattered across the map that contain some pieces of a journal. By looking in the bag, the player can give the world some narrative backstory and the player something to aim towards. Revealing the total number to players means they have a clear goal to aim towards.
Prior to the first puzzle, the player is guided to the caged fire set along a path. The world distorts and forms into the puzzle. This gives the player something to try to reach for when solving the puzzle. Showing what the player must collect beforehand gives them something to look for.
Choosing dialogue gives the player more input. Though used in small parts, its presence can help the game to feel more personal. Once the player has found 4 of the 7 forlorn in each area, they are able to move onto the next, not requiring all of them allows players to enjoy the casual flow of the game further without added pressure.
The birds are characters the player runs into multiple times, situated in the Crossroads. they're difference in proportion suggests the player should fear these characters. Their intended superiority is more realised by the fact that Ember is defenceless against them, making them a ruling force in an isolated environment.
To refresh the game, the player is introduced to a new mechanic early into the second area. With the ability to move specific objects around them, allowing for more diversity and options in its puzzles. This gives the game an object that players can associate with, making controls more unique than walking, carrying, and climbing.
The world is split into multiple smaller areas to give the player a more manageable amount to process. Scenes like these contain a lot of different environmental pieces with similar textures, but their stylised look helps them to be identifiable as different objects while looking cohesive when arranged together. The environment is made more immersive by including lily pads that the player can hop from, shrubs the player can walk through and scattered puddles that, when walked over, cover the player in mud. While serving no practical purpose, all these help to embed the cosiness of the campfire by being able to interact with the environment.
Branching pathways are used to make players curious. Under the assumption, most players will look to the left before going straight forward. While nothing is down either of these paths, this allows players to interact with the environment and teaches them that more areas like this may have more rewarding conclusions. This was a helpful example as this shows psychological level design being implemented into the last campfire to encourage exploration.
Occasionally, certain places of interest, like forlorn or chests, are out of reach to tease players, yet when returning with the right item, the objective can be reached. Certain environmental pieces, like trees, can be pushed down for easier backtracking. This is convenient for players as shortcuts keep them immersed with new content rather than walking through repeating areas.
The Last Campfire makes use of a common puzzle trope when the problem is shown before the solution. In this case, the player has to walk past some brambles and a locked door before they find some fire and a key. This encourages the player to think about how they can progress to these currently off-limits areas.
The game utilises a simple satchel inventory to not overwhelm the player with items. Most overworld puzzles will require these items to reach either a chest or a forlorn in most cases. In one instance, the player can find a broken net to reach up for a key. But by exploring, they can find a fisherman who will repair it.
If the player tries to use the net before it's repaired, it will still play an animation. I found this useful during my playthrough as it suggests the net is the intended way to get the key, but it must be repaired first.
To greater increase immersion, The Last Campfire features interactive elements like getting the player to rotate the joystick, replicating turning a key to unlock a door. The game, including touch screen options, increases the interactivity and casual tones the game presents.
Texture is key in The Last Campfire. Since traversal across the environment is used in every area of the game, interactable climbing spots like grassy cliffs or rocks that have a different colour to indicate they're interactable. To further this indication, a button icon is displayed with something interactable when the player gets close.
Not long after the player acquires the Lanthorn, symbols begin appearing across the overworld and the game's puzzles. Symbolising a hint, the player can interpret this as a place where the Lanthorn should be used to progress.
The use of special characters gives the world a greater sense of environment. While interactions with some of these characters are optional, the game rewards you for helping them by granting access to new parts of the map. This makes socialisers relate more to this game as they're interested in how they can bond with the characters.
The opening puzzle of the game includes some mechanics that are scattered all throughout the world. Climbable walls and chains that can be pulled down to allow for backtracking are elements required to progress. causing players to look for them throughout the game by showing them at an early point.
Later puzzles include newer instances of the Lanthorn's capabilities. The example shown is a serpentine platform that can carry objects and Ember across parts of it that are above the surface. Teaching the player that positioning Ember is important, they can use this information to get an idol to place on a button, clearing the way to the goal.
A simple example of an overworld puzzle, using the Lanthorn to dig blocks out of the ground, and arrange them to forge a path across. While unlikely to confuse players, this is handy just to teach them the way blocks move when affected by the Lanthorn.
Overworld puzzles come in different forms to keep the game fresh. Moving path tiles along the map changes where Ember can access. Symbols used indicate where the player is or has been, using blue light on the diamonds to show the treasure has been obtained.
To maintain the game's simplicity, some types of puzzles will be repeated. In this instance, both puzzles use moving blocks and panels that release bursts of cold air. In the first puzzle, the player must use the Lanthorn to move a block with a torch attached, light all the other torches without extinguishing the torch attached to their block.
Whereas in the later puzzle, the level seems longer by being stretched out across a larger space. This takes what the player has learned and now must land a block over three pedestals so Ember can cross. While one of the more challenging puzzles, all of them aim to maintain the casual, cosy experience that the rest of the game embodies. However, an air panel is attached to the block, and the player must rotate it carefully to avoid extinguishing any surrounding torches, making the puzzle more punishing by resetting them. This contrasts with the last puzzle, where if the player made a mistake, they could return to a torch to relight the one attached to the block.
Looking into puzzles in The Last Campfire was more useful than I initially thought. While we don't intend to include any puzzles in our game, doing this helped me to realise the progression between early and later levels, and how this gap can be shortened to ease the player through while progressing their skills and widened to offer a larger challenge.
The Last Campfire, while having a simple premise, has achieved outstanding awards. This is most likely due to the coordination of key assets that helped blend the game together. When making the models, it is key that I stay close to my group to replicate our intended style across each of our modelling contributions.
These players found the art direction to be a big positive for the game. While the simplicity of puzzles was acknowledged, The Last Campfire's message of getting back up again withheld a narrative that reviewers were able to enjoy.
While the aesthetics help to provide cosy gameplay, some players believed the game's main focus was too simple despite expanding on ideas throughout the adventure. While the game is easy, it was likely designed this way to be accessible for wider demographics. This means that I should avoid making the level too open, but I should take the mechanics into account, finding a good balance between the two.
The Last Campfire is a great experience for casual social players who want something that can feasibly be beaten within a single sitting. While I was playing, a lot of the assets had simple colours but still had recognisable textures. The puzzle aspect wasn't the intention of the research, though I had found that the puzzles' structures helped me understand how difficulty scaling and level beats can be applied to different genres. Overall, I found this helpful since I can use this level of simplicity and apply it to my models while adding some further detail to make the style more fitting for an older audience, given that perfectly similar style models may result in the game looking too cosy. I suspect that some other games will be more helpful, as going into my playthrough of The Last Campfire, I wasn't aware of any mechanics which have more of an impact on my roles.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is an action RPG that modifies the typical Pokémon formula for a unique experience in the franchise. The game covers survival traits and environments that could serve as useful inspiration during my modelling and level design processes.
The world is split into 5 smaller areas, avoiding the world exploration from being overwhelming. The Icelands are split into named locations that make each place more perceptible. The main map is a large area in the middle with a lot of interesting locations hidden around the edges.
Mount Pokémon help traverse the world, with one being acquired with each new area. The Braviary Mount allows players to glide across the map from the air. This is used in the level design to reach a place required for the story to progress, forcing the player to search for a way to get Braviary. Aside from dashing, swimming, climbing, and gliding, the Ursaluna Mount helps players scout for treasure, acting as an item finder. The rarity of this treasure can vary from basic supplies, exclusive collectables or items to evolve the player's Pokémon.
Turn-based combat is more relaxed, meaning more information can be displayed on screen, like attack strength, weather conditions, and turn order. Live combat when wild Pokémon get aggressive at players is more stressful as the threat is more imminent, especially when Pokémon form into groups. Because of this, less interface is on the screen and the player's focus is directed more on the conflict itself, rather than strategising over what move to use in preparation for the opponent's next attack, a philosophy to bear in mind when designing my level.
Alpha Pokémon present a much greater challenge than the player's skill level. Being more overleveled than intended, they can function like mini-bosses that drop a lot of experience or unique items when defeated. Across the map, players can decide to track these Alpha spawns down to challenge themselves.
The game has lots of crafting options that are accessible to the player. While some are less familiar versions of repeated items through the franchise to match the earlier point in time, new items are made to change the ways people can play the game.
Interactive items in the overworld will help the player look for each individual material, rather than putting the resources in chests or crates and limiting what the player has to look for. This can help give players more immersion with the wilderness. This system of looting will give players an incentive to look for items (my models) and should be well reciprocated by those who love to explore and collect items.
Side quests across each of the areas help to give players something to do aside from the main objectives. Marked on the map for assistance, side quests can be useful for giving the level more life, making a dilemma that doesn't just exist to further the player's progress. To make these tasks worth the risk, they offer an appropriate reward. These would work nicely for our game in the form of our salvagers.
Mainly, the aim is to work on a journal recording all of the wild Pokémon's data. Completing research tasks will increase each Pokémon's score, rewarding the player if they complete each entry with a gift that helps players hunt for rare variants.
Changing up the typical formula was Legends: Arceus' greatest strength, with new mechanics to fit with the action-related pacing. changing the battle mechanics was useful for catering to the genre shift to make battling more dangerous, making a memorable challenge for players.
IGN felt the major drawback was its environment looking unappealing and not having much to explore. To fix this, the level can maintain the spacing but have each secret feel more rewarding by offering something new to the player. To fill out the vast space in my own level, I should add groups of collectable resources, enemies that offer some rewarded challenge and structures across the middle of the map to avoid roaming being too simplistic.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus combines survival elements with the RPG traits Pokémon has always had throughout. This fresh take on the formula allowed me to understand how the mechanics could be combined. I chose to look into the Icelands area since the level design could inspire me in the production of my own glacial level. This was helpful since if I had looked into another area like the Coastlands, it may have given me the wrong message since the layout is designed to fit the environment and mechanics. Even though the game has simplistic textures, the game was still very well-received due to the number of things to find and learn about the game's storytelling. I believe giving the player plenty of things to do will be key to achieving a similar effect, so achievers have something to aim towards. This could end up being major inspiration for my level, as I hope to take the key concept and twist it to design something original.
Action role-playing sandbox Dragon Quest Builders 2 contains plenty of features that are of interest. Containing the aspects of a survival game with a focus on construction, it will be useful to see how the game manages environment, mechanics, and information.
Snow environments aim to convey the atmosphere of a war-torn land. To break up this, some areas include vast snow plains and temperate meadows. Example landscapes like these would make an effective early exposure to the snow environment.
More hostile environments include poison swamps and battlefields. These unique takes on snow environments help Moonbrooke feel unique from other competing game environments by combining aspects that are rarely paired together. This makes sense for a fantasy space, but for a more realistic presentation of icy biomes, I can adapt this and arrange some unique biomes to balance luring players to important areas or keep them away from collectables by making them harder to reach.
Main story areas are always the same layout throughout playthroughs, but Explorer's Shores are randomly generated islands that allow you to find some unique items and infinite supplies or resources.
The textured mini-map gives the player a greater sense of their environment. Targeting objectives and side-quests on the map is useful so the player doesn't get lost while also being able to go off on their own.
One of the weakest areas (according to most players) is the combat. While simple enough for players to understand, the lack of dodge, block, or parry can slow the pace of battle and make it feel more like how fast you can kill enemies by rapidly hitting the attack button.
Allies can accompany you across the map, with a limit of 3. This helps balance the game to make the player useful and not overcrowd combat. Some allies have unique abilities that make them more valuable.
Chests are hidden across the map, providing loot or rare items to help the player collect resources. By not showing them on the mini-map, players are more excited to find them for themselves. This works best for collectables, as if the main quests were hidden, players could end up feeling lost.
The crafting system, while like Minecraft, uses a block-based grid; most pieces don't use cube-based topology. Each biome offers enough resources to make each area distinct, including resources unique to certain environments, to give players incentive to return even if they have found all the collectables.
Most negative reviews either talk about bugs, co-op issues or pacing. since our game will be single player, one fix to this is to make the tutorial a section of a level to make players feel like they are still engaging with the world. Once this section has finished, don't overwhelm the player with information and leave them to experiment with the tools at their disposal.
Building mechanics help keep the game intriguing. In our instance, we have more of a focus on gathering resources and combat, so I must structure the level around using those aspects to make an engaging area for players to explore and make use of the main mechanics. From this, I took away how the building helps the game to feel relaxing, and I can use this by including some empty space large enough to give players freedom, but small enough so that the player can go through the area normally without wanting to build. This will help players establish good spots to build on my level.
Building mechanics help keep the game intriguing. In our instance, we have more of a focus on gathering resources and combat, so I must structure the level around using those aspects to make an engaging area for players to explore and make use of the main mechanics. IGN's review of Dragon Quest Builders 2 is mostly positive from a level design point of view. They mention each area having "a unique look, personality, and backstory", and while the game gives you tasks to do, you can complete them your way. The reviewer also mentioned the combat being weak. While this could be an intentional choice to focus on the player being a builder, having these building options limits how many combat options could be introduced, sacrificing some common features like blocking or dodging. Combat takes a more important place in our game, so it's vital to include more options than attacking to liven up this mechanic.
Dragon Quest Builders was great to look at for the pre-built levels. Since they use pre-determined structures, the level designers for the game chose those structures specifically for that point in the game. Despite the game being linear in progression, the player can still go around the map as they like, but they should be expected to encounter threats they're not ready for. I aim to have a structure where if players want to complete what is required quickly, they can go for the mini-boss straight away due to the placement in the level, this means since the player has already gone through one level without fighting any bosses, they have a chance to test their skills differently with a tough one on one. However, if the player lacks confidence, smaller challenges are scattered around the map so that players can develop resources until they're finally strong enough to overcome the threats.
New Horizons is the latest instalment in the Animal Crossing franchise. Its use of environment and style will be useful to look into. The low levels of danger in Animal Crossing make it one of the best games to wind down with. Animal Crossing also features a real-world time system to encourage players to find unique things to do during different times of day. More nocturnal fish could encourage players to play at night, but shops closing at 10 limit what players can do, since younger ages of the targeted demographic and psychographics aren't likely to play after this time.
Building snowfolk can give you recipes for some winter-themed items. Using snowflakes, you can build Ice Sculptures and rooms. Looking at these, an ice texture in our game would most likely have a stronger colour, fitting the stylised cel-shaded look more and matching the target audience by adding some detail.
The Winter season is one of the most unique seasons in Animal Crossing. Environmental effects like duller skies and falling snow solidify the cosy atmosphere that Animal Crossing embodies. Setting the right atmosphere will be key for our own game, as snow environments can be perceived as very welcoming or harsh climates.
Having each set of islands functioning as a level, using the vaulting pole and ladder to access new areas. This helps players explore the island in stages and have access to new natural resources after a few in-game days of progress.
To restrict areas of the island, players encounter rivers and cliffs, they can't cross. By completing the game's early objectives, recipes for vaulting poles and ladders can be earned to acquire new resources. These items don't break for the player's convenience. Having each set of islands functioning as a level, using the vaulting pole and ladder to access new areas. This helps players explore the island in stages and have access to new natural resources after a few in-game days of progress.
The only real harm that is inflicted on players is a wasp sting when shaking trees or running into scorpions or tarantulas at night. If the player is attacked by wasps, they don't get sent back home; they receive a wound on their eye, but a second sting will cause them to faint. Getting an achievement for fainting makes the damage seem more worth it. Players can carry nets to defend themselves, catching the bugs before they can faint the player. These bugs are usually rare, to avoid this being a constant worry.
The crafting system is easily readable by using icons and extra facts like how large the object is or how many are in your storage. All this information is composed in a way that still makes all of it easy to read by showing the key information in more visible colours.
While at first my group and I considered Animal Crossing as a main source of inspiration, its removal of basic survival aspects due to it being enjoyable for younger audiences who don't prefer challenge left it less useful, while I could look at the items and art style for references, my mental visual of the art style aligned better with that of The Last Campfire. Some aspects could be applied to our own game, however, including the roadblock factors. In an example, the rivers of the island can't be crossed until the player has crafted a vaulting pole, so in a similar way, the player may be teased with rocks containing precious ore so that once they have a pickaxe strong enough to break it, they can acquire new tools that were previously inaccessible.
The Survivalists is another survival sandbox set in a randomly generated tropical landscape. I thought this game might be interesting to research as it presents a lot of survival game traits that could prove useful to look into. As you collect resources, you can build rafts to other islands, unlocking more materials to further your goals of escape. These could be bombs to open up caves or shovels to dig up sand on beaches, required for glass. This allows the level to open up as some elements of generation are the same between seeds.
Islands contain orc villages that have plenty of loot to use or sell. A smaller inventory can mean multiple trips through the area, risking the enemy encounters more than once. I can use this to my advantage by positioning my enemies around areas of interest and collectable items. Islands contain orc villages that have plenty of loot to use or sell. Each section on the map has its own difficulty rating out of 5. This helps steer players in the right direction while also offering the possibility of challenging themselves with enemies that are much stronger than they are. To make the journey worthwhile, new resources and tools are available.
The monkeys are unique to the Survivalists, you can teach them to complete tasks for you, speeding up crafting times, organising chests and helping in combat. This isn't free, however; the player has to first teach these mechanics.
The blueprint system is a good way to balance progression. You learn how to assemble better items by crafting inferior versions. This is useful to prevent players from being too strong and the game from being too easy, or the jump in recipes from being too unrealistic.
Dungeons can be found across islands which have loot inside, accelerating the process of crafting by storing weapons or rare materials rather than having to go and find the pieces necessary to craft them. ,
One source online states the game's individual mechanics help take away problems that many survival games suffer from, resulting in an innovative strategy to counter the typical issues of the genre. This could be applicable in my case, where I can look at the biggest problems with open levels and try to fix them.
Credited for its diversity in what to do, The Survivalists, the choice in pacing allows for you to play the game your way and not have to worry about escaping right away, enemies raiding your base every blood moon helps refresh the environment to create a loop. The player can be content in surviving or dare to explore further, allowing a range of people to play at different paces.
In The Survivalists, the dungeons feel exciting and ominous, but after entering, the experience is short-lived. While the other review talks of little reason to explore, I would argue that exploration being there for those that want it, rather than mandatory, makes it more intriguing to a wider audience. Instead of large structures, I would opt for sets of smaller structures clustered together, making the loot and enemies scattered, meaning the player can get all of it, or get as much as they feel like before leaving.
The Survivalists took a new take on the concept, where the main goal was to escape from the islands while surviving in the meantime. The survivalists had more focus on building and crafting, with occasional combat rewarded with loot or enemies raiding your base to make the world feel more connected. One key element was the building, as the simple grid gave players enough freedom to build their own base due to the options at their disposal. To expand on this, we intend to use multilevel bases to give players more freedom on how their base looks.
Overall, this section of research was the most impactful so far in the project. While the form was useful in practising primary research methods, and looking into the target audience can be vital to catering to a market, seeing how everything I am going to research can be put together to create a consistent game will be useful, as it has now inspired me to look into each of the following research sectors with some background expectations and starters to lead me in the right direction. This will allow me to get through this section quickly, as I can use what I analysed this week to progress onto the next.
The primary job of the week is to complete all of the remaining research. After this, I will add some more objectives to the to-do section. By not adding everything on the time planner all at once, it's harder for me to get overwhelmed, so splitting up when I add each section of the project onto Trello helps split the project into manageable chunks. The research of this week will cover modelling mood boards, level design theory and traditions, typography, and how it can play a large part in shaping language. These will each have the aim of helping me to understand my role further for the project, the level design theory being the most helpful. This was because this role will act as my main role, being the thing I would like the most feedback for, since after my time at college, I have taken the most enjoyment out of level design and want to pursue it as a career. I believe I have developed a broad level of understanding regarding the theory that I already knew, along with some new terms that will help me with this project but also for the rest of my career.
The narrative can impact the game's performance and affect the players' final thoughts. Narrative isn't always necessary, but it can help get players to write a review or recommend the game, encouraging more players to try the game for themselves. Games can evoke a range of emotions, such as excitement, suspense, or empathy in the player, helping shape the overall player experience. This design type mostly appeals to socialisers because that group is more interested in the interaction between characters and themselves. Items can also contain narrative; having items bear scratches or unpolished features indicates they have been used and helps to tell a story with that item. This is more applicable to realistic games rather than more stylised examples.
Fragmented narrative in the Legend of Zelda allows players to complete areas in an order they prefer. Sheikah Towers help update the Sheikah Slate so that the player gains access to more areas on the map. Starting small helps to avoid overwhelming players and gives them a manageable space to work with, like the Great Plateau. Interactable objects, such as movable boulders, make the environment feel more alive and allow players to defeat enemies in more satisfying ways than a sword. Cold and hot climates make Mount Hylia and the Gerudo Desert harder to navigate, meaning players should prepare by equipping different clothes, teaching the player inventory management. This makes the biomes meaningful, as sometimes no changes in biome-dependent threats can make the world more bland.
Different quest lines with different outcomes help add to the immersion since the player feels they have more input. The open world and stories having a knock-on effect make the player feel more involved. In some cases, linear outcomes make the player feel as though they're just following a story rather than writing it by choosing their endings.
In Jedi Fallen Order, characters talking to each other in the background gives the game more depth, as not everything revolves around the player. By making it so the player doesn't have to interact with everything to get an answer, the world feels less revolved around the player, so the world seems more realistic. Throughout the game, the player experiences flashback cutscenes to teach the player new mechanics, with a final one covering a traumatic time in the protagonist's life. This can help the player relate to the protagonist as they understand what they have gone through to get where they are now.
Box Modelling is the typical modelling process. Starting with a primitive shape that fits your imagined shape, perform extrusions and add edge loops to give you more control. From this step, the form can be refined. Some models require different primitive shapes, yet the same levels of detail to ensure consistency across the models. This method is good for beginners, which will be helpful for me to gain more experience in Maya, but sometimes more detailed models need to utilise other methods. This disadvantage won't hinder me, as the style of our game requires less detailed models.
NURBS require forming a Bezier curve, reshaping the initial form to the degree that you want. From here, you can form a model based on the curve you've adjusted, which can help build up complex models quickly. However, this means that while easy to adjust and better for hard-surface design, they are less suitable in game engines than traditional poly-modelling.
Subdiv Modelling for achieving more complex shapes from simpler topology. This helps smooth out your model by starting with primitive shapes, but making use of bevelling to hide visible polygons. The smoother results are better for organic shapes, but shouldn't rely on this method exclusively, as you should aim for as many divisions as necessary for the model to be optimised.
Using previous units, I could refresh myself on the key stages of modelling, which will be useful to revise for the opening of my production. UV Mapping is the process of translating a 3D model into a 2D image, to translate colour, texture, and patterns across the model. Some important things that make a good UV include neat grids to avoid any stretching of the textures, and unfolded grids to avoid any overlapping (more commonly used in texture painting, which is a method I will not be using)
Making this quick mood board was simple enough to be productive, allowing me to gather ideas on textures to be referenced later in the production process. I edited the GDD and created a list of all my models sorted into one place, so that I could see exactly what I had to do during my modelling segment. This was helpful as it meant I could analyse and appropriately decide the order in which I would tackle these. If I had any problems with one specific model, I could simply move on to the next and return to it later.
With the mood board itself, I decided not to spend too much time concerning myself with this section of research and established that it was more important to look into more prominent roles in my production. Although I didn't spend that much time on mood boards, I did what I believed to be the most helpful to me since I would be modelling alongside Reece and Andrew already had a good amount of experience, so we could help each other where we needed to. Like I mentioned in my proposal, the modelling unit from my time at college will be beneficial in a lot of ways as it set the foundation for what I know going into the project.
While I didn't spend much time researching modelling, I believed this was in the best interest of staying on track with my time plan. Since I want to focus on level design during this project, I would like to spend more of this week looking into the logistics of level design rather than spending too much time on modelling, then not having enough time for level design, the more important role in my eyes. Nevertheless, I found this section useful to note down what I have learned from previous units to plan for my modelling phase, along with creating the mood boards for the texturing phase. Each fraction of research under this segment was helpful, and by modelling with Reece during this project, we can help each other and give feedback on each other's models. With Andrew having some modelling experience, we can receive constructive peer advice and use that to our advantage. For this reason, I felt that it wasn't compulsory to continue with this aspect of research any longer.
A summary of breadcrumbing and its application in games by Tim Does Level Design. This helped me to understand the core fundamentals of the practice and how to apply it on a level, using specific assets to guide players down paths and how this can make the level seem more thought out and improve your designed space without changing the main shape. Simply adding smaller pieces that stand out to a player will make them more engaged and reduce the possibility of them getting lost.
Level design is more than placing objects in an area; each component of a given level should help towards environmental aesthetic, signposting or mechanics. A level designer is essentially the player's guide, but the level has to be subtle enough so that the player feels like they are exploring rather than they are following a laid-out trail. Psychology plays a large role in level design as players can often be unpredictable, so a level designer should expect various outcomes and develop countermeasures to those that will affect engagement negatively.
One theory method for 2D and 3D spaces is breadcrumbing, essentially a visual trail of elements guiding the player to a certain action. For example, in a platformer, coins may be positioned in a specific arc to tell the player they need to give the next jump a certain amount of power, or coins may be strung in a line to guide them down one of two paths. This can have multiple effects, where the player will follow the trail and end up where the developers want them to be, or head down a different path and find hidden collectables, rewarding the player for taking the less obvious route. Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze includes many levels where players follow lines of bananas to guide them away from danger. In areas where the threat is revealed on screen, a different set of psychology is applied where the breadcrumbs are leading the player into danger, however, the threat is present on screen to not unfairly take a heart off a player for following the trail. Perhaps the bananas are placed over fragile ground or spikes to deter beginners.
Trails of collectables can also help signal to the player that they haven't been down this path yet, otherwise, they would've collected the pick-ups already. Enemies also serve as powerful "breadcrumbs" since they are less likely to be ignored. For example, in Mario 64's Hazy Maze Cave, there's an enemy on the right side that's easy to kill, so the player may defeat this enemy and continue moving right, where most of the stars are faster to collect if the player takes this path. Some players may instead want to head left, which is usually a fast route around the cave but has more dangerous obstacles than the rooms on the right, functioning as a built-in difficulty setting.
Environmental pieces also work as breadcrumbs. Looking back at Hazy Maze Cave, the ground to the right looks more visible than the left path, and with the enemy placed there, it is more likely to appeal to the player than the left route. Moreover, because of the way the right route turns, more wall lights are visible, acting as a guide due to how they contrast with the walls. In The Last of Us, the light is used to draw in players and get them to look for a way up to it. Along the way, yellow hues help guide the player to key points like the banners on the wall, which the player may look across and then notice the light. The principle of breadcrumbing applies to virtually any game, no matter the audience, as it can help players observe features of a level without even realising it has caused them to go on the right path. To make this applicable to my level, I should take note of the open level examples in particular and use signposts to get the player to go in a certain direction, use landmarks to make the level more recognisable and scatter resources to lead players to enemies or points of interest.
Level beats are when the pace of a level has to be catered to any player by scaling the difficulty appropriately. For example, the early stages of a level may introduce a core mechanic which tells players that they should expect to see this later on in more complex arrangements. This is done excellently on Jedha in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. The player scales up a linear area with some basic platforming moves, with no danger, just a steep sand slope that will force the player to slip down to the beginning. This ensures the player is capable enough to string basic jumps together without making mistakes. Then, the player is presented with the Monastery Walls, a semi-open area with a few paths, one directly in front of the player and paths on each side for collectables. With the main aim to stay off the sand because of a Skriton, an invulnerable threat, the player can use raised blocks of stone to stay out of the Skriton's reach. Later in the level, the player has to climb a pillar when another Skriton is still invulnerable, trying to hit the player down as a reminder of the threat it poses. Later, the player is confronted with an open chamber where the Skriton appears, and the anticipation builds up to a boss fight.
Apart from these major level points, each segment is broken up with lighter enemies to build up to the challenge, this being the core idea of level beats themselves, to design a level where the upscale in difficulty is gradual. During this part of the game, you encounter Merrin, who helps you defeat the Skriton when you finally get to a point where you can damage it. By teasing the Skriton in lighter challenges, players can anticipate a tough boss fight that delivers a spike or beat in the level, where the difficulty increases. The most effective beats take what the player has learned and combine elements. In this instance, the player has teamed up with Merrin to defeat hordes of Imperial soldiers, and now the player must apply that skill to a greater threat. This sets up the player for later points where they may have to fight a Skriton without Merrin, making it more challenging.
Since this portion of Jedha is very linear, it is very easy to make sure when each beat occurs in each part of the level, but for open levels, this is harder to control as players may not visit areas in the order you intend. Instead, the developer has to communicate when an area is more challenging through the atmosphere so players can develop an idea of whether they are out of their depth and should come back when they are more prepared. To do this, I'll need to place some hordes of enemies around the map, with plenty of breathing room so the player isn't constantly in danger. These fights should be fairly simple, and the plentiful gaps between fights should make the section easy to get through. This can then build up to small points of interest, like areas with loot and slightly larger enemy groups. Once the player is confident they can succeed during these battles, they can begin approaching the large settlement I'll place in the middle of the map and take on a strong mini-boss, being the highest beat to overcome so far. If the player can win, they will be rewarded with a powerful weapon, which makes another boss fight hidden on the far side of the map much easier, making the work the player has to do worth their time. By having this more threatening boss more secluded, players are less likely to run into it by accident, but if they want a challenge, they could go hunting for it to prove their skills.
In the layout portion of level design, there are many aspects a designer should consider. When building a 3D space, it is especially important to note circulation and verticality. Circulation typically comes in two forms: Diegetic, which is how the level feels in the space, key with storytelling and realistic styles and Formal, which covers combat design, map balancing and more used in multi-player combat games. Since circulation is more applicable to different genres, it won't benefit me as much as if I were designing a shooter or item-finding map. Verticality is important to make the level more dynamic rather than empty space. To better fill out open spaces, simple changes like dips and hills can give the level more life, with the inclusion of structures to make the player more engaged with the environment. In certain instances, there can be too much verticality, like in FPS maps, since players can move too far down too quickly, and it will take too long to get back up. While I want to include a little verticality, with higher up hills for players to avoid roaming hordes of enemies, since they were a high-ranking option on my form. I could also include verticality by using some minor platforming challenges to reward with collectables.
A critical path helps designers understand the main pacing. Typically, the standard would be to draw a layout and mark the start and end, mark any major level beats, and then draw the level's route across. Drawing a path helps determine the order the events should take place to make the level as engaging as possible. The critical path is the most obvious way through the level to the player, so in an open environment, it is important to figure out which side of the map players are drawn to. Looking at this path, it becomes easier to see whether parts of the level are necessary and if optional areas are too far out of the way to be relevant. These paths are helpful to map out levels and cut out any unnecessary pieces if it benefits the production of the level.
To summarise, designing an ideal player route is a good way of testing against a playtesting phase, where you can see if your testers go where you want them to. Using this layout method to plan, you can decide which optional areas should remain and which should be cut. Prioritising this path can result in unnatural spaces, as a fast route may not always correlate with real-world design processes. While not always a bad thing, this shouldn't be too applicable to my level, as I don't intend to include many indoor spaces that would be affected by this potential drawback.
I looked at these maps to assess how a main route is used to divide optional areas. This can help designers to place hidden objects better, where players are less likely to find them. I can use this to assign different areas of my level to different types of rewards from chests, resources, and trades by making a critical path of my own level for planning.
From another portfolio looked at earlier within the project, a developer highlights the level design stages and tropes. In this example, a stealth-oriented level where players can either sneak around foes or attempt to overpower them. Having a safe spot higher up in the beginning allows player to plan their route without going in blind. The best way to go about this is to create a lower plane with a chest somewhere in the middle, meaning wherever the player comes from, it is the same amount of distance to travel to. By having safe spots where you can't be detected and enemies patrolling around, players can play the situation out in two ways.
This features some simple logic for a collectable. Having less hidden collectables can work as a reminder to players that they are supposed to be looking for them, and not all of them will be as open as this one. This can be achieved with survival pieces or chests containing tools in our game.
Levels and scenes in the game design portfolio show the use of grey boxing to structure the levels' smaller details, then replaced later with formed models and textures. Grey boxing will be used since it's such a beneficial standard of level design, however, graphic stylisation will help save time making models and textures. Levels can vary in design form based on the genre. With survival, there can be a mix of open and linear areas which share different distributions of content and are designed differently to fit the space the developers give themselves to work with.
Stealth levels are usually more open so that the player has more options. Pieces of cover or half cover will be available to avoid being spotted, along with running sections where they have to evade detection for a long time without cover. Combat-focused levels are usually more linear as they guide the player towards the enemies, forcing detection. enemies are usually split into small and weak types that appear in groups and single larger enemies that take more hits and do more damage.
One source I found discusses how Nintendo handled problems they encountered during Breath of the Wild's playtesting phase. By looking into these, I can avoid the same problems and make my open level better to explore. This was helpful to me since when I get to designing the level, I can distribute points of interest similarly so that they stand out and draw the player into rewards.
When Nintendo were designing Breath of the Wild, they needed to find a way to have players head towards the Sheikah Towers without setting a clear path for the player, encouraging them to explore while also avoiding getting lost. This could be similar to Scrapper Settlements in my level, which will be the main points of interest for the player. Since they contain a lot of loot but have a high risk factor due to all the enemies, I can include areas where items can be collected and areas where items can be traded, allowing the player to build up their items in preparation for a Settlement raid. Nintendo fixed the problem by having points of interest along the path to each tower, so they could spot one location, head over to it, and another would be visible in the distance, making that the next goal. After a few cycles, this would lead them to the Sheikah Tower.
Priorities can change from player to player. Depending on the situation, players may attempt to seek out specific locations. To enforce this angle of level design, I will need to make each of my own structures and areas contain unique materials to give players more motive to return. Using these methods, players naturally followed this structure to some extent while still feeling free to do what they wanted. Using a different take on this structure in my level design, I could place one or two settlements early on but insinuate the area is far above the player's skill level, meaning they could go look for some other area and come back later once they think they're ready or risk losing what they have on them for an easier time through the progression of the game.
Some games aim to alter their route to make the game less linear. New Super Mario Bros. U fixes linearity by using secret exits. While the aim of the game is to get from point A to B, the route you can take differs depending on certain levels with one additional exit. Taking this more difficult or hidden route can allow the player to skip entire areas.
Mario Bros. Wonder (a later Mario Bros. title) removes skipping worlds using secret exits and trades them for bonus Wonder Seeds to help player progress. Unlike New Super Mario Bros. U, every world must be beaten to clear the game. After the first 3 worlds, the player can do the last 3 in any order they like, but worlds 5 and 6 cost more Wonder Seeds to open than 4, giving the player some direction that they can follow, but don't have to. In conclusion, levels are still linear, but more open worlds help the player be less restricted in following a designated path.
Worlds in Mario Bros. Wonder feature larger open areas with no paths, meaning the player can move in any direction and players can choose which level they like. This was partially present in New Super Mario Bros. U, where players occasionally got a choice between 2 or 3 levels; however having Wonder Seeds required to progress and 2-3 being found per level, players have more incentive to seek levels out and play them to completion.
If I include a linear segment in my own game, I should feature a second exit that perhaps opens up a path leading to some loot, with more obvious paths leading players into other areas. This isn't likely, however, since it could leave the player feeling restricted at the beginning, and if it appears in a later section, it may be difficult to provide the player with a reason to head down a linear route when there is more open area to explore. One issue with linear areas is the building mechanic, with the intention of including this, the player is essentially prohibited from using it since they have nowhere to go with it without the proper room to utilise it.
Across plenty of games, snow environments are featured as later game areas. This can be for numerous reasons, like more challenging mechanics like ice physics or blizzards that weaken the player over time. For this reason, of the two areas we make as a team, the snow level I make will be the second level.
The Arid Flats from Jedi Survivor are some of the most open spots in the game, while its linear parts use shortcuts for convenience, open areas have lots of treasures that many players will miss on their first look, enemies like Scout Troopers and AT-STs patrol the desert to fit in with the narrative. I can do something similar with Scrappers as if they are hunting for food or searching for resources.
Throughout the entire process of researching Level Design, I helped revisit areas before making my level so that I could apply all the necessary theories I've learned where appropriate. From leading the player around a 3D space to building structures to guiding players using methods like breadcrumbing and signposting, I can craft a well-put-together level that aims to please as many different players of survival games as possible. To do this, I have learnt to always think about every mechanic and how it can be placed in the level in some way to teach or reward. Since my level is second, a lot of Reece's responsibility is to teach the players and develop a core loop where I will take the role of adapting this loop and testing what players have learned by including challenging boss fights and enemy camps for players to explore. The most helpful area for me was looking into theory, as this helped build on what I already knew about level design by conducting secondary research on credible sources alongside playing games for myself so I could analyse the use of this across games that make the most of a 3D space.
Typography is important to evoke emotion and communicate different feelings. Font shaping and colour language can all add to influence what the player is feeling. Fonts can help sell the seriousness of the game to targeted audiences. More abstract styles of fonts are more likely to appeal to younger audiences than simple, more formal fonts in 12s, 16s, and 18-rated games.
To go with Minecraft's simplicity, pixels are used to symbolise a font, fitting in with the block-based aesthetic of the surroundings. With the creation of the Main menu, I need something fitting of the concept to convey the advanced technology behind the scenes as opposed to reflecting the primitive resources players are limited to.
Younger audience-targeted titles may feature different colours or highly stylised motifs. One example being Super Mario 3D World, where the "O" in World has a paw print and a cat tail, alluding to the main new power-up in the game: the Super Bell, which transforms the player into a cat. Using clear logic and visual styles can make it clearer to younger players what they should expect before purchasing.
Games for older audiences have much simpler text, which presents the more serious stakes in the game. Both can use font stylisation but games for 16+ tend to do it more subtly, like in Halo Infinite, with some slight alterations to the letters. Kerning is the spacing between letters, which can be essential to display to the reader to make fonts readable, so the player doesn't run into any issues with the games. Texts that may have been written in the game world can be more joined together as it might not have to be perfectly readable however any key text or UI the player needs clarification on that symbolism can't provide has to have enough of a gap where the information is legible, straying from cursive fonts for the best translation of information.
Colour palettes are also important as they can set the mood for your game. Since more vibrant colours are used in games designed for younger audiences, I need to consider both my target audience and my chosen environment to make the level as appealing as possible. Knowing this, I should avoid using stronger contrasting colours like red and yellow as warmer colours may affect the ambience I intend my level to have too strongly. Instead, I should use cooler colours associated with polar environments like white and blue, using this to create an expansive landscape. I could use asset colourations to help objects stand out, as wooden items will contrast well with my environment.
An example of only showing necessary information is in Minecraft. All the information the player needs is in one place in the middle of the screen, where the player will mostly be focused on. If the player wants to see their full inventory, they can access it through a button, since all the items the player could have are on the screen would be hard to comprehend and leave little room for players to focus on building or fighting when it matters. UI helps to display information in a manageable way. Some information will need to be displayed to the player at all times, and some is best displayed in a separate place to avoid cognitive overload. The bubbles indicate how long the player has left before they start to drown. If they were on when the player is outside of water, it would take up more space than it needs, and leave players wondering what it was for.
Since you can store up to 435 items at once, Dragon Quest Builders, like Minecraft, has its own menu. Due to the sheer quantity of available items, the game pauses while in this menu so the player can look over which materials they need without any pressure from an enemy ambush. The main inventory also separates player equipment that doesn't count towards the 435 available spaces. This is helpful as the player can easily see what weapons and armour they are wearing, so they can easily swap them for any stronger weapons they find.
Animal Crossing's radial menu helps players navigate through their most used tools. The player's phone is sorted into icons for quick access to some features though they can't craft any recipes, it's more useful than having to go back to a crafting workbench to remember the recipe.
Overlays in The Last Campfire a minimalistic, but use symbolism and spacing to make sure they don't distract the player from engaging in the environment. To add to this, certain overlays like the area progress only appear when you are at a campfire, and other information like chests collected appears only when the player is idle.
Jedi Survivor splits up all the information into separate icons that are different enough for players to tell the difference while being shown in a small space, and all using the same palette. Jedi Survivor splits up all the information into separate icons that are different enough for players to tell the difference while being shown in a small space, and all using the same palette. Minimaps or pop-up maps are useful to help the developers guide the player to where they want to go. Arrow symbols showing on the map which way the player is facing are a helpful method of helping them get to their next location. Not including a map can be an intentional choice to encourage the player to look for their destination themself, but comes at the risk of them running around aimlessly.
Shape language plays a massive part in level design, several games use specific textures as an indication that the player can do something here to progress. Jedi Fallen Order uses different coloured stripes or markings across walls to show that you can run onto them. This would normally be meaningless, but the player is taught this skill in an isolated area so they can associate the action with a specific surface. Since not all surfaces will be like this rock, they use different iterations of similar patterns to show what can be used as a platform.
Symbols and abbreviations help condense the purpose of a particular on-screen space. Symbolism in UI elements is crucial as the symbols need to be clear enough to demonstrate their purpose.
Reflecting on this section, I found that the shape language helped me notice patterns in not only UI but also throughout levels, the striped textures on surfaces indicating you can perform a wall run in Jedi Fallen Order, for example. The symbolism used helped me to familiarise myself with typical shapes associated with certain actions like crafting and fighting, two key components of our project. I also learned some key terminology, such as overlays and the benefits of game UI. This will help me avoid cognitive overload, where the player has too much to consider at once and will end up too chaotic to play.
Using peer feedback, I can get some insights into how I've formatted my research over the last two weeks. Since I was able to finish when I wanted, I had all the research available, meaning everything was able to be marked early by both peers and tutors, giving me a head start into production and pre-production. With the peer feedback, I aimed
[Response 1]
What can I do to make my research more engaging?
You have a lot of images which can add to the engagement, however, I think you may have too many that it becomes difficult to follow the flow of the writing between the images.
Do you think any particular section needs to be revisited? If so, what should I look into?
You could revisit the level design section and discuss more of the theory behind it.
Is it clear that the research links to each particular section?
It could be better to use Google Sites' text instead of Miro screenshots for the subheadings, as I was unaware that they were the sections.
My Reflection:
I found this response to be helpful as it provided a lot of suggestions that helped polish up my presentation. After reading this, I revisited my research and arranged the images to be more uniform, trying to keep the text to the right where possible to help readers view the supporting images to the left with the description on the right. With the Level Design section, I added the section about the design of level beats and how levels can help lead the player to points of interest. This made my research more optimised and easily visible to the reader.
[Response 2]
What can I do to make my research more engaging?
The inclusion of visual examples with your writing is good to keep the reader engaged. However, sometimes the layout where many pictures are at once makes it look scattered and difficult to follow. To make sure the information matches the image, perhaps adding bigger spaces between sections.
Do you think any particular section needs to be revisited? If so, what should I look into?
I believe you have covered every section well.
Is it clear that the research links to each particular section?
Perhaps add more headers in between so the reader knows when there is a slight shift in topic while staying under the same section of research.
My Reflection:
This response covers some important points that I had first overlooked. Headers covering each sub-topic would be useful not only for the reader but also for me to keep track of my own progress. Doing this would allow me to monitor whether I think a particular topic is lacking and could be explored in more depth, which could be a secondary focus of next week, while I cover my pre-production and plan out my level.
[Response 3]
What can I do to make my research more engaging?
I think it's got a good blend of information and also visual examples. :)
Do you think any particular section needs to be revisited? If so, what should I look into?
Not really, every section is very extensive and features a variety of examples relating back to the topic. I think it's very informative.
Is it clear that the research links to each particular section?
I'd maybe add subheadings for the sections within each category of research. I know they're generally categorised but at some points I was a bit confused about whether parts were connected or separate.
My Reflection:
This feedback was helpful to know that this person believes I have covered my research in sufficient detail. Like with Response 2, this person also suggests subheadings to cut up the research. Like I said in my last reflection, this is beneficial for both the reader and me, so I can keep track of each area. Since my research is essentially finished, I can add any final tweaks before moving on to my pre-production.
[Response 4]
What can I do to make my research more engaging?
Make it so that the text and images are related in the same format.
Do you think any particular section needs to be revisited? If so, what should I look into?
Not that I can see, you seem to have covered every basis within your research.
Is it clear that the research links to each particular section?
Yes, because of the header, but the images and text are hard to distinguish.
Reflection:
With this final response, the information I received was already present in other responses. While this response wasn't as helpful, it still raised the same points as the other responses; the only reason it didn't change anything was due to those fixes already being raised with more specifics.
Overall Reflection:
I received some feedback on adding in some more sub-headings and the balance between visual and text-based messaging. This was constructive as it's a fix I can easily apply to make my work much more presentable. The common message was the distribution of image and text, formatting this differently by moving any bodies of text over to the right with the image on the left made the portfolio more readable, as it helped establish a clear structure, whereas before, I placed the text wherever I thought it looked better. Gathering this feedback allowed me to realise that I should bear a format in mind to make the flow of the information more cohesive.
The visual images, however, are displayed so that the writing is distributed where I can fit it, so to cater to response 2, I could try, but the writing is all on one side, where I can, so that it's the easiest to follow. This was helpful as without this change, my research felt more cluttered and didn't make the best use of the website space- adding titles helped break up the research and give the reader some background context to give them an idea of what they're about to read.