Laboratory 5
Summary: A Fast-paced Action Platformer with an Emphasis on Speedrunning and score. This was my first Solo Project. The Only thing I didn’t work on was the art assets.
Role: Level Designer/System Designer/Programmer
Project: Classwork
Team: Solo Dev
Development time: May 2021-June 2021
Made Using: Unity
This was my first Solo Project! It was also my first foray into Unity Development.
Lesson Learned:
Movement systems: When creating a movement system, freedom and fluidity are the most important feelings! This means you must pay close attention not only to the recovery time between actions but also to how they animate and sound!
Importance of Music: Music can dramatically help with the pacing and emotion of a level, as well as the sounds that play inside your level.
Importance of Tutorialization: Tutorialization is super important! However, the best tutorial levels are the ones that only need to tell you the basics before letting you try things yourself!
Re-Scoping: Sometimes a level or project is too ambitious to complete in a given amount of time; it’s important to know which features you can cut and which to prioritize.
Creating Level 1
This was the first tutorial I ever created; I intentionally kept it to a small section of the first level so the player could get straight to the action.
I also included a few extra secrets so that returning players could get something out of repeating the tutorial.
This is an expanded photo of one of the game's secret side paths.
This takes you from the tutorial directly to one of the later segments of the level.
This philosophy of rewarding exploration is prevalent in most of my work.
This is the final area of level 1, meant to be a big, cool climax of what you’ve learned so far, requiring all the skills learned as well as testing the player on one of the main mechanics, wall jump pacing.
The wall jump in the game, ironically, does not like it when you jump while already in contact with a wall, so a small detail I included is a pebble at every wall-jumpable corner.
This pebble actually contains a collider that forces the player to jump at an angle, allowing them to wall jump automatically.
A Complete Look at Level. This level arguably had the best overall production values, as I would constantly be playtesting the level to ensure every jump and every dash felt just right to land.
When presenting this level to my professor, Boyan Radakovich, he said it was one of the best tutorial levels he had played in a long time!
Creating Level 2
The Beginning of Level 2. Here I tutorialize the first unique hazard in the game, one-way walls.
I found that one-way walls were a quick and easy way to create interesting hazards.
The walls are also color-coded so the player knows which direction each wall faces by its color alone.
This is where I tutorialize the second hazard: bouncy floors, the pink blocks. The intent is to force the player to make a leap of faith and then discover the new element.
In hindsight, I could have reduced the hole's depth and marked it more clearly so players aren’t nervous about making that jump, especially since the player is timed.
The main theme of this level is this bouncy pit, which connects to all of the major areas.
In concept, the idea is that the player bounces between areas as they attempt to smash the targets; unfortunately, in execution, this didn’t work as intended.
Players would either be confused about where to go or skip the bouncy floor altogether with air dashes. This was a lesson I would carry with me into future projects.
This is an example of level theming. Level 2 was predominantly about bouncy pads, so I made several different set pieces centered on them.
Two that benefited from their use in different ways, showing players how bouncy pads can help and how they can hinder.
The hallway at the bottom is meant to be a showcase of hindering as the bouncy pads make the player hit the roof, which makes them lose time.
This is an example of a more puzzle-based challenge in the game.
The player must navigate this room full of one-way walls and floors.
This was a way to test them on this mechanic and prepare them for level 3, which has a stronger focus on it.
The full screenshot of Level 2, which is one of my weaker levels, as most of it can be skipped with a good use of air dashing.
The pathing and pacing are overall weak, leaving me feeling more confused than anything else.
Creating Level 3
This is one of the challenges from level 3. I begin experimenting with stronger punishments, as the final level is meant to be a review of all the skills the player has learned.
This here is a later segment of Level 3, and the first time I ever used the idea of split paths.
Both paths provide their own unique challenge. The right challenges the players' wall-climbing ability, while the other tests their knowledge of how the bouncy floor functions.
This was meant to create a greater sense of freedom in your path, as this level is distinctly much more linear than its predecessors.
A Full look at level 3. This is the second-best level in the game, as while it’s more linear, the challenges feel a lot more exciting.
However, the Achilles heel of this level is the color choice.
The sheer amount of dark blue grey in the level, which determines both the floor and the walls, makes it difficult to gauge where the player needs to go. This is where I learned that color theory in levels is important!