Knighty Night

4/25/19

Sprint 5/6

Overview of the final iteration of Cathedral level 1

During sprints 5 and 6 I was given a total of 7 tasks that mainly revolved around completing cathedral level 1. I was also responsible for making changes to the graveyard level based on playtest feedback. The cathedral level is a culmination of the various mechanics in the game up until this point. It serves as a final test for the player and will lead to the final boss of the game. The cathedral also introduces a new type of enemy, the shooting Ghlost.

 Entry of Cathedral level 1

The cathedral level that I created is one of the longest in the whole game. I wanted it to feel like a progression through a large Gothic style cathedral so I created the layout to be very sprawling and open. This is also the first level in which we compound combat and puzzle mechanics in the same room. I created several rooms that add traps and levers to color and swarm rooms to create a more hectic and challenging experience for the player.

Checkpoint and heal room

The final thing I was tasked with for this sprint was going back to some of the first levels that were created and populating them with props in order to make them feel cohesive with the newer levels. We are lucky enough to have an awesome modeling department who works at an incredible pace. They were able to create some new assets for the older levels which gave us more props to work with that fit the theme of the levels. 

Dungeon with new assets placed

Overall I am really happy with where the game is. For our final sprint I will be focused primarily on polish and creating some simple levels for mini games that will be hidden throughout the game.

New dungeon props

4/4/19

Sprint 3/4

Final layout of Graveyard Level 1

For sprints 3 and 4 I was tasked with completing the graveyard level 1 and creating the layout for the cathedral level 1. I took the initial design that I had created for level 1 of the graveyard and added in the appropriate props in order to make the level feel inhabited and a part of the world of Knighty Night. I was given a total of 8 tasks to complete across the 2 sprints. most of which revolved around populating the level with props and playtesting the level and adjusting it according to both internal and external feedback.

Prop population of the level

One issue that we ran into during testing was the problem with players not understanding how the chase rooms worked and how they were designed. We ended up reworking the mechanic slightly so that we could provide players with feedback about the correct path that needed to be followed in order to move through the chase area effectively. We implemented a method that would cause the color of the ghlosts to change in accordance to the lights that were placed along a given path. This was a way for the player to understand the correlation between the color of the ghlost and the correct path that they needed to follow. This was a great way for us to guide the player into making quick decisions without blatant signage that explicitly stated " GO THIS WAY".

Alpha pass layout for the Cathedral level 1

At the tail end of sprint 4 I was able to complete a layout for the cathedral level 1. The cathedral area will be a culmination of all the mechanics, traps, and enemies that the player has seen in the game up to this point. Because of this the level will be quite a bit larger than previous levels and the difficulty will also reflect this finale type of area. The new mechanic that will be introduced is a ghlost that will spawn into the room and shoot projectiles at the player, from a set distance, that the player will then have to deflect back at the ghlost in order to kill them. I am very excited to get to design spaces around this new mechanic and I look forward to what the next sprint will have in store.

3/5/19

Sprint 2

For the duration of sprint 2 I was assigned a total of 5 tasks. I completed all of the tasks within the 2 week sprint time frame. My tasks revolved around the creation of a new Graveyard level which introduces a new mechanic to players. 

Graveyard Level 1 Initial Design

The new mechanic that players will experience in this level is a chase mechanic. The player will enter a room and a set amount of Ghlost's will spawn that are immune. The player must navigate a small labyrinth and find the correct path in order to escape the Ghlost's chasing them and progress through the level. I designed the level around this mechanic which allowed me to create a level that causes the player to make decisions quickly. 

Graveyard Level 1 Rework

After creating the layout for the level I had to implement the mechanics and spacial constraints for the level. I was able to create spaces for the player to enjoy as well as test their skills from the previous levels. I designed two areas within my level to introduce the new chase mechanic to the player. The first area is simple and is a way for the player to become familiar with the chase mechanic. The second area is slightly harder which is meant to test the players ability to complete this mechanic, because it is built upon in the next level.

I encountered some issues during the sprint that I was ultimately able to resolve in order to complete my tasks. the biggest challenge that I had to face had to do with the initial layout of my level. I had some rooms that weren't along the critical path of my level which often times led to them not being explored or experienced by the player. I changed the layout to include these room along the critical path which helped with the pacing and length of the level as well as giving the player more content to enjoy. 

Beginning of Art Pass

Moving forward I will be polishing this Graveyard level with an art pass. This entails populating the level with props to make the level feel more alive. I am looking forward to finishing up this level and moving on to the next level that we have planned in development.

2/14/19

Sprint 1

For this semester of 495 I am working on a game that is in a second semester of development. The game is an action adventure game called "Knighty Night". I am working as part of the level design team for this game and am responsible for creating environments and encounters for players to enjoy.

Annotated Map for Sewer Level 1

During sprint 1 I was given 3 tasks which include creation of an annotated map for Sewer Level 1, an asset list for the upcoming cathedral stage and an alpha pass for Sewer Level 1. I was able to complete all of these tasks within the given time frame and with only small issues.

Cathedral Asset List 

One of the major problems that I encountered was making my level fit with the established conventions for both flow and feel of the level. I was able to remedy this by talking with the other level designer and the producer to get feedback on my level and adjusting it accordingly. This allowed me to match my design philosophies with the look and feel of the game, which should prevent this issue in future levels.

Overview of Sewer Level 1 Alpha

Another problem I ran into was tuning the difficulty for each of the encounters in my level to reflect the fact that it is the introductory level to the overall Sewer stage. I was able to fix this by playing the second level in the stage that had been created previously. This allowed me to get a feel for the difficulty and progression through the level and how these attributes should be tuned in relation to my level. This is also something that should prevent further problems of this nature from arising.

Moving forward I will be working on the introductory levels for the graveyard and cathedral stages respectively. I am really looking forward to working on this game and creating something truly awesome.