Game Designer | Level Designer
My Socials:
Idea
My role in this project is the lead programmer and in-charge of the UI. When discussing the game, the lead game designer suggested that we should do a digging game. The game reference from a sonic game that uses a drill to dig into another land to get into another platform to progress, and using spine animation for movement which we collectively agreed to work on this idea.
Process
When deciding on how the game loops, I spend time discussing with the lead designer on the project to understand how he wants it exactly to get a clear general idea of the loop.
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This also helps the team keep in track of the design so we do not get sidetracked during the development
Game Loop
Save Function
After completing the basic necessary codes to get the digging function and basic control down, I helped the lead designer in redesigning the level after our playtest since we have gotten feedback about how it was unclear where the player should go but given that the gameplay is linear, we had to redesign it.
Designing Level
"How To Play" UI Design
When we were discussing how the health's UI should look like, between the sliding bar and hearts, I suggested the hearts because this game is about the narrative and there was no need for the sliding bar to determine how many damages are dealt since we only have 1 type of enemy.
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When I was presented with the first Health UI that's the rock with gold, I commented that the heart wasn't obvious if it was placed over the background as it was also brownish that the player may not able to see it or notice it during gameplay.
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So I suggest that the heart UI be changed to the red gem as it glows and it will stand out from the background
Health UI
While working on the game, I realize that the game requires a checkpoint function because there are 3 spirits and the player wouldn't want to sit through the entire opening scene again after completing the first 2 spirits and having to collect them again.
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Therefore, I worked on the save function at the beginning of the process to make sure that we have the important element covered before we proceed.
When I was presented with the V1 of the menu, I commented that the back button didn't make sense being on the left given that by previous experience, the "Back" button is always on the top left due to website and that the design the artist has done points to the left and it would not make sense to have it on the left.
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V2 fixed this issue but it was cramped with "Q", "W", and "Spacebar". So in V3, the button layout is redesigned again to balance the menu.
