XD5004 Design Document - Matthew Howell

Contents

Individual Task

Digital vs.

Physical

Market Research

Initial Concepts

Idea Evaluation

XD5004 - Games Design

Individual Design

Document

Tutor:

Andrew Richardson

Design Concept by:

Matthew Howell

Paper

Prototyping

Finalised

Concept

Final Structure

Visual Style

Production

Process

Group Task

Ideation

Sketches

Idea Evaluation

Working with

Unity

Short Video

Working as a

team

Critical

Reflection

Digital vs. Physical Games

Cities Skylines (PC, Mac & Linux)

Cities Skylines is a sandbox simulator game where the player’s task

is to build a city of their own creation. There are different options

for gameplay including Mission based, where the user follows a

certain set of objectives (such as reaching a certain population level

or completing certain mission paths, like Tourism or Industrial).

Additionally, the user can also play in a limitless sandbox mode by

unlocking all items and money at the start, allowing them to be able

to build a city at their own pace and by their own design, rather than

in accordance with the mechanics of the game.

Noughts and Crosses (Physical)

Formal Features:

• 2 Player Game

• Resources: Pen and Paper – 3x3 Grid

• Goal: To try and get either three noughts or crosses in a row before

the opponent.

• Rules: Take turns to place three noughts and crosses on the board,

whilst trying to block your opponent.

Modifications

• The game board has been increased to 4x4 or higher

• Additionally, players are required each round to create a different

shape (such as a square or triangle)

Market Research

In order to better understand my target market, the first

development stage I undertook was to conduct some market

research into existing Hypercasual games (to better understand the

needs and expectations of players).

Hole.io (Android)

In Hole.io, the game mechanic (Grow) involves the player playing as

a hole and swerving to try and ingest as many objects as possible. As

the player does this, the size of the hole increases – allowing them to

ingest larger objects.

The goal overall is to try and gain as much XP as possible compared

to the other players before the timer runs out.

In terms of user feedback, there is a leader board and live score

information as you play. In terms, of the rules, there are visual

explanations on how to move as you start each game – allowing new

players to become more familiar with the player experience. Unlike

other mobile games, there doesn’t appear to be any audio feedback

within this game, which could arguably hinder the immersion.

With regards to replay-ability, the game connects you with different

players each time, which in turn provides the opportunity for

different gameplay experiences. Additionally, this is furthered

through the inclusion of alternative game modes, such as a Solo

mode and a Battle mode.

Paint Hit (Android)

Paint Hit uses a Tap/Timing mechanic wherein the player is required

to tap the screen to fling paint at a spinning disc. When the player

has hit the disc enough times, another disc stacks on top. However,

the direction and speed of the spinning disc can change randomly,

and if the player hits an already painted area, the level is failed.

With regards to interactivity. Sound design is used in terms of having

calm and relaxed non-diegetic background music, alongside sound

effects, to add an extra layer of immersion through the auditory

response to the user’s actions.

Furthermore, in order to guide the user, instructional prompts are

offered, as well as messages and feedback to let the user know if

they have failed or passed the level.

In terms of replay-ability, the game features a variety of levels, and

attracts users to play for short play sessions at a time, before sending

the user notifications to the player after a certain period of inactivity

– to entice them back in. Furthermore, the use of microtransactions

and virtual currency for in-game items, also financially keeps players

in the realm of the game.

Market Research

Skiddy Car (Android)

Skiddy Car makes use of a swerving mechanic to navigate through the

level, wherein the user by default travels diagonally left, and can then

tap and hold to move diagonally right.

In terms of sound, the use of diegetic feedback, helps maintain a level

of immersion for the player to increase their involvement and overall

enjoyment when playing the level. Furthermore, on-screen information

such as the percentage of the level completed, helps players

understand their progress through the game, alongside encouraging

them to repeat the level if they fail.

With regards to the replay-ability of the game, the use of a level as well

as points-based system in the game, allows for further expansion of the

game environment, as well as encouragement to achieve the highest

possible score – thus providing added player engagement.

SpeedBall (Android)

SpeedBall makes use of a Tapping mechanic, to allow players to be

able to move to either side to dodge oncoming obstacles, depending

on the area of the screen they tap, until they reach the end of the level.

Visual prompts and feedback allow the player to be able to gain an

understanding of their progress throughout the level, in an attempt to

encourage the player to keep trying again – this works to increase user

involvement and engagement with the app (adding to its addictive

nature).

Notifications alongside the aforementioned feedback to the user, aim

to keep the player involved in the game – inviting them to frequently

return to the app, even if just to play a few levels at a time. These

notifications can also be linked to the microtransactions in the game,

which encourage the user to pay for extra in-game benefits (such as

No Ads), giving the player a financial connection to the game – making

them more likely to play, as a means of seeking a return to their

investment.

Color Road (Android)

Color Road utilises a Timing mechanic, requiring players to swipe

across and match their colour with the coloured orbs shown on the

fixed path. This colour changes over time adding a sense of challenge

to the game and keeping the player on their toes.

In terms of the user feedback, the game makes use of pleasant chime

effects to indicate when the user has been successful in passing

through the correct colour orb. However, the game does lack in any

other kind of sound effects – which if added could help aid with player

engagement.

Initial Concepts

As part of my initial ideation process, I decided on trying to come up

with a variety of different ideas for my game, each of which making use

of different game mechanics commonly noted in Hypercasual games

(such as Swerving, Tapping or Timing.

Fig. 1 - A screenshot of my initial notes taken through the idea

generation process.

Idea Evaluation

Part A: Initial Analysis

Idea 1: Cruise Ship Game

Relevance to the Brief

My idea behind the Cruise Ship Game is for a multi-level game involving

the player playing as a cruise ship and navigating through the levels,

whilst trying to avoid obstacles. This is relevant to the brief through

its utilisation of the swerve mechanic and its hyper casual nature. The

segmentation into various levels, which require points to be unlocked,

keeps players hooked due to the immersion and desire to make it to

the next stage. Additionally, due to their relatively small levels, the

game is ideal to be picked up and played in frequent, short bursts –

hence conforming to the key criterion of the hyper-casual brief.

Technical Feasibility

The technical feasibility is possible thanks to the use of Unity. The key

considerations, however, would be establishing background assets

(which are able to move around the player – to simulate a ship sailing

through the ocean), alongside a player asset, and other scenery

assets (which would need to be set to randomly spawn in – creating

obstacles). Furthermore, another requisite is enabling the swerve

mechanic – which would require the use of either the touch screen

or the accelerometers of the device (should it incorporate them). This

would need to be implemented appropriately, to ensure maximum

playability.

Artistic Considerations

In terms of Artistic Considerations, a key aspect to contend with is the

use of assets – these would include the backgrounds – which would

need to be designed for each level respectively and configured to

be large enough to move with the character sprite. Furthermore, the

actual sprite design would be a key factor as different starts (such

as a fixed, moving and crashed state for the ship) would need to be

developed and configured appropriately within Unity.

Playability/Originality

This idea does have a great deal of playability due to the expansive

level design (which can further be developed through updates or

expansion packs/DLC), alongside possible inclusions such as a leader

board, player rating system or also notifications – to encourage players

to return to the app after a set period of inactivity. With regards to the

originality of the game, the actual mechanics are similar to another

one of the listed ideas (Runaway Train), which is essentially a different

environment with a similar gameplay style.

Idea Evaluation

Idea 2: Traffic Simulator


Traffic Simulator follows a similar theme of a multi-level structure;

however, this time utilises a merging mechanic to vary up the style of

gameplay. This is relevant to the brief due to its use of touchscreen

gestures to control the movement of the player – hence tying into the

requisites of a hyper-casual game.


Key requirements for the gameplay would include an endless and

movable background to navigate the player around, a variety of sprites

and animations for the player as well as other characters within the

game,


A key issue to consider in terms of the art design would be the variation

of designs and assets. This is due to a key element of the game being

avoiding other vehicles – hence sufficient assets would need to be

generated as not to make the assets repeat too frequently – which

in turn would reduce the immersion and affect the overall player

experience with the game.


This game utilises a unique mechanic in the sense that it variates on

the typical runner game strategy (popularised by the mobile game

Temple Run) through the reduction in the number of lanes the player

can move around in. As such this adds a certain level of difficulty to the

game and means that it isn’t just another clone of Temple Run that has

been re-skinned.

Idea 3: Runaway Train


The idea behind this game is rather similar to that of Idea 1 in that

it uses either a tap or swerve mechanic to allow the player to drive

a runaway train to the end of the level. Key tasks in the gameplay

includes avoiding oncoming vehicles, changing tracks as well as

avoiding derailment. As such this concept is relevant due to its replayable

and casual nature – allowing it to be appropriate to be marketed

to the target demographic.


From a technical standpoint, this idea makes use of similar requisites

as Idea 1, including aspects such as a level selector, structuring of

obstacles and the ability to swerve and switch tracks to avoid such

obstacles.

.

Idea Evaluation


In terms of the artistic aspect to the gameplay, it is important that each

level maintains a constant design theme (possibly utilising a clean

and modern aesthetic and interface). This not only provides a pleasing

interface to the audience (increasing the engagement of the design),

however, it also offers easy customisation and expandability between

levels – allowing for a consistent style with sufficient variation between

levels as not to appear overused.


The originality of this game is justified as it iterates and changes the

gameplay of similar existing hyper-casual games on the market, For

instance an inspiration of this particular idea is the game Subway

Surfers which involves playing as a character and swiping across the

screen to avoid oncoming obstacles (mostly subway trains). However,

my game design differs in that the person is playing as the train instead

and additionally has to contend with factors such as avoiding derailing

the train – which would end and fail the level.

Idea 4: Apocalypse Sandbox (Sandboxalypse)


This idea utilises a clicker mechanic to allow the player to be able to

spawn natural disasters in a virtualised environment (which can be

changed depending on the user’s preferences). As such this conforms

to the needs of the brief due to the use of the touch screen in a clicker

format (which is a conventional mechanic of certain mobile hyper

casual games).


In terms of the technical requisites, spawning of assets would need

to be considered, in terms of being able to animate the characters as

well as the natural disasters. Furthermore, limitations would need to

be considered in terms of the number of events that can take place

simultaneously within the app as not to crash the game.


With regards to the artistic elements, the theme for this app would

probably be best to utilise a sense of realism, due to the fact that it

would add to the player immersion. However, due to the mobile nature

of the game, a cartoonised version of this style might be more useful

(in terms of not making the gameplay experience feel as cheap or low

budget).

Idea Evaluation


In terms of the originality of this game, it is heavily inspired by the

Natural Disaster mode from the game Sim City. However, this game

can present a unique take on the game by offering alternative

environments, maps and biomes (hence allowing for a sense of

individuality).

Idea 5: DNA


The idea for a DNA game utilises the merging game mechanic in order

to allow the player to be able to merge different pieces of DNA together

to create a new species. This could take the route of an educational

game, however, to better meet the hyper-casual needs of the brief,

it could be better if the game to a more unlockable route, where the

player is tasked with unlocking certain traits and characteristics to play

with.


The technical considerations would be to establish enough assets to

cover the various possible combinations that could be made (as not to

limit the game), as such the complexity of this task may not be the best

thing to pursue at the current time due to the issues involved.


Furthermore, in terms of artistic considerations, it would probably be

wise to make use of a less realistic and anatomically correct design for

the sake of simplicity and design aesthetical consistency – particularly

given the relatively non-educational nature of the game.


In relation to the playability of the game, this particular concept follows

a Sandbox strategy similar to the Apocalypse Sandbox idea, and as

such would require alternative means to addictive level design in order

to maintain player interest. This could possibly take the form of app

notifications after a certain period of inactivity (in order to remind the

player to continue playing – hence maintaining player interest over

time).

Paper Prototyping

Scanned by CamScanner

Finalised Concept/Structure

Game Summary

My game idea is a Swerve-based game, called Don’t Crash, involving

driving various vehicles (such as trains, ships and lorries) around

various unlockable environments, while attempting to avoid obstacles

and collect points.

Game Concept

Furthering on from my initial summary, the user is guided through the

basic swerve based control system, and are introduced to the level

environment, as the user plays the level, they are able to collect points,

which can be used to gain access to the next levels, as well as buy

various other unlockable items (such as power-ups) to assist with the

gameplay.

Goals/Objectives

The main objectives of the gameplay are to navigate the series of

levels successfully and avoid obstacles (which are placed across the

play area). As each level is played through, points are accumulated to

unlock the proceeding level, as such the aim is to reach the end point

of each level without hitting obstacles or performing other actions

which would cost the player the level and their progress thus far.

Resources

As aforementioned, the player is set with the task of collecting as

many points as possible. The higher the number of points, the more

opportunities are available to the user – in terms of unlocking levels

and gaining extra rewards as they play. Additionally, the points score

can be viewed on a world leader-board from other players of each level

– adding a certain degree of replay-ability to the game – through the

desire to achieve as high a score and ranking as possible. Furthermore,

this could be expanded by providing power-ups and bonus items to

make the gameplay simpler, when users encounter more complicated

levels. This could include, removing all obstacles from the concourse

for 5 seconds; providing a boost when the user starts the level; an extra

life if they fail the level midway through etc.

Rules

The main rule of the game is to avoid hitting obstacles which are

stationed at randomised intervals on the level concourse, in order to

get to the end point of the level and complete each level successfully.

Final Structure

Play Space

The Play Space would ideally be a Third-Person camera view of the

player, which follows them through the level keeping up with them

at the same angle. The intended diagonal/overhead angle allows

for a clear view of the player alongside the upcoming sections of the

concourse – increasing the overall usability of my game.

Core Mechanic

The core mechanic of my game is swerving, which presents the

challenge of avoiding different obstacles in each environment to the

player. The swerving functionality utilises the device’s accelerometer,

to create a sense of immersion through being able to steer the vehicle.

Additionally, tap and swipe functionality may also be useful inclusions

for devices which don’t incorporate an accelerometer – therefore

allowing more players to be able to access the game.

Dramatic Elements

The game is kept challenging and interesting through the variety

of level designs and spontaneous spawning of obstacles which are

unpredictable for the player. This variety allows for enhanced replayability

for the player – through the desire and satisfaction that would

come with being able to complete each level. The environment theme

is user customisable – which offers them a sense of control and allows

for an improved experience as such.

Additionally, the changing of characters between levels depending on

the surroundings and scenarios the user faces, also provides a mode

of intrigue for them. For instance, in some of the levels the user is able

to play as a car, train, lorry, boat etc. which increases the novelty and

expandability of the game through the possibilities of further level

development and expansion packs for the game – adding to the overall

gratification provided from the Dramatic Elements within the game.

Visual Style

In-game Assets

With regards to my In-game assets, I have chosen to design a variety of

assets which can uniquely be designed and tailored to each individual

level. The idea behind this is to provide a significant enough sense

of variation, particularly when the player switches between different

gameplay environments (such as a highway, railway line or river for

example). In terms of my vehicle assets, I have selected a cartoonised

style making use of bright and vibrant colours, due to the fact that

they’re intriguing, identifiable to the target demographic, and provide

sufficient variation as not to get too repetitive through extended usage

throughout my game’s levels.

Furthermore, in relation to the collectables, I aimed to make use of

a style which complemented the prototype level I designed (which

utilises a city-centre street environment). As such I decided to go for

a style which resembles street warning signs for collectables such as

points and power-ups, which allows for a greater sense of relevancy

and cohesion in terms of my design choices and decisions.

Fig. 2 - Level 1 Vehicle Assets: Cars, Buses and Lorries

Fig. 3 - Level 2 Vehicle Assets: Electric Trains

Fig. 4 - Collectables Assets - Points, Remove All Cars, Speed Boost (2x)

Visual Style

Characters

In terms of the characters, the player plays as a new vehicle unique

to each level, however, distinguishable from the other vehicles in the

game. For example, in the first level, which as aforementioned is based

in a city centre, the player as such is a car. Furthermore, I have also

iterated on these designs to demonstrate some of the potential ideas

and opportunities for expansion for my overall game designs. This

includes using different colour schemes or body designs (to ensure

that the character complements the environment it is being placed in

and as such doesn’t feel out of place – which would affect the overall

immersion and gratification received by the player).

Fig. 5 - Level 1 Character Assets, Version 1.0, Car

Fig. 6 - Level 1 Character Assets, Version 2.0, Car

Fig. 7 - Level 2 Character Assets, Electric Train

Environmental Artwork

In terms of the environment, great consideration has been undertaken

to ensure that the surroundings for each level are appropriate and

reminisce the real-world in some way to enhance player engagement

and relevancy for the game. For example, between versions 1.0 and 2.0

of Level 1, which depicts a city street, I opted to include elements such

as plants, telephone boxes and streetlights. The idea behind this is to

enhance the sense of realism as well as to provide extra assets to help

make up and vary the composition of my level design – appealing to

the end-user desire for variation within the game in order to keep them

interested. In addition, these levels are seamless and/or can be

Visual Style

expanded onto to help stretch out the level to create a longer gameplay

experience for the actual game.

Fig. 8 - Background Assets, Level 1 v1.0, Level 1 v2.0 and Level 2 v1.0

Visual Style

UI Elements

In terms of the UI Elements, I have generated a points counter and a

High Score element to demonstrate the type of style I would strive for in

a final game submission of my idea. This could be expanded to further

encompass buttons (as featured in my screenshots). However, I have

utilised certain aspects such as a consistent font, sizing and colour

scheme in order to maintain a house style, as well as considering

aspects such as Opacity, which have been implemented, in order to

ensure that the UI does not obfuscate the actual game play - increasing

accessibility and playability overall.

Fig. 9 - UI Elements, Point Counter and High Score Information

Colour

The colour scheme of my game does have variations based on

the needs and requisites of each level (as demonstrated in my

aforementioned Background Assets). However, there is a consistent

usage of Black, Grey and White, which has been picked for its clarity,

accessibility and ability to blend in and not feel excessively out of place

within each potential desired level biome. This consideration has also

been taken into account with regards to choosing the main stylistic font

for the game (Dosis) in order to ensure legibility and modernity (a key

aspect given the transport and stylistic aspects of my game).

Production Process

Developing my Designs

The development process of my assets sought inspiration from

Moodboards that I had collated, to better allow me to visualise my

ideas. The style I chose with this was to go for a modern geometric style

with bright and vibrant colours (in order to meet the player’s needs

and expectations, as well as offer a pleasant design which the user can

easily get to grips with.

Fig. 10 - Pinterest Moodboard of Design Inspiration

Assets were later developed further and iterated using Adobe

Illustrator. This allowed me to develop and establish appropriate

swatches and designs (in order to fully flesh out my designs into

realistic and manageable assets).

Using Unity

With regards to Unity, I utilised some of the key components such as

Sprite Editor and Animator in order to better work with the designed

assets and enable them to function correctly in terms of providing a

clear representation of the prototype functioning as intended in a final

development scenario. As a future means of development, I aim to

explore C# Scripting functionality, in order to bring my designs to life

even further.

Ideation

This section explores the group work aspect

of the module explored by both myself and

Darja Kudrjavceva.

Research

The key first stage of our initial ideation was looking at existing games

on the market, to evaluate our possibilities when proceeding to

develop our game. This brought us to the website Games For Change,

who are an organisation which explore and feature games which are

designed to discuss an important topic. leading us to discovering the

following games:

- A Closed World – This game deals with queer issues by exploring the

challenges and hardships that queer people face - http://gambit.mit.

edu/loadgame/summer2011/aclosedworld_play.php

- Mainichi – This game follows the daily struggles of a transgender

woman as they go through their daily life - http://www.

gamesforchange.org/game/mainichi/

- Queerskins – This game seats the player in a car with the parents of a

son who has lost his life to AIDS. Players take a journey down a country

toad and get to explore the life of the man who has died - http://www.

gamesforchange.org/game/queerskins-a-love-story/

Defining our topic

Exploring these examples allowed us to decide on our theme for

our game. We wanted a game which delved into the issues and

troubles facing LGBT* young people today, in terms of discrimination,

harassment and abuse.

For our players we wanted to provide the following:

• Educate players on the issues facing LGBT* individuals.

• Demonstrate ways in which LGBT* people and those close to them

can help them overcome these issues.

• Allow players to empathise and understand these issues from a direct

perspective of the individuals themselves.

• Help those currently opposed to LGBT* individuals to understand the

impact of their actions and to potentially consider re-evaluating their

viewpoint.

Ideation

However, in order for this to be best appropriate and most effective, we

decided to construct the message of the game in terms of an analogy

and metaphor, taking inspiration from the ‘A Closed World’ game and

making the key mechanic focus around decision making. This was the

inspiration for the name of the game Chocolate vs. Strawberry as one

of the first analogies the player will have to deal with in the game is the

decision of Chocolate vs. Strawberry ice cream flavours.

Our Audience Demographics

When evaluating potential audiences for this game, we settled down on

two key demographic profiles as defined below. LGBT* questionning

youth and Parents of LGBT* Youth. We chose these as our primary

and secondary audiences respectively due to the fact that LGBT*

questionning youth may benefit from being able to build their selfconfidence

and awareness of issues in the community. We have also

selected parents as a key demographic as a game like this could help

them better understand issues that their children might be facing as

being members of the LGBT* community - allowing an opportunity for

dialogue and discourse.

Fig. 1 - A table setting out the key demographic profiling of our potrntial

target audiences

Our Game Idea - In Summary

Our game is a 2D Platformer wherein the player explores the daily life

of a character and the interactions that they have with people around

them (such as when they’re at home, on the bus or in a shop for

instance). The player is given a series of options in these interactions

with how they can respond, which in turn will give the player a

confidence boost allowing them to perform more actions. This is

indicated through the use of weather (such as a raincloud that follows

them around and gradually fades) alongside changes to their overall

demeanour as they move throughout the levels.

Sketches

Upon selecting the aforementioned idea brief, myself and Darja began

to plan and sketch the following assets for the characters, scenery

and other in-game assets. This was a key collaborative process, which

permitted us to evaluate the success, strengths and weaknesses of our

particular ideas in order to ensure that our proposed solution could

provide an enriched end-user experience.

For our game, the main assets that we ultimately required were items

to fill the level environment (such as buildings, furniture, accessories

etc.) in order to build a series of plausible level platforms for the player

to navigate through. This was achieved through the use of a cartoony

style, to not only appeal to our younger primary audience, but also to

provide a warm and inviting approach for new or inexperienced gamers

to our project.

This design philosophy translates through our main character designs,

which take a friendly and pleasant approach in terms of the physical

shape as well as demeanour of the character. Additionally, the

simplicity of the design allows for easy adaptation to gameplay-centric

factors such as player health – provisioning an informative as well as

aesthetical aspect to our designs.

Fig. 2 - Our initial sketch ideas for the main character of our game,

including iterations on health states for the character.

Sketches

Our environment takes the form of a cartoonised world that resembles

a real Urban/Suburban environment (containing streets, houses, shops

etc.) in order to provide a certain sense of context and backstory to the

realm in which our main character exists. Additionally, this helps to

provide a certain informality and invitingness to what typically some

may feel as a difficult or awkward topic to discuss – supporting our

overall message with the game.

Fig. 3 - Examples of some of the possible environments in which the

player can explore.

In terms of UI elements, we aim to use of elements such as Health

indicators, which would keep track of the player’s confidence level

from their interactions within the game and on-screen dialogue boxes,

to narrate the interactions as well as provide user input options to

allow the player to explore various gameplay paths. Additionally, we

feel that it would prove useful to also utilise UI elements to help explain

certain gameplay mechanics, in order to assist new or inexperienced

players in navigating and making the most of the gameplay.

Finally, with regards to the colours, we have used complimentary

and fun colours, in order to provide an aesthetically pleasing and

appropriate level design (in terms of the environments and objects we

aim to visualise). This also passes through to our game characters in

order to maintain player engagement, involvement and gratification

with the game.

Sketches

Fig. 4 - Examples of our initial work and utilisation of colour within our

game assets.

Idea Evaluation

In this section, I aim to explore in greater depth the intricacies of our

concept that we aim to design, in order to better showcase the needs

and goals that our design poses.

The overall aim for our game is for the player to follow the experience

of an animated character through a portion of their day (such as their

journey into the city). Along the way the player encounters various

situations and characters, which present an ethical challenge to

them, forcing them to either concede and give in to the opponent, or

challenge them.

Over the game as such, this will play into the game currency, which

is levels of confidence, increasing when the player feels empowered

and decreasing, when they have been set back. This in turn limits the

capabilities of the player when progressing through the game. Visually

this indicator is represented through the stature and facial expressions

of the main character, as well as environmental aspects of the level

such as the weather in addition to a typical health indicator bar.

The player is able to navigate the level in a 2D platformer style, which

allows them to follow the focal narrative of the game and adds a

logical sense to the structure of the game (by utilising universal game

mechanics – such as moving from left to right through a platformer

environment). This structure is further voiced through the controls,

which are W, A, S and D to run through the play environment, alongside

E to interact with objects in the player’s way – which encapsulate the

player’s primary actions and functions within the game.

The challenge within the game as previously stated is to make it

through to the end of the game with a high level of confidence points,

this challenge combines with the extensive narrative of the game

to maintain player interest as well as keep a sense of intrigue and

gratification as they continue to travel through the level. Furthermore,

the replayability of our game is supported thanks to the various

gameplay paths that the player can take, based upon options they

select during interactions.

Working with Unity

With regards to Working with Unity, the experience has undoubtedly

been a challenging but valuable learning experience. Through working

on this I have been able to further develop my technical skills that I

gained from the Individual project.

First of all, my knowledge of C# Scripting has improved. Through

tutorials and research, I have been able to get to grips with the

necessary coding needed in order to make certain functionality work

(including buttons, character movement and camera configurations.

This has allowed me to be able to further advance the game (in terms

of being able to control players, explore the onscreen environment and

engage with the environments.

Secondly, I have been able to work on multi-level environments and

Menu Screens within this project. This has expanded my familiarity with

methodologies and tasks required in Unity that would be expected in a

fully fledged game.

FInally, I have been able to work with a wide range of asset types (not

only players and backgrounds, but also scenery items). This further has

offered me opportunities to engage with the software better and has

allowed me to be able to make the most out of the resources I have

available to me.

A key part throughout all of this has been having the ability to persist

on in spite of the various issues I faced when coding some of the more

advanced features into this project. I actively sought out advice through

resources such as Lynda.com, Unity Forums, YouTube tutorials as well

as the support of my peers. This has influenced my own repetiore of

skills to better increase my confidence and success of working with the

software package.

As aforementioned, assets were a key part of the working with Unity

section of the project, which Darja was primarily responsible for

creating, these are featured as follows:

Working with Unity

Fig. 5 - Examples of the Level Environments from the game

Fig. 6 - Examples of the Character Assets and Sprites designed for the

game

Working with Unity

Fig. 7 - Examples of some of the Background Assets featured for the

game.

Short Video

Another one of the tasks that I accomplished with this project was to

create the video in order to promote the prototype game. I initially

started out by recording the gameplay using OBS Studio, in order to get

some footage for the video. Additionally, I sourced extra promotional

materials (such as the Steam and Epic Games Store logo), as well as

Copyright free music for a backing track - from the YouTube Audio

Library. These inclusions helped to better increase the immersion, user

engagement and professionality of my design.

The bulk of my editing took place within Adobe Premiere Pro 2020,

which allowed for easy integration of the required features of my video

as well as adding additional features such as transitions to better tie

the composition together. This again helped to fulfil the professionality

requisite of my task, and also helped to make the sequence flow a bit

better and ultimately seem less bodged together.

Fig. 8 - A screenshot of the Premiere Pro Workflow

Working as a Team

Overall, I feel that we were effective at successfully working as a team,

as we both were able to collaborate and take control of areas in which

we both excelled in, to allow us to make the best of the task. A key part

of this was designating tasks which could be done individually, areas

such as ideation were done collectively however, to allow us to be able

to check each other’s ideas and offer proposals and modifications (to

allow us to consider a greater number of possibilities to benefit our

end-user demographic).

In terms of my tasks for the project, my responsibilities included

generating write-ups and presentations (to firm and establish our ideas

for the module), constructing the actual game (using Unity and Visual

Studio 2017), as well as creating a suitable video (using Premiere Pro

2020). This split worked quite well, given the extensiveness and skill

required for the Art side (which Darja specialised in working with),

alongside my existing experience and technical understanding with

aspects such as Unity and Video Editing.

Overall, I feel our work has been benefitted significantly through this

arrangement, as it has enabled us to better prioritise our time and

create work of a far higher standard than what would otherwise be

possible - allowing us to better conform to the needs of the brief.

Critical Reflection

Overall, I feel our game concept has proved successful as it provides

a clear idea, mission and purpose, which has been explored using

high-fidelity prototypes, mock-ups and assets. Additionally, the idea

is successful as it exemplifies the use of key features within the Unity

system (such as C# Scripting, Sprite Editor and Animator), as well as

the use of industry-standard software like OBS and Premiere Pro, which

has allowed us to produce high-quality deliverables for this module,

that meet the needs of both my end-user demographics as well as the

assignment brief.

If I was to improve upon my work however, I would aim to rectify some

of the issues that still exist in my prototype. Due to issues out of my

control with Unity, certain C# scripts which should have worked to

allow for transitions between the levels and certain animations, weren’t

able to be rectified unfortunately, so for an actual end-product, I would

intend to have this fully operational (as not to negate the functionality

for the target audience).

However, in spite of these minor issues, the game is still functional, and

works in a sense to illustrate the impact and message that we intended

to go for, alongside the video and this design documentation.

XD5004 Design Document - Matthew Howell

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