Overall Review

This week's development has been extremely minimal. The team has not met all the requirements of our scheduled design; however, I believe if we were to continue on our current schedule, we should still be able to achieve our goals.

These are some of the things that have been designed over the week:

Two Bits of Memory – Level Design Concepts

General Rules

• Levels are designed kind of like minigames. They should roughly take 1-2 minutes each to create a sense of fun and engagement that’s not too short, but also doesn’t drag out, making players wish they could just skip to the next level.

1. 1st level is a simple challenge to let the players get a rough feel of the controls.
2. 2nd level offers rewards to the players based on how well they perform.
3. 3rd level is a pure race against the clock and will punish players if they make mistakes.

Each level concept has a number next to them to indicate which level would ideally be best for them.

Pinball Level - 1

Players will are placed in a pinball-like puzzle where they need collect all the “coins”.

The map is a downhill slope where the players will automatically roll down the hill and will be “shot” back up to the top when they reach the bottom. Bumpers and other obstacles will be placed to allow players to bounce around the level like pinballs.

There will also be a “bot” that creates a light cycle trail from Tron that will cause the player to be “hurt” when they come into contact with it.

An example diagram of the pinball stage is shown in Fig.1.

Dropper Level - 2

Players will have to descend a tower as fast as possible while avoiding obstacles such as bounce pads that will slow them down.

Tile Swap Level - 2

Players will have to figure out how to collect all keys by traversing a checkered-tiled board by only traversing each tile once. Once a player has figured out the path, the second player just has to collect the keys for themselves.

Maze Digger Level - 3

Players are placed inside a grid-like maze where one intersection point is the exit.

Players are given clues at the start that inform them where the exit is.

If players pick the wrong intersection point, the firewall will increase its speed.

As shown in Fig.2, the top maze shows an example layout where the players must reach the goal, except they do not know where it is exactly. They’ll be given hints in accordance to the goal’s position such as “The first letter of my colour shares the same letter its on” or “I only have two doors”.

Snake Level - 1

Players must go on separate paths where there is “snake train” that follows a predetermined path where at the end, there is a button that they must press simultaneously in order to progress. The “train” will change its angle of elevation periodically, so the player must move in order not to fall off the “train”.

Follow the Path Level - 1

Players must follow a predetermined path laid out for them. Depending on close to the line they are, they will be rewarded (or punished) with time.

Fig.3 shows an example at the top where it’s very easy for players to lose track of their path and will at times have to cross each other’s path, but they must do this without colliding.

Password Level - 3

There is a door with a code on it. (Think of Hogwarts Legacy’s door puzzle). Players must explore the level to obtain the relevant information to crack the code and escape.

Musical Maze Level – 2

Players must collect five notes in order of what they were played. Players can repeat the notes at any given time if they need a reminder, but they cannot pick a note up in the wrong order.

The notes are in a maze that will constantly shift depending on when the notes were picked up.

As shown in Fig.2, the bottom two mazes show an example of where player 1 has collected the first note and the maze changes. However, player 2 has planned ahead, by being exactly next to the spot where the second note is.

Narrow Path Level – 3

Players must reach the end of a narrow train track-like path where a key lies. However, the paths are laid with defender bots that will send you back to the start if you they tag you.

Tower Smasher Level – 1

Players must destroy a (moving) tower by ramming into it multiple times until they can collect a key which lies at the top.

Dance Floor Level – 3

Players must reach the end of a long gauntlet where periodically, parts of the floor which is coloured will drop. The game will tell you whether to stand on, or not to stand on a certain colour.

Fig.3 shows an example on the bottom where there is a floor filled with colours. Sometimes, a message might pop up saying “Stand on red” or “Avoid blue”. The colours will also be more spaced out and be grid-like to better differentiate them apart.

Player Movement

The player movement was difficult to get to work due to the conflicting rotation of the ball and the rotation of the camera. To fix this I have connected them both to a parent node and connected the ball and parent node via a hinge. The camera rotates around this parent node which is moved around the stage by its child the ball.