Week 2

Team Progress

Our team held 3 meetings this week, where we further discussed our game concept. We finalized the level progression of our game, which is non-linear, and also came up with an initial concept of the first level. We also further discussed what the different body mods would be and what the player controls for the body mods would be.

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Individual Contributions

The first thing we worked on this week was our level progression design. I made suggestions as to how our game's non-linear level progression would be designed. We eventually settled on a non-linear gated level progression system. The player would progress through each section of our game one after another. Each section consists of one or more levels that must be completed to progress to the next section. For sections with multiple levels, the player can start with any level but will need to go back and forth between the levels to get the required body mods/items needed to complete each level.

Example map of our game's non-linear level progression.

The next thing we discussed this week was the function and implementation of the body mods. I suggested that we limit the number of buttons so that we had one button for each type of mod (e.g. arm mod, leg mod), which the team agreed on.

I also suggested that we make the body mods each have their own drawbacks, such as limited uses/usage time or debuffs while using the body mod (e.g. slower movement when using the strength mod). Based on my suggestion, we decided to revisit the battery idea. In the end, we came up with two possible solutions: 1. have a separate batter meter or 2. have a battery bar above the player.

Example of what the battery meter may look like.

Example showing the battery bar position and the bar draining as the player uses a body mod.

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Reflection

One problem that we ran into this week was determining how the level progression would be laid out. We wanted to have a non-linear level design, but were unsure of whether to have a single interconnected map with the player can explore, a central hub that's connected to each level, or a section based map with one or more levels that can be completed in any order. In the end, we decided on a section based map with some levels in sections requiring you to obtain a body mod/item in another level of that section to complete it.

Another problem we ran into was determining the controls and implementation of the body mods. One issue we ran into was determining how many buttons we would use for the mods. the solution we decided on was to have a button for each type of mod (e.g. arm mod, leg mod).

One issue we've yet to solve is how the player would obtain and switch between body mods. Currently, we do not have an agreed way for the player to obtain the body mods. Suggestions have been made to make mods obtainable through defeating the "boss" enemy at the end of the puzzle or just simply collecting it at the end of the level. As for switching body mods, the current way we are doing this is to have stations at the start of and placed within a puzzle that allows the player to switch mods. For the next weeks, we will test these ideas to see whether or not they will work.