Beta - Log #1

PUZZLES!

The level was designed in such a way that we have one main temple that is the final area/sequence of the game. The player will need to explore the island, activating a series of temples or shrines (undecided) in order to unlock the final sequence/area of the game.

We have designed the first puzzle area, utilizing a couple of different taught mechanics from the tutorial level from the alpha build. This being the hammer being used as a weight to hold down different buttons or activate various ‘powered’ devices. On top of which, the simple block pushing puzzle from the tutorial level was revamped for activating the first shrine, requiring the player to half not only climb in order to access the area to get the final block, but to match the blocks to the corresponding symbols in order to activate the temple/shrine.

Birds

Izzy had modeled and animated a bird, which we are going to use to as form of highlighting important objects or events for players. Things such as a red bird on important puzzle objects, drawing players into it through colour differences and movement of the bird. Birds will linger around around important objects, and then fly away once players have been drawn into the area or interacted with the intended object.

The Artists

Aidan

This week I replaced our placeholder tower (markers) with churro-like towers that match our intended art-style. The goal of these assets were to have them stand out enough to lead the player and disappear when a locally placed puzzle is solved. I rigged and animated the structure to untwist itself and descend into the ground. After feedback I updated the animation to appear heavier and more stone-like. I also crafted a “mural hint” asset to accompany one our puzzles, with emissive maps included! There was quite some time spent setting up a photoshop file that would allow me to modify our runes, so that as zbrush alphas it would appear chipped away.

Connor

This week I created a few breakable objects to be used as obstacles in our first puzzle. I also completed the high poly sculpts for each tree design and painted each albedo map. I then created custom shader types for the trunks and tree tops. The tree trunk shaders were based on a standard shader setup with adjustable values for each node, but the tree tops were set to turn off backface culling, to give the illusion of more mass to the body of leaves.

After finishing the trees, I populated the first main areas based on an early lighting setup.

David

Jose and I worked together to design the layout of the exterior and how the player will flow between the puzzles, solving them to open the door to the final area. Working together with Jose we started on the first puzzle the player needs to solve involving pressure plates and a large door leading to the puzzle.

The Programmers

Hadley

Mostly camera updates came out this week, these things included perfected the auto-rotating camera(WIP). Tweaks to how/when the camera will begin to auto orientate itself. On top of which, a cinematic camera was added into the game, a way for the us to highlight things for the player, such as focussing on a door opening, panning towards it and then back to Safa.

Some tweaks to the controller came out as well, a way for us to control Safa’s falling animation so that she does not ‘jitter’ into it when she goes over the smallest bump or crack, instead adding a slight delay onto the activation of that animation, so that falling for 0.1 seconds doesn’t trigger the entire falling animation

Jose

This first beta week, we decided we would try to do one small puzzle area a week - finalizing with 4 puzzles across the overworld which would unlock the final area.

We added some quality of life other than just puzzle things this week, such as a small bird that stands out in the environment - used to guide the player’s eyes to important locations.

The full breakdown of things I worked on this week is below!

• Activated the tower when the first puzzle is completed.

• Coded in the first puzzle, with the pressure plates requiring specific cubes.

• Placing specific cubes correctly opens the path to the final cube.

• Replaced the old cube meshes with the new ones, which contain hints for the puzzle.

• Coded the bird flying away when Safa approaches it, with editable flight path.

Izzy

For the first week of beta phase, we have decided to spread the puzzles for our 4 main areas that has beacons which activate the central tower. Initially, the team has decided to have 1 puzzle done for each week of beta production.

For the first area, I designed a similar puzzle that utilizes the same mechanic introduced in the tutorial area; boulders placed on a certain area on the ground (buttons) and manipulates the surroundings. I have thought through a very similar but simple puzzle, where the players need to move 3 boulders on a button but they need to be on a particular button to match the symbols attached to them. In addition to the game’s readability, I have created a bird entity that is easily seen by the players to create initiative for them to approach. This bird will be seen and once the player comes close to it, it flies away.

The puzzle for the first area and the bird entity was easily implemented so by the end of the week, we have decided to brainstorm some ideas for the 2nd puzzle. Initially, Aidan created a bell puzzle concept over the holidays and we’ve decided to put it in the 2nd puzzle. This puzzle requires sounds so I gathered a bell sound and edited them to change the pitch. I also implemented a script for when Safa hits the bell, the sound plays.