My Process
Planning
My goal for this project was to gain experience designing and expanding upon specific mechanics and themes to create cohesive puzzles of increasing difficulty. I decided upon item management and aerial momentum as my core focus areas for the puzzles, which left great potential for meaningful evolution.
LEVEL PROGRESSION
Building on Themes
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To introduce my skill themes, I created an puzzle where players must jump from a great height and use the gathered air speed to launch themselves across the level, before collecting an item and launching both it and themself to the end
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This approach allowed players to experiment with the core mechanics in a safe environment where they cannot die, while further enabling them to internalize the tilted panels across the level as a means of flight
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I evolved upon this puzzle in the second level, building a space where players must consider timing and spatial awareness while mid-flight. To do so, the level keeps players in a non-stop straight shot to the end where they must create new portals to maintain aerial momentum
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I further used the second level to teach players that they can launch and manage their box even while not carrying it, adding a new dimension to item management
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In the third level, I combined concepts from the first and second levels on a greater scale, pushing players to use careful timing and envrionmental awareness to catch a box in midair, and then consider how to launch it separately from themself to hold down a button
THE FINAL CULMINATION
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For the forth level, I introduced a new mechanic to complement theand expand upon existing skill themes and mechanics. This mechanic was the excursion funnels, which slowly transport players across aerial distances. By combining them with launching and item management, I was able to create more complex scenarios making use of timing, spatial awareness, and momentum
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
THE FINAL CULMINATION
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To cap off the level set, I created grand final level evolving upon and testing all of the themes I built upon throughout the progression
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Level 5, on an ever grander scale, combines:
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Using aerial momentum to launch oneself
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Managing carrying around a box
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Maintaining enough environmental awareness to create portals while airborne
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Keen awareness of timing
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My core focus was bring back each concept in a new, complementary, and remixed way as a final skill check
Level 5
I Learned About:
1
Evolution & Expansion
The core skillset I focused on refining with this project was my ability to evolve (increase in mechanical complexity) and expand (increase in scale) upon particular skill themes and mechanics throughout the level at a natural pace. Through extensive iteration and testing, I learned how to balance these factors effectively to keep players engaged, curious, and thoughtful.
2
Puzzle Design
I learned to create puzzles that are cohesive and have a strong balance in being challenging without being frustrating. My aim was to ensure that players would not be able to tell the answers straight away, but would also never be at a complete loss, and instead feel encouraged to experiment. By focusing in on specific skill themes and observing how players engaged with them, I learned to effectively iterate upon the level to achieve these goals.
3
Adapting to IPs
Unlike many of my other projects, I built this level in an established editor with pre-existing mechanics and rules. It helped me learn how to adapt my design skillset to fit the systems of other designers and intellectual property. In doing so, I was able to engage with a broad range of concepts that I may not have thought of on my own.