Tournamental
Level Design | Mechanic Programming
Introduction
For this project I was tasked with creating a unique mechanic. My inspiration was an old game called Bloxorz and Stephen’s Sausage Roll. Then, I was to implement a colleague’s mechanic under their instruction.
With this project I wanted to really flex my level design muscles to see what kind of itneresting puzzle levels I could make, while still adhering to the boundaries of the project.
Project Breakdown
Iterated over 3 development cycle weeks (1 month total)
Focus on creating challenging puzzle levels
Scripting events and asset interactions
Project utilized Unreal Engine 5.3
Marketplace assets used
Korean Traditional Smart Mat
Overview
My Mechanic: Colored Activation Cubes
Colleague's Mechanic: Crumbling Tiles
Level 1 Final Iteration
Level 2 Final Iteration
Level 3 Iteration 1
Level 3 Final Iteration
Design Techniques
Leading the Player
In the images above, I wanted the player to understand a discrete mechanic before progressing to the second level. I did this utilizing the grey teleport tiles in Tournamental.
I used a Bait & Switch technique to make the player feel accomplished after solving one problem, only to be presented with another. They’d used the activation cube mechanic to open a locked red door, opening the path where another teleport tile moved them elsewhere (far left image). The way in which the teleport tile is situated handcuffs the player into this specific solution (middle image). Thus, blocking the teleport tile and allowing them to proceed to the finish (far right image).
Frustration and Boredom
I knew this was going to be a puzzle game, so I went into Tournamental designing open spaces where the player could move freely.
My first level was designed to teach basic mechanics and the discrete mechanic of blocking teleporters, so it was a frustrating level. Therefore, to lower the frustration level of the player Level 2 was designed to test the players understanding of that discrete mechanic. This dipped them closer to boredom, but highly increased the sense of accomplishment by reinforcing the taught mechanic.
Level Flow
My third level continued the cycle of raising the frustration level. In most playtests I conducted, players typically finished Level 2 under a minute.
Therefore, Level 3 introduced the crumbling tile mechanic created by my peer Mario. This level reinforced the earlier concepts learned, and let the player freely experiment with the new mechanic, before it was a required component of future levels. Ideally, puzzle games should repeat this flow of frustration/boredom to keep the player engaged.
Pre-Production
Mechanic Brainstorming
While researching mechanics of other games, I remembered a game I’d play in the middle of class in high school, Bloxorz.
What I liked:
Elements activated in a particular way that change how you interact with the world.
Specific solutions that are obvious and discrete.
Simple graphical design that would be easy to create.
larke, D. (2007b, June 21). BloxorzVersion (1.0). Coolmath Games. DX Interactive. Retrieved April 10, 2024, from https://www.coolmathgames.com/0-bloxorz.
Storyboard
Before I started working on the mechanic within Unreal, I made sure to create a visual representation of what I wanted the mechanic to look like.
Other than the rolling aspect of the cube, the base idea made it all the way to the final concept of my levels.
Task Tracking and Communication
Utilizing Perforce and Clickup
While I am familiar with Perforce, or P4V, this was the first project I worked on where we utilized Clickup. Through my weekly iterations I would update my leads about how mechanic development was coming along, and then eventually the three levels I was tasked with designing. I also practiced adding Mario to a copy of his mechanic, so I could communicate my progress directly to him or reach out if I had any questions about the implementation of the Crumbling Tiles mechanic.
I continued practicing the use of Perforce for version control, ensuring I uploaded changes when they were ready, and on a consistent hourly basis (for when Unreal eventually crashed).
Reflections
This was a very fun project to work on. I’m pleased with the results of the project, but would like to iterate on it again in the future given the chance to implement some changes and work on additional levels.
Rolling Cube - I’d originally designed the activaiton cubes so that when the player rolled them, a specific side would land face down. For a puzzle game, I would make each face a specific color to match the activation pressure plates. Unfortunately, I was having a very hard time with my job at the time, and wasn’t able to dedicate as much time to this project as I would have liked. A rolling cube could introduce solving puzzles with multiple pressure plates, but only one cube.
Additional Levels - Given the time constraints and maximum of three levels, I was a little dissapointed I couldn’t make more levels within the timeframe. I feel as if this bogged down my level design. I would have liked to iterate more myself, so I could have presented more intricate levels when the time for presentation came. I’d like to do at least one level with two cube activation gates. I also believe that were I to mess around with the Crumbling Tiles mechanic more, I could come up with better ideas for its’ implementation.