Systems Designer
As the game was made entirely by me, I was responsible for designing all of the systems that went into the game. It was my first Unity project, and first time ever programming in C#, so there was a lot to learn as I was making the game. Some of the systems I designed include:
- Line of Sight: Enemies can see player at a certain distance, but can't see player through walls/floors.
- Possession: Objects that turn green can be possessed; player disappears and cannot be detected by enemies' line of sight.
- Lock & Key: Player must use salt boxes (key) to get past salt trails (lock) that are blocking their path.
- Stamina Meter: A stamina meter, called spirit energy, that limits a player in their actions when it runs out.
Level Designer
The level was designed by me and constantly tested by both myself, as well as other game testers, to help the iteration process through the game's creation. Changes needed to be made after playtesting to help make the level more fluid, including:
- Making enemies pause in their walk cycle to give the player time to react.
- More possessable objects, especially along the larger corridor with two enemies.
I also filled out the level with 3D assets to make it feel more life-like and enoyable to move around. I came back to the level later on to polish it.
Cinematics Designer
After the game's release, I went back to the game during polish to add in an opening cinematic. Whereas I already had a story for the game, previously it was only written out as description for the game, but never included in the game itself. I decided to add in the story as an opening cinematic that would explain what happened leading up to the start of the first level. Some of the things I did include:
- Designed a storyboard for the cinematic, which I then got feedback on before continuing forward.
- Set up camera shots and character placement based in the level itself.
- Ensured that the realtime cinematic wouldn't complicate the actual level itself when it started.
- Made the cinematic skipable, for anyone that didn't want to watch it/watched it before.