Puzzle Game analysis Monument valley

For my level analysis i'm doing the first level of Monument Valley an isometric puzzle game for iOS.
Due to the fact that Monument Valley is an iOS game the mechanics are relatively simple due to limited sources of input. Players can tap on the map to tell Ida where to go, and manipulate the map in a variety of ways. There's pull knobs, rotating cranks buttons and ladders. The game then layers then on top one another and takes advantage of the isometric perspective to create some really satisfying puzzles.

In the second level of the game the player is confronted with a central, rotating crank that moves an L shaped block.  The goal is on the upper level but there's no way to reach it initially. The main types of puzzles in this level are Sequence puzzles in how you move Ida  and rotate the platforms about.

Players see there's a switch on one side so must rotate the block into position fairly standard procedure. The goal is on the upper level but there's no way to reach it initially. The main types of puzzles in this level are Sequence puzzles in how you move Ida  and rotate the platforms about.

After this a new switch appears however this one is a bit trickier to get to.

You have to backtrack to the starting position and then rotate it. This move teaches the player to experiment with the cranks.


After backtracking and hitting the other switch it raises the crank to the upper level. At first glance it makes the central platform seem impossible to reach.

Thanks to the games perspective with proper rotation the platform can take you from the lower floor to the higher floor where there's a straight shot to the end.

Game Design Ideas

Hero Prop Ideas

1. Holo Sword: Is a sword that charges up based on kills and has an alt mode that creates a deflector shield.

2. Blink Daggers: Daggers that can be used for attacks but also can warp you behind targets.

3. Gauntlets of creation, an enchanted gauntlet that can be used to create terrain that can be jumped on.

4. Twin Pistols: Rapid fire pistols of opposing elements that can only hit the opposing element.

5. Launcher Grenades: Shoot's out sticky grenades that stick to walls and create a launch pad.

6. Powerglove: Shoot some old school retro goodness with charge attacks

7: Tracer mssile: Shoot a missile up then paint a target to re direct it.

8: HoverBoard: a board that hovers and let's you slide on things.

9: Air Thrusters: let's the players double jump / thrust to different sides.

10: Phase belt: a belt when activated allows the player to phase through walls and enemy projectiles.

For Game Design I made a trailer showcasing my race track and my car driving in it. I wanted to go for a dangerous/adventure feel to the trailer.

Programming Arcade Pitch

For the final project we're tasked with recreating an arcade game in blue print. My partner Steve HONG and i chose to do Arkanoid a pretty simple game that gives us room to make custom mechanics in the form of power ups.

Game Features List

• Player Movement - STEVE
• Left and Right
• Ball Logic - Jason
• Block Collision/destruction
• Ricochet off of walls and paddles
• Killed when falling off the screen
• Block Logic - Jason
• 1 or 2 hit points
• Indestructible
• different point values
• HUD  - STEVE
• Lives
• Score
• Game State
• Failure state/ no lives left
• Win State/ Cleared level of blocks
• Power Ups

• Laser Cannon HONG
• shoots lasers that break blocks
  
• Enlarge HONG
• Extends the Width of the paddle
  
• Catch - jason
• Causes the ball to stick and move with the paddle until fired
  
• Slow - jason
• Slows the velocity of the ball
  
•  Break HONG
• Creates an exit on the right side of the screen that causes you to go to the next level
  
• Disruption - jason
• Causes the ball to split into three instances
  
• 1 up - HONG
• Gains an extra life.
• Movement Behavior
• Falls from destroyed bricks

Art Asset List

• Paddle HONG
• Ball jason
• Bricks jason
• Laser projectile HONG
• Power Up Capsule 
• divided by power up
• HUD
• paddle image
• high score font.
• Sound FX
• Ball bounce - Jason
• Block Destroyed - Jason
• Laser Shot HONG

UE4 Template

We'll probably use the Top down camera as it already sets up the camera for us. Arkanoid is a top down game with few moving components so the top down  camera will probably work best. The trickiest part of it will probably be coding the ball logic but luckily we found some really nice tutorials that cover that aspect.

Attract Trailer Research

For my research trailer i chose the recently released Trackmania Turbo. I think the trailer does a really good job at showing off the sense of speed, and ridiculous tracks the series is known for. It also shows off the environments fairly well all while maintaining the speed of the race. The cuts flow into each other fairly well, and at the end of the trailer you're left wanting to see more.

HUD MockUp

For programming we were tasked with creating a mock up of an in game HUD for the racing level. I took inspiration from older car HUD shapes and wanted to give them a flat complimentary color scheme that matches the level.

There's space for the lap number, best time and current time, player kills, player health, speed and gear.

Barrel Challenge

For programming class we were tasked with making an exploding barrel. I made mine an ancient chest. Below is the blue print for how it works.

Barrel Concept

This is a simple sketch of the concept for my "explosive barrel". Instead of a typical exploding barrel it's going to be a locked chest holding an ancient artifact. upon being "unlocked" by the players car it will explode.

This is the visual target it for it in regards to stylization.

Level Particles

I made a video of some of the particle systems for my race track. There's three different ones there's an ambient mystical fire, an aggressive fire blast that's triggered during the jumps. Once the programming is implemented there will be a mechanic where it'll light your car on fire and you'll have to go fast enough to put it out. The final particle system is a constellation implosion that will damage your car if your caught in it during the moment of impact.

Particle Research

For my racing level I'll need a blue fire that feels pretty icy and mysterious. I used reference from the website imbue FX. Specifically the chapter on fire that's part of a whole system.

 This is the reference i used to make some of the fire shapes but i wanted to stylize them so i made it more rounded and less violent.

Racing Level Research

For my racing level I'm thinking of making this mystical ice cave. I want the player to feel like they're going on an adventure each lap. As the laps increase the magical elements will become more prominent, adding a somewhat eerie tone to the level. It's loosely based off of an offset figure 8 but has a bit more banked turns. I want it to take a more stylized look with regards to the geometry of the assets.

This is the color scheme i'm thinking of going with.

Heres the first draft of the level with some call outs to the stunts.

This was just some brain storming for creating this astrological inspired VFX and the stunt which features jumps timed with arcane blasts.

This is the starting line which would at the highest point of the ice cavern

The first turn is pretty wide and descends into the cave.

This straight away is the first really open space that would be a vista into the ice cave

This sweeping banked turn climbs up a bit

This is where the stunt occurs and this room would be this large sprawling cavern 

the player travels across

 a broken bridge.

These banked turns mark the beginning of the escape, magic blast occur on them

Before they escape they climb up a steep slope that has ice shards in the sides of it.

Final Platformer Level

For Game Design 2 and Programming 1 I designed  a platforming level. We were provided with the game mode and character asset, then had to create various moving platforms and hazards. It was a lot of fun and had some challenges along the way. I'm familiar enough to make games in C# for unity so making algorithms for coding wasn't foreign; however learning some of the syntax and flow of blueprint was a bit tricky. But by the end of this assignment I felt really comfortable in it and gained a greater understanding of how it works. Below is the commented code for the spike block. It's pretty simple, it uses a timeline to and some vector math for it's movement. The meshes colors are handled through the timeline and Dynamic Material instances, it's simple animation was done by toggling the viability of certain meshes.

Platformer Level Proposal: Factory Panic

For my level I wanted to play around with moving platforms, spikes and a mechanic that would launch the player upwards. I figured a factory kind of setting would work really well. With the platforms being different machinery parts and conveyor belts. The falling spikes could be pieces of metal falling off of the assembly line and the launch pads could be huge air vents. For this level i really wanted to play around with how these simple mechanics interact. Which is why the first area introduces all of the mechanics but then as the level goes on it gets harder. At first you'll just have to jump onto some moving platforms to get through, but eventually you'll have to use the air vents to get onto a moving platform while avoiding a spike.

Bit Trip Runner 2 Tutorial Level Analysis

Bit Trip Runner 2 is a rhythm based platformer made by independent studio Gaijin Games. The game has the player control Commander Video through a variety of stages where they must jump, slide, float, shield or kick in reaction to certain obstacles. If done correctly a note will play depending upon which object was avoided which adds to the background music. If done incorrectly the player will be sent to the start or a checkpoint. The first level of the game introduces the mechanic of jumping, and plays around with the timing of it in a variety of ways.

 

In this screen there's the first enemy you see in the game. It's stationary and the game prompts you to jump over it. This teaches the player to jump over hazards and if they fail they'll die.

This screen places a collectible gold piece above the player, if they're curious they'll jump and if not then they'll miss it. the next screen shows players that gold can be collected though.

This screen has an enemy surrounded by two gold pieces. The gold to the left of the enemy marks when the player should jump. If the player jumps at the mark they'll not only avoid the enemy but land perfectly on the next piece of gold.

This screen has a series of steps down which end in a pick up. The player will collect the pick up no matter what which teaches the player what these pick ups do.

This screen and the following few screens place two gold collectibles in the air. In order to pick up both of them the player must time their jump and then immediately jump again when they land. This teaches the player how to jump to a certain rhythm instead of just jumping when they feel like. There's a few screens like this later but they repeat a pattern of 1 gold collectible in the air then one on the ground. Those screens teach the player how to space their jumps out a bit more to the rhythm.

This is the only screen in the level that has a gap you need to jump over. This teachers the player that you'll sometimes have to jump to avoid death even if it's not an enemy.