This week out of session I finished off the block outs for the streets unfortunately I was unable to start on the sewers but will be working on this in session.

The original idea for the end of the streets area :

As mentioned before I was changing up the design of the area due to it being too long and stale and the end of the level felt very boring / would look unappealing with the player having to go through the same game play over again.

I did some extra research on how sewer entrances would look in a city as this was the biggest problem on how the end of the level would look.

I started to look at how canals/rivers look within cities.

I really liked the look of the second idea and used this as the end of the level instead. The previous part of the level design looked like it was going into a more industrial area of the city therefore this wouldn’t look out of place it would also make sense to have a big entrance to the sewers not in the center of the city.

Final Blockout :

I will need to update the asset list for the streets area removing assets i’ll no longer need and include any new assets.

In the next session I aim to complete the sewer block out with good progress made on the forest area, I also plan to make the small changes to the tutorial level.

This week in session I started working on the block outs for the streets area.

Screenshots of progress so far :

While working on the block out I found a couple of issues.

The first issue is with the tutorial level the hiding for the arctic fox is too big of a jump, i will bring this issue up with the tech team next week and decrease the distance however this also means that the assets will need moving forward.

The second issue i found was that on paper the level seemed much shorter however with the scale in engine the level without any of the enemies was already too long, therefore I removed some of the buildings and made the others smaller. I also changed the way that the level played out in the second section.

This means I will also need to consider cutting down the other two areas also as they are starting to become levels instead of small areas within a level.

Out of session this week I aim to complete the block out area for the streets and re design the sewers and forest. I also hopefully aim to start working on some of the design fixes in the tutorial area once tech has finished fixing their issues. 

This week out of session I started to create a list of ideas that would be included in the forest area

Traps – Spikes, falling spikes, pitfall traps

Enemies

Logs to walk on – push/pull object to cover gaps/to get to places

Branches to walk on

Blocked paths – Have to climb up / through trees

Vines

Bridges

Caves

Forest Initial Level Design-

This task was originally set for my junior to work on however he was unable to complete the task in time meaning I had to work on creating the level design and asset list.

Asset List for the forest –

Hide Spots – Bushes, Tree stumps, hollow logs (face on view)

Bridge

Broken Bridge

Tree

Tree style platforms (branches some with leaves some without)

Pitfall trap –  circle of spikes, branches/leaves to cover the trap

Cave Entrance

2 styles of rocks to hide behind

Ceiling spikes (they will fall on the player)

Logs – the character will walk along these so make them thick

Vines

Stepping stones (across water)

Large branches for the character to walk up (picture 2 on the level design)

This week in session I will start the block out of the next areas, create a mechanic list for the tech team to start testing out mechanics and make final changes to the tutorial level.

I was unable to receive feedback on the updated level design for the tutorial area. This will be play tested at the start of next session.

Based on feedback on the level designs for the next areas i made some changes that would improve the gameplay of the areas.

In next session I will ask our tech team if they are able to complete some of the new mechanics we intend to implement.

With the designs completed for each of these areas I made an asset list for each of the areas for the art to start working on in next session. I have also created a folder of reference images for the art team so they understand what vision that we are going for.

Sewers :

Bridge

Piles of rubbish, some of these should be bigger as the character needs to jump on them, bin bags, wood planks, pallets, waste barrels etc.

Sewer pipes

Bricks – these will stick out of the walls for the character to jump up

Pipe and valve

Holes in the sewer walls, some have covers some don’t

Archway

Generator

Machinery to fit into an underground generator room – reference images

Streets :

Cranes? (background asset)

Path and Road Texture

Houses

Apartment building – no stairs

Apartment building – with stairs

Sewer hole cover

Drain pipe

Rubbish – Cardboard, bottles, bin bags etc.

Animal control vans

Water Tank

Roof style vent

Solar panels

Air vent + cover, different types are included in reference images, some to be made to fit on the sides of buildings

Billboards

Washing Line

Balcony

Tables/Chairs, pillows, loungers, sofas

Bar?

Biffa Bins, normal dust bins

Inside of a shop (will decide in session)

All shops should have an awning and a sign that sticks out (like pub signs) some of them should also include chairs and tables outside

Barbers, have the barber pole separate

Coffee shop, butchers and a flower shop

Flower stand

Specials Signs

Big plant pot (this is for the character to jump onto)

Out of session –

To start exploring a level design for the forest area, once completed create an asset list for this area.

To also think about planning a basic story line to connect some of the elements in the game together so they now make sense.

Our first goal was to perfect the tutorial level as after week 2/3 we plan to move onto the next level.

The team also made an important decision based upon feedback we had received most of last semester and that was to make the game now 1 plane and remove the jump spots as we were already suffering from problems with this mechanic. We are still keeping the hide spots and will modify them to make them more obvious and include a hiding animation.

The other big change we made was giving the red fox another new ability. He is now able to pull/pickup objects, this meant we needed to visually change his character model to make him look more able to pick up heavier objects.

As a team we also spoke about making the character switching like trine however our team liked the character switching we had so therefore we are planning to add some more lore to the game explaining why the fox is able to morph into other foxes.

Updated Level based on one plane – The vent in now under ground and you need the red fox to move the trolley out of the way then remove the vent cover. You will still need to use the fennec fox to into the vent.

Streets Ideas

Level needs to end at the sewer entrance, you must jump down into the sewers to escape animal control, the enemies.

Enemy types, animal control, hunters (Madagascar style enemies)

Hide Spots, between bins, in alleyways, behind cars, behind piles of rubbish

Sewer Holes, use the fennec fox to jump down holes to pass obstacles

Jump up the side of buildings (Be able to jump up to the roof and back down again)

Collectable placement

Streets Level Design

Sewer Ideas

Level needs to end outside the city leading to the forest area

Hide spots, holes in the walls, pipe holes, piles of rubbish

Jump onto pipes instead of always travelling on the floor

Areas that are flooded blocking your way

Holes and pipes, you need to jump down or up

Generator rooms or valve rooms to de flood areas or power up doors

Collectable placement

Sewer Level Design

This week in session was the merge of the UI into the build.

We encountered many problems but managed to get all UI functioning and working in the main build.

Before we could spend the rest of the session play testing I needed to update some of the level designs by replacing blocks with actual assets.

Still to do at the start of next semester:

Add tooltips for when you change character

Add tooltip for lock picking the main entrance gate

Add second maze

Add Maze UI

Over Christmas :

Level designs for Streets, Forest and Sewers

Blocks outs

Trap Designs

Tooltip list for new mechanics

Asset lists

This week out of session i focused on fixing and completing the options screens that my Junior made a start on. 

At the moment you are only able to change the resolution, next semester there will be options to change the volume of sound effects, music and change the brightness and gamma.

Controls Screen

Opening the screens and using a widget switcher to change between the options and settings.

Closing Character Screen / Back Buttons 

In session this week we aim to fully merge the UI and make changes where needed ready for playtesting.

This week in session I worked on what I had started out of session. This was to get the In Game HUD working so we could add the functionality in session, get the in game tooltips working, set up the main menu and pause menu.

Character Controller – Setting up the HUD, hiding tooltips and opening and closing the pause menu.

Pause Screen and In Game HUD –

Tooltips using data tables – Each time you overlap one of these it will check the ID and perform the task associated with that ID. All of the tooltips disable character movement, require you left click to remove the tooltip and walk again.  Most of the tooltips will only show text that gives you information of how to play the level. Some of the other tooltips will have a constant showing tooltip (for the tutorial level only) this will be the key they need to use at that certain area.

Main Menu – Uses a reusable widget that when you hover over the text it will change colour. There are two of these. One for the Main Menu which changes white text to orange and one for the settings which changes grey text to white.

I had set a deadline for my junior to have completed all of the options screen widgets for the session as this was a much smaller task that what I had set myself. However the work was not completed before and in session. Meaning we couldn’t play test. As I needed to merge and make sure all the UI was working correctly before passing it over to tech for the final merge this meant the group was now behind on schedule. I had to take the task on myself even though some of my areas were not fully completed due to the fact I had an older version of the build that I was creating the UI in. 

Out of session this week –

Finishing the options screen ready for a merge at the start of next weeks session.

This week was mainly spent on setting up for the UI implementation and functionality. 

We play tested the level at the start to see if we could find flaws with design before next weeks feedback session. We found a couple of errors that we fixed. However out of session I need to look at fixing where the hide spots are going to be in the zoo entrance area, as currently you won’t be able to spot the guard passing by and knowing when its safe to come out. We also tested at how the searching would look in the reception area and making changes to how she searches which will need updating on the timeline (this won’t affect how the timeline plays out).

I will be working on editing the main menu, creating a pause menu and inserting all the in game tool tips. In next weeks session I plan to have the In Game HUD working as out of session this week I will be creating the widget. I will also be making sure that the timeline is updated by the end of next session with all the remaining photos placed.

I already have mock designs for the main menu, pause menu and settings screen. We wont be using any of the images in these designs but will be using the fonts and placement of the text. We are also using the designs to see what functionality needs to be implemented by next Tuesday.

I made the mock design for the controls screen. This widget will be created by my junior.

Unfortunately this week in session I was unable to accomplish much as my junior has never worked with UI before so I have been teaching him the basics. After this we started to create some of the widgets with me guiding him on how each one should be created (anchors, scale boxes and setting up some of the functionality). I also taught him about structures and data tables which is what i’ll be using when implementing the in game tool tips and what he will be using as a description in the settings screen which is displayed in the design above.