the fallen
* not available on mobile.
tools
unity, c#
platforms
webgl
responsibilities
game programmer, level designer
devlog
goal: create a full gameplay loop.
introduction
until i started this game jam, my months of experience working in unity never resulted in a complete gameplay loop; as such, achieving this was my singular goal. to improve my chances of success, the scope of the game needed to be very small, especially because i was working alone.
planning
i used milanote to jot down simple game ideas & give myself as much foresight as possible for what was to come.
initially, i wanted replayability to be a core element of the game by having the player compete against the clock or achieve stars for their performance (we’ll revisit this later). i find it very interesting to see how the final product evolved due to the time constraints of the jam. needless to say, changes & modifications were made on the fly.
programming
setting out, i knew i wanted to practice good game architecture, such as writing scalable, clean code as best i could:
i used scriptable objects and singletons (sparingly) for player controls, persistent data, and game state managers.
i prioritized using events/delegates to create a flexible, dynamic broadcast system, so unrelated objects could communicate without direct references of each other.
level design
as the project developed, i wanted the player to feel uncomfortable exploring the level, so i attempted to make it:
elicit feelings of claustrophobia through the limited sight range and relatively cramped bookshelves.
maze-like to disorient the player and make them question where they have or have not been yet.
eerie by combining a dark environment with suspenseful music and sluggish movement.
final thoughts & takeaways
while this project is far from any of the aaa titles i play, i believe it served its purpose as a great starting point on my game development journey. i was able to go through the entire life cycle of creating a (very simple) game and had a lot of fun doing so!
the time crunch definitely led me to adopt a ‘get it done’ attitude, taking shortcuts wherever i could to ensure i made it to submission.
good level design takes a lot of time (not to say that my level is any good …) and creating an enjoyable, interesting area to explore is crucial in keeping the player engaged.