GOALS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Create a complete game in 15 weeks selected following a prototyping phase. Done in 2018
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30 minutes minimum gameplay as lifespan
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Totalof15 levels
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Role of Level Designer and Level Artist
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Accessible
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Difficulty curve balanced from easy to intermediate
QD_Gameplay_Footage
RESUME:
Quantitative Discontinuity is a first-person puzzle game happening in the near future where the player has to escape from an underground complex thanks to a device that allows the player to travel between two universes.
DESIGN FOCUS ON:
- Indirects tutorials -
- Indications (creepage, signs, etc) -
- Use of light and contrasts -
NARRATIVE ELEMENTS
Preface
In a science complex, a janitor witnesses a serious explosion. When he wakes up, his radio links him to a past version of his world.
Setting
Early winter. Scientific complex
- Universe A:
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Functional, electricity is present
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Multiple accesses locked to authorized staff
- Universe B:
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Destroyed
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Non-functional, electricity is cut off
DESIGN INTENTIONS
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Level Design
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- Design simple puzzles but with complex executions
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- Create '' Eureka '' moments where the player feels intelligent to have solved a problem
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- Create a narrative experience that will guide the player in his navigation
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- Design fun and engaging puzzles in narrative coherence
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- Vary the different puzzles with basic mechanics
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CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED
Game's rythm
- Layout studies and understanding of successful games of the genre (Portal, Talos Principle)
- Focus on the elements in hand to create stimulating puzzles
- Prototype which was originally too focused on a strict audience, new open experience to facilitate playtests
Teamwork
- Copy industry structures and their pipeline
- Expulsion of certain members
- Frequent and quick meetings to find out what needs to be done by everyone and their priorities
HOW DO WE LEARN?
TUTORIAL
LEVEL 1
BEFORE
AFTER
- The gizmo allowing the change of dimension not very visible
- The players' first instinct was to jump behind the wall (Since he didn't have the gizmo)
- No overlay
- The player starts with the gizmo
- No more wall
- Implementation of an overlay indicating the mechanics
STEP 1
LEVEL 2
BEFORE
AFTER
- Establishment of logic: Dimension A is functional and therefore the electricity too
- Functional concept, but limited
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
LEVEL 3
BEFORE
- Too complex for the majority of players
- Despite the proximity between the drop-off points for the boxes, the players were lost
STEP 1
STEP 3
AFTER
- Each level corresponds to a box necessary to move forward, so no juggling
- More interesting light work indicating the position of the box of dimension B
STEP 2
STEP 4
LEVEL 4
BEFORE
- Battery positioning difficult to spot
- Platform too high on the other side of the bridge (Player forcing at all costs to climb that way)
- Forget about the existence of the bridge (Frustrating fall that starts over on the other side of the bridge without the box)
STEP 1
AFTER
- Positioning of the box close to the stairs
- The positioning of the battery gives directly into the field of vision of the electric plate - Better use of the bridge
STEP 2
STEP 3
STEP 4
STEP 5
LEVEL 5
BEFORE
- Getting rid of a mechanism `` charging '' the batteries thanks to a pressure plate
- Ice walls obstructing the view and the puzzle in general
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STEP 1
STEP 3
STEP 5
AFTER
- Addition of boxes interacting with both dimensions
- Open room allowing full visibility
- Variation in the environment to help understanding the puzzles
STEP 2
STEP 4
STEP 6
LEVEL 13
- ''Unconventional '' use of the cubes
- Intermediate difficulty level
- Objective 1: Wedge the door with a cube
- Objective 2: Expand the use of cubes
STEP 1
STEP 3
STEP 5
STEP 2
STEP 4
STEP 6
LEVEL 14
- Intermediate difficulty level
- Objective 1: Full summary of all that has been learned
- Objective 2: Long and simple puzzle but which requires a lot of manipulation
STEP 1
STEP 3
STEP 5
STEP 2
STEP 4
STEP 6
STEP 7
Once the battery is placed in its base, the door for the next level opens directly in the player's field of vision
INSPIRATION
Here in Portal, one of the first things we witness is the mechanics of the portals. Second, we show how it goes.