Growing

Team

Growing Senior Project Team

Organization

Drexel University

Year

2021

Growing is a 3D platformer developed at Drexel University. I was the lead designer on the team. This was my senior project at Drexel.

Below, I will walk you through the design process for the final level: The Attic.

For general information about the game, please check out our website.

Growing

Teaser Trailer

Early Greybox

I went from there straight to Unity. Using Probuilder I blocked out the bounds of the room to a get a sense of what space I was working with. I find getting into the engine early can really jump start the creative process.

Stealth System Test

Next I needed to know what tools I was working with. I went ahead and built out a stealth system to start testing the levels. A ray-casting solution was easy enough to put together. With some added components it could be used to cheaply (performance wise) and effectively imitate shadows providing cover.

Attic Level Design

Next it was time to put something down on paper. I divided the area into three walled off sections each with their own stealth camera and set of obstacles. The level has an overarching puzzle to be solved by moving boxes with the dash ability. The areas follow a pattern of teach>practice>execute. We introduce the first moving block, which you need to send into the next area before you can progress. When the player reaches the second section the box they sent through is waiting, providing some much needed cover. The player then practices this process of setting up cover one more time, then uses the same method to reach the final objective, a light switch.

Attic Greybox Walkthrough

Next, I built out the level in Unity with the main functionality present. This let me get a sense of how the theoretical mockup would actually feel to play. The movement of the lights became too distracting for playtesters, they would miss the whole puzzle. Because of this testing I changed the second two stealth systems to fixed lights.

Attic Final Gameplay

After testing it was time to give the greybox a much needed coat of paint. More testing revealed that without the bright colors of the movable boxes they were easily missed. I went to my art team and had them whip up some particle systems to help highlight the movable boxes, then placed more prominent decals on the floor to indicate direction.