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Fluffy
Project Overview
Project Type: Finished game, published on Steam
Project Development: 9/2021 – 1/2022
Team: 4 Sophomore Computer Science majors
Role: Sole Level Designer
Genre: 2D Action Platformer
Engine: Unity Engine
Tools: Unity's built-in 2D Scene Editor, 2D Tile Palette
Platform: Windows and Mac
Project Responsibilities
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Designed and documented unique levels that incorporated tutorials, platforming, combat, and advancing player capabilities.
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Implemented levels in Unity using the tile palette tool to streamline workflows and enhance creative layout design.
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Provided thorough design documentation at every stage of the software development process.
Level Design Process Breakdown
1. Define Problem and Constraints
This part of my design process involves defining the most significant problem to solve to ensure the project's success, as well as identifying the constraints to consider when creating a plan to solve the problem.
Problem
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Design and develop multiple 2D action platforming levels.
Constraints
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I never developed a video game with a team before. This was the case for the whole team. Some hadn't even developed a game before.
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My only prior experience was a game development course
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3 months deadline
Gameplay from the finished version of Fluffy
2. Create a Plan
This part of my design process involves creating a plan to solve the most significant problem while considering the constraints.
Plan
Create extensive documentation for the design of the levels to serve as a guideline for development, and utilize Unity's tile palette tool to efficiently create multiple 2D action platforming levels.
Original documentation had art design, gameplay design, and level design for up to 60 levels.
Per our course requirements, we produced documents for our game. Specifically, an
SRS(Software Requirements Specification) and SPMP(Software Project Management Plan).
Unity's Tile Pallet Tool
Unity's tile palette tool is a convenient tool that allows easy placement of 2D textures into the game environment. Rather than the traditional method of dragging and dropping objects into the environment individually, textures can be selected and then used to draw objects into the environment.
Documentation
It was very overwhelming to work with a team on a project like this for the first time. Team members wanted to implement features without a proper understanding of how time-consuming and difficult they were to produce. Goals were overly ambitious, and since everyone lacked experience, we were quickly setting ourselves up for major disappointment.
Communication was lacking, and we needed it if we were going to effectively get this project completed on time. A lot of our work was dependent on each other's, meaning we could only progress as fast as we could receive the work of other teammates. Making communication crucial for our project's progression.
Our saving grace was extensive documentation. It helped tremendously in the areas in which our team was lacking.
Documentation kept goals organized according to priority. That way, our ambitions didn't prevent us from prioritizing the core functionality of the game. As the limitations of our skills and deadline were realized, we adapted according to our early documentation, which allowed us to focus on creating a satisfactory deliverable by the deadline.
In terms of communication, frequent updates to our backlog and documentation allowed us to see how quickly our teammates were progressing with their tasks. We could work around each other better by prioritizing work that was not dependent on our teammates.
This video showcases five minutes of me developing a level using the tile pallet tool and some of the assets used in Fluffy. The video is playing twice as fast as normal time, for ease of viewing.
I relied on the tile pallet tool because it was the only way to build many complex levels quickly. As I mastered the tool, my speed and efficiency improved, allowing me to create more complex environments. I also didn't lose time to learning additional tools or methods. Focusing on one tool also made it easier to integrate our designs from the documentation because it allowed quick integration, removal, and adjustment of game objects in the level.
My plan to become efficient with the tool helped significantly with developing the 2D action platforming levels within the deadline.
3. Execute and Iterate
This part of my design process involves executing the plan created in the previous step. As well as iterating the whole process if needed to account for unforeseen problems that arise during execution.
Iteration
Enemies and art assets were taking a significant time to develop, and without them, it would be difficult to develop levels that would incorporate them later. Waiting for these to be finished was not an option, as time was limited, so I realized I would need to make levels early that could later be changed as needed. Even though work would need to be redone in some cases, resulting in lost work, the benefit was much greater, as having completed levels early would make later additions much easier.
Without knowing how the enemies would behave beforehand, I decided to provide adequate spacing in the levels so that enemies could later be placed there. Similarly, I left room for art assets so I could add them later.
Multiple iterations of levels needed to be created to accommodate receiving the necessary assets I needed intermittently in the development of levels. This wasn't something I had accounted for; however, this is precisely why I leave iteration as a part of my design process. It accounts for problems unaccounted for. Simply repeating the execution phase of my design process can sometimes resolve these issues, such as with Fluffy. In the most difficult circumstances, iterating through my entire design process is necessary.
Level 2 of fluffy before implementation of enemies, tutorial text, and art
Level 2 of fluffy after implementation of enemies, tutorial text, and art
Final Execution
Through multiple iterations of executing the plan, I was able to complete five fully featured levels before the deadline. The plan to utilize the tile pallet tool to efficiently create levels and use documentation as a guideline proved very effective.
The levels have significant variety between them in platforming, scenery, and action scenarios. The levels are quite long, and altogether, without a game over, the game would take about 45 minutes to complete. However, due to the difficulty of the game and needing to restart at level one upon game over, the average playtime is closer to 1-2 hours. All the levels were successful in terms of the ability to complete them, as other team members and I tested the levels ourselves thoroughly.
All five levels of Fluffy in scene view
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