WEEK 3 | Animamundi

WEEK 3 - 22nd February

User Centred Design, Working on Puzzles, Pipelines

WEEKLY TASK

This week we were set tasks by our Project Leader Kiera as follows:

MY TASK

This week my task is to create and prototype the puzzle interactions in which the player will experience during the game.

Firstly we were to brainstorm puzzle ideas which we could implement into the game. Molly posted an idea into slack, and myself and Kiera also mind-mapped ideas.

My puzzle research can be found in my Blog Section:

BLOGS > PUZZLE RESEARCH

PLAYER EXPERIENCE - USER-CENTRED DESIGN

USER-CENTRED DESIGN

In order to design a puzzle suitable for the audience of Anima Mundi I must first establish who exactly this is. In order to do this I will be using multiple User Design methods for example a Persona and Experience Mapping.

MARKET-RESEARCH

In my Blog Section you can find 'Market Research' where I have documented the market research for 2D mobile puzzle games similar to Anima Mundi. I will be using this to produce an accurate replication of our target audience.

PLAYER EXPERIENCE - AUDIENCE

USER-CENTRED DESIGN: Doing this allows me to understand the expectations, demands, wants and needs of the end user. This assists design and development in order to achieve something that will be liked and appreciated by consumers, otherwise what's the point!

Anima Mundi will be aimed at mobile puzzle-gamers which according to my market research are typically female. Therefore Anima Mundi must appeal to this audience. We aim to create a game accessible to a wide audience however for the sake of design this is important to consider.

The purpose and essential experience of Anima Mundi is to take players on a journey of enlightenment and self-discovery - for us to do this we must consider ways of doing so.

We desire to provide players with casual gameplay and an immersive experience. The way to achieve this is to take into account visuals and appealing to users. Unique art style and audio etc.

To make this concept feasible we will distribute tasks between us, making the games appearance our top priority. We will focus on attractive aesthetics, sound design and extreme attention to detail.

PLAYER EXPERIENCE - EMPATHY MAPPING

I have created an empathy map in order to understand the thoughts and feelings of the user during Anima Mundi. When designing elements such as assets we must be aware of this in order to achieve a style that will be liked by users. It's important for players to feel encouraged to play and to therefore explore their virtual environment. Visuals must appeal and attract users for players to then wonder "what does this do?" and "how do I use this?". We aim for players to feel excited to play, engaged, curious and most importantly at peace! Casual puzzle gaming provides players with distraction as well as beautiful visuals and immersive gameplay.

PLAYER AIM:

The players aim will be to traverse their environment while completing a series of puzzles. In order to make them feel this way I must design interactions which require focus but not too much concentration. Our aim is to not bore players or introduce complex tasks.

PLAYER EXPERIENCE - PERSONA

I have made a general Persona for the audience/typical user of Anima Mundi. This is based off my User-Centred Design and Market Research (found in Blogs)>

EVALUATION

Summarising the persona of a puzzle gamer, they are typically young females and most interested in casual gaming. Within this persona I have created 'Rebecca', a school student interested in Art and puzzles such as Sudoku. This is a student that will have time to play Anima Mundi potentially on the bus ride to school or free-time at home. Taking this persona into account we must develop Anima Mundi accordingly - providing players with casual gameplay, attractive visuals and overall a playful yet immersive experience.

PLAYER EXPERIENCE - PURPOSE OF DESIGN

This then links to the purpose of design. Our purpose is to develop a game/experience which provides a method of distraction and peace, as well as require a bit of thought but to remain playful and exciting. Anima Mundi will allow players to enter a beautiful virtual environment where they'll have freedom to explore as well as completing small tasks.

IMMERSION AND ENGAGING PLAYERS

These are important factors of Anima Mundi and the way to achieve them are to consider elements of gaming such as the use of Audio. Sound Design will be extremely important for our Vertical Slice in order to showcase the main idea of captivating players and using this as a method of immersion. As Josh mentioned in his GDD, a piano soundtrack is important to achieve the atmosphere he desires.

NEXT STEPS

Kiera organised a meeting for Thursday 25th February to discuss potential puzzle ideas, from here I will prototype the one we feel is best for showcasing.

BLOGS > PUZZLE RESEARCH

(Here find puzzle research and mind-mapping of ideas)

From this we will be able to refine and finalise our project scope.

MY NEXT STEP - Research and Brainstorm Puzzle Ideas

MY PUZZLE IDEAS

Using my puzzle research (found in Blogs section) and my User-Centred Design above, I have come up with a series of puzzle ideas and interactions which can take place within the game. My Puzzle Research included simple mind-mapping of ways the player can interact around their environment, using their two abilities - Gust and Boulder Throw.

In the next meeting I will discuss these ideas with the team as well as using their suggestions and we will progress from here.

THURSDAY 25TH: SLACK MEETING

Our group meeting today was to discuss the basis of the puzzle and player interactions. This was to gather enough ideation in order to prototype a working puzzle to implement into our vertical slice.

DISCUSSION

Using the suggestions from the team we collaboratively brainstormed ideas and different ways of using the abilities available to the player.

List can be found on via our Slack channel #Anima-Mundi

NOTES FROM MEETING:

Puzzle Ideas-

Molly suggests using panpipes/windchimes within the game. This could be to create music, players must blow into the pipes and play a specific tune.
Daniella had the idea of using drip irrigation systems. Players might have to change the order of bamboo pipes and redirect the flow of water? or change the direction of them to encourage water flow.
Charisma gave us a link to a full playthrough video of game 'Wenjia' similar to the basis of Anima Mundi. Inspiration can be taken from environment, art style, player movement and collectibles around environment etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn6zx1GQzd0&ab_channel=ShizzyHollywood
Charisma encouraged the idea of using Air/Wind in different types of ways. (list provided below) Maybe players can convert wind into water somehow? Links to the idea of restoring nature of some sort.
Kiera had the idea of using the Boulder to smash debris and clear the players pathway. This could act as an obstacle players must use their ability tactically to progress.
Should combine my puzzle research with some of the teams suggestions to develop a final puzzle idea. Should consist of around 5-6 puzzles and must be completed by using the player abilities.
Team likes my idea of restoring the beauty around the environment and potentially linking the puzzle ideas to these. Also the idea of lighting up lanterns as you progress/complete each puzzle. This is an indication that the puzzle has been completed successfully.

PUZZLE SUGGESTIONS

Molly expanded Daniella's idea as well as her own:

NOTES

adapting their ideas

Panpipes idea - using the Gust of wind, players can blow wind into their chosen pipe, the result of this would play a note. Maybe players would have to play a tune corresponding to something within the environment.
Using audio - this tune could be linked with a spirit around the environment. Maybe a mating call? or a tune sung by birds to act as a distraction. Eagle/butterfly could act as an obstacle.
Bamboo water system could be set up and players must use wind to redirect the flow of water. This could lead to a dead tree and your task is to restore it. Or to create a flow of water to add to the environment. (Restore a lake, river, maybe fill a bucket of water to weigh something down, or an extra task set by Guardian Spirits)

VIDEO/GAME ANALYSIS

'Wenjia"

Calming, relaxing soundtrack - should study this for sound design research later on.
Player movement is kept simple, walk and jump.
Aesthetically pleasing environment - waterfalls, lots of surrounding trees, use of parallaxing, flowers, transition of regions, clouds and sky.
Light follows player.
Other animals around the environment to distract players and adds special touch.
Collectibles placed around environment. Player (cat) has to jump to collect.
Parallaxing is used making the landscape seem 3D, this adds depth to the environment and makes it look like the scene goes further back. (Although it is just a 2D side scroller) I will look into parallaxing for our game to achieve this sense of depth and three dimension.
Audio is really important, this is something I'll happily focus on to give our game the ambience we desire. Will look into sound effects and soundtrack to play at all times. (Josh suggested using piano and soft synthesisers to do this) For the full game this would differ between regions but in our case, I'd only need to account for 1 region.

EVALUATION

After this discussion/meeting we have decided my next steps are to develop a full puzzle for our vertical slice which will take place in the Air Region. I will use the team suggestions and my notes to create iterations and variations of puzzle ideas using the two abilities.

NEXT STEPS:

Me (Emilia) - Develop Puzzle Ideas/Interactions
Charisma - Concepts for how the environment will look
Molly - Ability animations and how they will look
Daniella - Creating Character Concept
Kiera - Write out narrative/Gameplay structure (using puzzle interactions)
Meeting with Josh "Question the Creator" session.

QUESTION THE CREATOR - JOSH

FRIDAY 26TH: MEETING WITH JOSH AT 12:30

Today we had a meeting with Josh, the designer of 'Anima Mundi'. With some help from the team, I wrote out a list of relevant questions that we needed answering or thought would help with developent.

NOTES FROM DISCUSSION:

Question the Creator-

Can you elaborate on your intentions for the main player experience?

Exploration game. Atmosphere plays a big part. More about making the environment look really nice and base it on beauty.

What did you envision the puzzles to be like? Do you have an example?

Environmental puzzles for example pressure plates, step on the pressure plates to traverse environment. Or move statues in order of spirits to collect the ability. Possibly place boulders to climb on top of them, get to places you couldn't reach before.

How did you want the encounter/interaction with spirits to happen?

Talk to the spirits to get the ability, complete a certain number of puzzles before you can get the ability, need all relics to complete the game.

Purpose of mythical creatures?

Distract mythical creatures to traverse the environment, e.g. distract butterflies in your pathway.

EXTRAS:

Imagine Avatar spirit world, eerie spirit world, Japanese art style, simplistic, soft colours similar to Okami game.
Mystical atmosphere.
Use of parallaxing.

GAMES FOR REFERENCE:

Genshin Impact

Professor Layton

EVALUATION

This discussion led to our understanding of how exactly he intended for the environment to look as well as how puzzles, spirits and mythical creatures would all tie in with the main gameplay.

NEXT STEPS:

Do research on Genshin Impact and Professor Layton
Look into Okami Art style to influence our own
Develop our own idea for puzzles

DEVELOPING A PUZZLE - CONDITIONS

I have been given the task of developing a series of intricate puzzle ideas which can be implemented into our Vertical Slice.

Before development I must note down the conditions:
Puzzles must be completed by using one of two abilities: Boulder throw and Gust.
Boulder Throw - Player throws boulder from their current player position to wherever they desire using a swipe motion.
Gust - Player produces a gust of wind using their staff and produces this by performing a swirling motion on screen.
Puzzle must be completed before advancing to the next one.
Each puzzle must be successfully completed before essentially transitioning to the next region. (In this case we will be only showcasing one region but there will be 5-6 puzzles in this region that must be completed before the game can end)

SKETCHES

PUZZLE CONCEPT 1

For this concept I sketched out ways the two abilities could be used. During the first stage, the gust is being used as a levitation mechanism and the boulder is being used to weigh a platform down. These puzzles are examples of ways the abilities can be used to help the player traverse and progress the environment. E.g. the player weighs the platform down in order to be able to walk onto it and onto the next one.

Additionally, the gust of wind can be used to move an object within the environment. For example in my drawing above the gust is used to change the direction of the clouds so they reveal the next pathway for the player. The clouds act as the obstacle and the players ability Gust can be used to overcome this. The boulder throw can also be used to fill a gap allowing players to pass through a hole in the ground or in another object, such as the Bridge. Additionally, the environment will consist of assets such as Blossom trees and Spirit Guardians in a unique Japanese Art Style. The spirit guardians will hover over each puzzle as you complete it and follow you as you progress.

REFLECTION

I worry that a multi-purpose ability will make gameplay too complex and this will be hard to differentiate in terms of controls. The last thing we want to do is make the use of controls frustrating, and according to my research (Blogs>Game Development) keeping controls clear and simple are more appealing to users. The environmental assets can be kept the same and this will be considered after research into our chosen Art Style however, the idea of spirit guardians to guide players throughout is a unique way to track progress during the game therefore I will implement this into the finalised puzzle interactions and gameplay structure.

PUZZLE CONCEPT 2

Inspired by Molly and Daniella's joint effort in establishing a puzzle idea, this concept is based off players having to change the direction of bamboo/irrigation system pipes in order to create water flow throughout the environment. This could later lead to growing crops around the environment or restoring trees. This links to the idea of restoring nature around the environment therefore this would be the players purpose and main aim.

The main mechanic will be using the Gust to move the pipes in the direction the player desires. This will require a mechanism that allows the pipes to rotate.

REFLECTION

This puzzle would take place on the main platform islands which are meant to appear as if they are floating in an Air Region. This system will require the pipes to be attached and therefore this will be much harder with gaps in between each island. As well as this, being a 2D mobile game we are restricted with how much we place in the environment, so this puzzle will mean player movement is restricted as well as additional assets we might add to the environment later on.

We came to a group decision to involve both Gust and Boulder Throw abilities during this region, therefore I must brainstorm ways of using both abilities with one purpose each during a series of interactions with different outcomes. To keep players engaged there should be more than 1 puzzle interaction in each region and this concept would work best as one longer puzzle.

EVALUATION

I will disregard this idea and focus on shorter more intricate interactions rather than longer ones.

PUZZLE CONCEPT 3

I based this idea off the purpose of the Shaman traversing the environment. 2D mobile games often have pretty aesthetics and focus more on this rather than gameplay, therefore It's important for us to focus on the visuals. I have linked this with gameplay by implementing an idea that displays the players progression rather than being in the form of points or a scoring system.

This idea was inspired by my research into Game Engagement (can be found in Blogs section) which outlines the way to keep players engaged during gameplay and to focus less on point systems, scoring, leaderboards and complex progress metrics. This idea is an attractive way to visually display the players success throughout the game.

'RESTORING BEAUTY'

The purpose of this concept is to restore beauty around the environment. The puzzles will be linked to this theme and will be completed by using the acquired abilities. Once the player completes a puzzle, the lantern to the right of it will light up. Puzzles will be completed to make the region appear more attractive. Essentially, players are completing puzzles to light up the environment and restore beauty around the environment!

REFLECTION

Focusing on the idea of 'Restoring Beauty' means looking into aesthetics, colour and audio for the environment and asset design is important. We should focus on providing players with an aesthetically pleasing environment as well as intricate gameplay. In order to do so we must establish a unique art style and provide designers with a guide to achieve a consistent style throughout. 2D games rely heavily on lighting and use of depth in games therefore this is something we must consider and discuss too. According to my user centred design and persona, the majority of our audience prefer more casual gameplay that lasts longer than a usual gaming session, furthermore this concept is most suitable for our target audience.

EVALUATION

I will create digital concepts of the puzzles that could be implemented into the vertical slice under the influence of the idea 'restoring the beauty' and also using Josh's requirements from today's meeting. I will then present and discuss them with the team in our call at 2:30pm.

FINALISING IDEAS DIGITALLY

BOULDER THROW ABILITY IDEAS

GUST ABILITY IDEAS

'FILL A GAP'

MECHANIC:

Player swipes to throw boulder in the gap of a bridge in order to walk over it.

'LIGHT UP LANTERN'

MECHANIC:

Player uses Gust by performing a swirling motion over a windmill to generate electricity and turn the nearest lantern on.

'WEIGH DOWN PLATFORM'

MECHANIC:

Player swipes to throw boulder onto a platform too high to access. This weighs it down and brings it down to the players level, enabling them to walk across.

'RESTORE DEAD TREE'

MECHANIC:

Player uses Gust Ability by performing a swirl motion to create rain water over a dead tree in order to restore it.

'PRESSURE PLATES'

MECHANIC:

Player swipes to throw boulder in a row to create stepping stones and pass to the next platform.

'PANPIPES'

MECHANIC:

Player uses Gust Ability to blow air into the correct panpipes and create a tune to distract the eagle obstructing their path.

'DISPERSE CLOUDS'

MECHANIC:

Player uses Gust Ability to move the direction of clouds to reveal the hidden pathway, enabling players to progress.

FRIDAY 26TH 2:30PM: SLACK MEETING

After finalising the puzzle concepts we are now holding a meeting to discuss the order of the puzzles and any new suggestions.

DISCUSSION

We discussed which puzzle interactions were our favourite and which we believed fit our theme best.

I presented each of my puzzle ideas and the team chose their favourites as well as making suggestions/additions.

NOTES

Kiera's sketches were based on my idea 'Lighting up the region'. She suggested 'Clearing skies and establish peace'.
Based on lighting up lanterns and restores beauty.
Adapted on clearing skies to then reveal beautiful mountain scape.
Had another idea of smashing debris blocking water flow, by using boulder and redirecting flow down platform islands.
Team agreed this was a suitable idea in terms of restoring the beauty as well as being a simple/casual puzzle interaction, fitting the genre of our game.

NOTES FROM MEETING:

Puzzle Ideas-

Not a team favourite.
Keep puzzles related to restoring beauty.
Focus on making environment improve in some way.
How will we implement this in Unity?

Agreed to include panpipe puzzle idea.
Charisma suggested creating the eagle and potentially animating it too.

Like the idea of restoring a dead tree, links with restoring beauty well.
Molly has experience in animation so could make this work.
Great example of how Gust could be used to benefit environment.

Disregarding stepping stone interaction.
Does not link with main theme.
Unsure as to how player will place 4 in a row.

Likes the simple interaction with the windmill and generating electricity.
Lanterns could be placed in the trees at each stage of the puzzle.

Likes the idea of dispersing clouds.
Suggested to be used as first interaction using Gust to ease players and provide prompts similar to bridge interaction.

Team agrees to original 'fill the gap' idea for the players first interaction in the environment.
Use this simple interaction to ease players into game and provide prompts too. (How to use Boulder)

KIERA'S PUZZLE IDEA

EVALUATION

During our discussion we concluded on our 6 favourite puzzle interactions and I was given the task of drawing up a storyboard of each interaction step by step. I plan to have this done by 3rd March and send it to the team via Slack. From this we can then create a refined Project Scope and assign asset creation to team members.

Finalised Puzzles:

Fill the gap of a broken bridge

Smash debris to encourage waterflow

Disperse clouds to reveal environment

Redirect raincloud to restore dead tree

Turn windmill and generate electricity to turn on lantern

Blow tune into panpipes to distract eagle obstructing pathway

NEXT STEPS

Before I round off the week I am going to take note of our teams capabilities in order to make the development process clearer and to be aware of the individual skill sets we have amongst us:

KIERA

2D ARTIST
Comfortable with writing narrative/gameplay structure
Determined to improve with Coding/Unity

CHARISMA

2D ARTIST
User Interface
Happy to experiment using Unity

DANIELLA

2D ARTIST
Determined to try new skill set e.g. Animation.

MOLLY

2D ARTIST
Animator
Experience working in Unity

2D ARTIST
Sound Design
Marketing
Determined to improve with animation and potentially working in Unity too.

NEXT STEPS FOR TEAM/WEEKLY SCHEDULE

WEEK SUMMARY

I have completed the main puzzle interactions and I am ready to progress with refining the main scope with Kiera. The team and I are happy with the outcome of the puzzles and therefore are taking next steps into development.

ISSUES THAT AROSE

There were unexpected delays with completion of tasks therefore these tasks have been set to be continued by Team Members during the next week!

DANIELLA

Set to continue her Character Design (not yet posted) for the following Week (4).

CHARISMA

Set to continue concepts of both air and fire region.

MOLLY

Set to continue ability animation designs.

KIERA

Completed Gameplay Structure. (Found here: https://trello.com/c/1fegBctv/13-kiera-basic-gameplay-structure )

Next steps to refine scope with Emilia.

Adapt gameplay to new scope.

EMILIA

Completed Puzzle design.

Refine Scope with Kiera.

Refine final puzzle storyboard. (Outlining each stage)