Design Documents for the level design in Project 3.
For this map I wanted to go through the very basic mechanics of the game. Informing the player about basic movement, camera movement, and using the first special ability: telekinesis.
My goal: was to introduce the basic game mechanics in an enclosed linear environment. While using minimal and unobtrusive cinematic cutscenes to not bore the player.
The player starts the game in narrow corridor, presenting the player with a linear play space to learn movement mechanics. The player then gets to the end of the hallway and is blocked. A skippable cinematic plays showing the way through and how to use the new ability, telekinesis. It also is able to be bypassed by the player by them pushing the painting to the side, but another blockage ahead needs the player to use telekinesis to get through by breaking the gate. Showcasing destructibility and encourages putting two and two together and using telekinesis without prompting. Because this is a difficult jump in reasoning, when the player is looking at something that can be interacted with, it creates a highlight around the object.
The player then is shown a bridge across acid waters. A title shows across the middle of the screen saying, “Acid Lakes”. If the player enters the water it damages their health bar, makes a sound, and “OUCH” VFX floats up from the player. But the player has infinite jumps while in the water, making it easy to escape. There’s then a trigger showing a cutscene showcasing the enemies and giving a hint on how to damage them.
Then another cutscene shows the boat and gives options for the player to exit the scene and tutorial.
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