Puzzle Game Research

Tomb Raider (2013)

Mechanics:
Running, Jumping, Shooting, Climbing, Arrows, Ropes, Fire, Levers

Puzzle:
First Puzzle

The first puzzle functions as a giant Rube-Goldberg Machine

The player find out that both "cages" are balancing each other based on their weights but one of them is stuck since it is heavier
By burning down the rope when the second weight system is at its highest, the objectrs inside fall and allows the balance system to work.
The player later notices a jammed mine cart, and pushing it doesnt do anything.

By waiting for some heavy objects from the waterfall to fill the second platform, the player  can then jump on the initial platform to cause these objects (explosive barrells) to fall into the minecart,

Next time the player pushed the cart, the barrels roll down into the blocked section of the cave.
Theres a waterfall blockign the way, whioch would extinguish any flaming objects and the player's torch if they try to walk through it.
so in order to get around this, The player then repeats the balancing system after lighting the wooden barrels on the cart on fire.
BOOM
puzzle solved!

Hero Prop mechanics: Brainstorming

1) Rewinding the player's location: similar to the primary mechanic from Braid or Tracer from Overwatch. Probably a belt or gauntlet.

2) Air Glider

3) Dagger that makes the player invisible at the cost of movement speed

4) Bow and Arrow that teleports player to the location of the arrow

5) Chargeable Blink-ability, the longer it is charged the longer the distance. could be added to a weapon or player accessory (Similar to Dishonored)

6) player sentry gun. Possibility of being upgradable? Similar to the engineer from Team Fortress 2

7) player controlled drone swarm, they move/shoot to the player's reticle

8) change player texture to camouflage with his surroundings (similar to Octocamo from Metal Gear Solid 4)

9) Player Decoy that walks in a straight line (similar to Halo: Reach/4) spawned from a glove or grenade

10) Player duplicated himself and they perform identical actions (Storm, Earth, and Fire from World of Warcraft. Double Cherry from Super Mario 3D World)

Racing Level and character texture break down

Racing Level Beauty shot

Character breakdown of textures and model.
Modeled and UV'd in Maya and Zbrush, textured in Substance Painter and rendered in Unreal Engine 4

Thumbnails

Early shots using photobash/ motion blur

WIP digital paintings

experimental speed painting 

                                                                 Photo-study WIP

Finished Racing Game Character: Rover

Thumbnail sketches

quick thumbnail photobash/digital painting sketches 30min total

Racing Game Trailer

Berzerk research

Researching a list of assets and features present in the original 1980 arcade multi directional shooter  Berzerk to recreate it in Unreal Engine 4.

1) Player- can shoot in 8 basic directons
2) camera- top down
3) Wall collision- kills player
4) Enemies: Robots (multi colored), Evil Otto
Yellow Robots- slow
Red robots- very hostile
Evil Otto- spawns after fixed period, jumps through walls. moves the same speed as player horizontally but faster in the up and down directions. He is intended to quicken the game.


Player is damaged by: Walls, lazers, collision on robots, near exploding robots, Evil Otto.
The simplest way to make Evil Otto and and the player work is probably to have no collision on walls and instead have a Kill-Z
HUD:
simple, shows only number of points and lives

Basic gameplay:
Player navigates through randomly generated rooms containing a simple maze and enemies.

Attract trailer research

http://youtu.be/q7NefYzFmZs

Mario Kart: Double Dash's gameplay trailer shows off some of the game's tag mechanics by showing that the character on the back attacks nearby opponents and is in charge of item use. It shows how the tag system can be used to store multiple items for each character for optimal use later in the race as well as showcase some of the more powerful items like the lightning bolt that temporarily shrinks all other players.

It also shows how three of the revealed levels work by including flythroughs of iconic landmarks such as the giant barrel Cannon and the bridge in the volcano level.

Since it was the first Mario Kart game on consoles the Mario Kart 64, they also showcased some of the car physics by showing the cars fly high into the sky using ramps in the terrain. 

Car HUD Research

Research of the Range Rover Sport 2014's interior

Digtal Painting sketch WIP

Work in progress sketch for a digital paintig i'm working on in between assignments. Trying to keep it rather painterly as I render.

Analysis: Track introduction

We had to find some track intros to use as reference for when we start to develop our racing levels further, I chose Driveclub's intros because they do a fantastic job showcasing the photorealistic environments, lighting, and atmosphere.of each track.

Apex Destructibles!! V2

Made some falling rocks and destructible trees for my Grand Canyon racing level.

Apex Destructible

Level Isometric

WIP post

Level Storyboard

smiley-face array

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Simple smiley face array made in UE4.

Racing Level Research

Some quick concept thumbnails I did to get a better understanding of how the track would work and its overall lighting and atmosphere.

 The narrow path would work like a stage from the Star Wars Podracing game, with slopes and jumps to help players get ahead of each other. Boulders will also fall on marked shadows and crush or slow the racers.
Afterwards the race will take a steep slope down, were certain boulders will roll downhill alongside the racers, creating moving obstacles to get past. Afterwards there will be a short jump that will lead towards a large-scale version of the James Bond carflip stunt over a river, and a final drift to the finish line.

Rainbow Array

Made an array with a color paramater and the option to control it's speed

Platforming Tutorial

Location and Time:
 The level is set in ruins in floating isles during a sunny summer day.

What does their architecture look like?
 The architecture looks like ruined medieval castles made from stone. Some magic is involved in moving platforms.

What happened in the environment prior to the player getting there?
A massive storm destroyed the civilization hundreds of years before it was discovered.

Who else lives here?
A whole bunch of deadly sky-gators have inexplicably migrated to the ruins, killing all who step foot in the city.


 How did the player arrive to the environment? What brought them there?
The player is seeking the lost treasure vault of the old civilization. His explorer plane crashed into the ruins.

What is the conflict? What is the twist?
 The unstable ruins and nasty sky-gators make traversing the ruins a feat for even the most serious adventurer. Chunks from the sky walk and unstable elemental magic destroys the environment around the player and throws perilous projectiles your way. 

Level Analysis Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland

Kirby's Nightmare in Dreamland's tutorial level is relatively simple with little room for failure. Platforming is relatively simple and calm with a slow pace. No more than three enemies are on the screen at the same time, and one of them usually has an ability the player can absorb to help clear the others.  The game's difficulty only scales up through the introduction of new special enemies and slight platforming changes. Platforming is never too difficult due Kirby's floating abilities, and its only effect on the difficulty is the angle on which enemies will approach you from. 

Enemies in Kirby and divided into two types. Special enemies, which can be absorbed to gain a special ability that replaces Kirby's inhale ability until Kirby is hit, and basic enemies that provide no bonus abilities.

The game does not directly teach the game's controls and mechanics, which could stump a player unfamiliar with the Kirby franchise. It is also never revealed if water can damage Kirby or how Kirby controls under water until you first land in the water.

However, when Kirby swallows an enemy, a Kirby automatically showcases the ability he just absorbed. The player can also press a button to read a text description of the ability.  New special enemies are also placed with enough distance from the player that they will broadcast their attacks before they have the chance to hit the player.

]Besides this, game does a poor job of explaining its mechanics to the player through text or visual ques, and instead relies on player experience. For example, it is never hinted that Kirby can fly until the player mashes the jump button. I feel like this design decision was intentional, as the relatively simple nature of the controls allows for quick player experimentation. Later in the game, this design philosophy could be used to encourage the player to try to absorb as many enemies as possible to try to discover new sets of abilities. I feel this is further encouraged by having a hidden enemy underground that can not be accessed in the first play-through of the level.