I decided to approach this assignment with some relatively simple ideas. The objective was for us to make level that would present two different emotions. I decided to  use two opposites that compliment each other nicely: calm and stressed. Calm is a very simple, but effective emotion to convey through gameplay. Many people tend to play video games in order to relax from outside pressure. On the flip-side, stress is an emotion that is frequently seen in most high budget games. Action Set pieces, frenetic gameplay and action is the norm when it comes to a significant amount of the industry. While the two would seem to clash between each other at first glance, they actually complement each other perfectly. Calm can be a relaxing experience, but it can also lead to boredom or a lack of engagement, while Stress can be overwhelming, exhausting, or lose its impact if not given in measured amounts.

The main idea for the game itself was the exploration of a cavern. Even though I’m not exactly an outdoor person, I love exploring new places, and I decided to go with that for the setting. Players find themselves in a cavern that moves them into rooms with simple puzzles that rely on spacial knowledge. While perhaps not the best idea in an area with little variances in color, the size and number of blocks help give the player an idea of the space. After passing the first room, you find yourself in a cliffside, and the only path forward is a small, narrow walkway. Quickly, the platforms will start crumbling, so players will have to sprint through the path to reach the end.

Here is gameplay footage of the first build of the game. (for some reason my voices is rather squeaky).

In the next part I will talk about how I moved from this build to my delivered one and talking about my modular approach to level design.