Dev Log 3: Weeks 11-13

Dev Log 3: Weeks 11-13

For the final weeks of creating this prototype we focused on polish. The polish we wanted to add to our prototype included fixing bugs within the code, modifying puzzle design, modifying level design, implementing art assets, and sound design so that our prototype felt complete and looked good.

 During the course of the final weeks I was tasked with modifying puzzles, adjusting the level design, sound design, and art implementation. 

Figure 1- Test Puzzle No.1

Vivek and I were the lead puzzle designers for our prototype. As the puzzle designers for the group we wanted to gate the player appropriately and made sure that we built puzzles that followed the principle of teach, test, challenge. Entering week 11 we had the majority of the puzzles thought through and implemented into the game. However, we had to modify some of the puzzles because we felt like they could be better with some more work. We also had to create and add in two more for the level. The puzzles that we modified for our game were the TEST puzzles. The original puzzles were sound but they didn't prove to be difficult enough to be considered a test. We went through the levels multiple times and made many iterations of the puzzles and then chose the best one. I found this to be a useful method on making better puzzles because it allowed us to explore as many possible variations of one puzzle. From those variations we then showed the top three to the other group members to play and then implemented the level that played the best.

Figure 2- Challenge Puzzle No.1

Moving on from modifying existing puzzles we then started to create the last puzzles of our level. These puzzles would be considered the CHALLENGE puzzles for level. For these puzzles we incorporated all the main mechanics into solving these puzzles as well as out of the box thinking. Just a recap on what the main mechanics are for Gravity Switch, the mechanics are switching gravity of the player, switching the gravity of objects (enemies and boxes), and switches. So how do you differentiate a challenge from a test, vice versa? For the challenge puzzles we want the player to use all the knowledge they have learnt up to that point and put it into motion with a puzzle that doesn't have a clear goal/set path for the player to follow. This will require some trial and error on the player part because at this stage of the game we want the player to have a difficult time. Through this trial and error they will then come to realize how to solve the puzzle and will have the sense of. "Ohhh I get it" or  "Why didn't I notice this before?" With this thought process they will look at the following puzzles in a new light and will attempt them with better knowledge and skill.

Level design was another prominent challenge I faced during these week. The puzzles and the level design turned out to go hand in hand. What I mean by this is that if we changed the puzzle in any sort of way , more than likely the level would have to change as well. With this being a factor, we made sure that we had all our puzzles completed and then adjusted the level as we saw fit in order to best accommodate the puzzle(s). The reason we went this route was because its easy to modify the level but it not easy to re-modify a puzzle. If we were to fit the puzzle to the room this would make for poor puzzles and it would also ;look very cluttered in those specific rooms.

Once the level modifications were complete I then began to polish off the level by adding in the art. The art that I added in consisted of the background art and the asset art (platforms, switches, doors, etc.) . This proved to be very troublesome because I was not the one who had created the art for the level. Our group member who was in charge of the art and its implementation  did not show up for the last two weeks so I took up the role of implementing it. Unfortunately, the art wasn't made into individual sprites that I could simply just drag and drop. This made implementing difficult and time consuming where my efforts could have been focused elsewhere. With that being said I made certain adjustments to the art so that I could put it into the level to make it look nice and complete.

Figure 3- EQ Mixer (Reaper)

I was also was in charge of the sound design for our prototype. This was one of the things I really wanted to take on because I had never actually made sound effects for a game. So I thought I would give it a try because I couldn't have made anything worse than the placeholder sounds we had... Or could I have? Anyways, the sounds that I created for the prototype were the gravity switch, box inversion, box thud, doors opening and closing, player shooting, elevators, and enemy dialogue. For the gravity switch sound I had to match the effect that Vivek had implemented which looked somewhat like a blast of power. So I found a sound that kind of matched the effect and then modified it within Reaper. I modified the original sound by changing the EQ to give it a lower tone and heavier base sound to get across a powerful blast. I did this for the majority of the sounds. But the sound effect that I am most proud of was the door. I had to get very creative in terms of mixing different sounds in order to get the juicy door sound we have now in our prototype. Vivek wanted a door that sounded heavy which had some sort of latch mechanism involved as well to sell the frigate theme. So What I ended up doing was mixing an airlock sound with a garage door. I took the blast of from the airlock sound and mixed it with garage. In order to make the garage door sound heavy I changed up the EQ of the sound to give it a lower tone, added a bit more bass, and I also added in some reverb to make it sound like the door is really old and heavy by making have some screechy vibrations incorporated into this.

Once I created all the sound for the game I then sent them over to Vivek to have them implemented into the game so that we had nice juicy sounds to compliment our game play.