Below follows a write up of my design process when I made Bloomblebee (Solo Project)
Goals and Limitations
- Must use the Unity game engine.
- Must be a 3D project.
- Playable deliverable with a clear start and finish.
- A five week deadline.
- It should be clear to the player what to do and where to go.
- Clear win and lose state
Considerations and decisions
I initially started to make a space shooter in the vein of Star Fox but after being introduced to the tend and befriend response as an alternative to fight or flight I changed direction of the game to be about a bumblebee in search for nectar.
This decision also made me scrap enemies I had planned and a timer that would score you on the level. I decided these elements would clash with the overall aesthetic I was going for.
I instead decided to go for a relaxing experience of exploration and discovery. This also made me want to remove my lose state and after a discussion with my mentor (read stakeholder) this was approved.
These decisions led me to focus more on level design and atmosphere since the mechanics alone would not be enough for a compelling experience. I decided to divide the level into ‘rooms’ that had a unique look to convey a sense of progress and exploration. Flowers were placed in key places that always pointed to the next ‘room’ to guide the player.
Since I wanted a relaxing forest environment I decided against using music in the game in favor of ambient nature sounds.
I decided on doing a tutorial level to teach the controls and goals of the game clearly but made it optional so that experienced player could skip it.
Mechanics
The player controls a bumblebee in a 3d environment with the keyboard and controls the camera with the mouse. The player can also choose to use a gamepad.
The goal of the game is to explore the forest and collect nectar from flowers. When the players avatar approaches a nectar, a prompt will appear and the player can choose to drink the nectar. The nectar count is always displayed in the upper left corner for convenience.
When reaching the end of the level, the player is scored on how many nectar that they found and is also presented with information on how many total nectar was in the level.
Secret areas with a special kind of secret nectar are scattered in the level to encourage and reward exploration and give a feeling of discovery.