Lindsey Poad

Details and Development

Engine: Unity

Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux

Team Size: 4

My Roles: Level Designer, Programmer.

Goal: To create a competitive, multiplayer runner/brawler for TOJAM 2017, with the intention of expansion and iteration afterwards.

Design Process: Taking inspiration from existing multiplayer runners like Runbow, players avoid obstacles and traverse through the level trying not to get left behind, while keeping up their health bar by eating fish. Bubbles are placed throughout the level that contain a mystery shoe power-up which automatically gets equipped to your shark (thus replacing any existing power up). Players are able to break these bubbles by using their dash ability to smash into them (along with the ability to smash through rocks, and block other players).

As the level designer for the game, I was in charge of designing each level “chunk”. Since the game is endless (last one standing wins), we decided to create level chunks that would occur randomly throughout the game. Each chunk had to be designed with the idea that it would seamlessly fit with any previous chunk without disrupting the game’s momentum. Here are a few of the chunks I designed:

We programmed the simpler chunks to occur at the beginning of the game as players get used to the jump and dash mechanics, as well as introduced new obstacles in a simpler setting. The chunks eventually ramp up in difficulty, with multiple routes and obstacles.

Obstacles include:

Looking Back:

We did some playtesting after completing the main game loop. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to add in all the shoe power-ups we wanted (the list is pretty extensive), but players seemed to genuinely have fun racing and blocking each other with well-timed dashes. The game was designed with the intention of being iterated on, which we’re able to do fairly easily (e.g. adding more complicated level chunks). We're pretty confident about the racing aspect of the game - players are enjoying the movement and level traversal, but we’ll need to do a lot more playtesting and balancing once all the shoe power-ups are in. Fighting over the power-ups will encourage the “brawler” aspect of the game, and players not knowing what each power-up does until it’s equipped adds a level of complexity (some power-ups act more as power-downs!).