Paragon
Contributions
- As the sole level designer, I created more than five 3-6 minute long first-person platforming levels in Unity that aim to challenge the player in fun and unique ways with an emphasis on speedrunning and flow.
- Scripted unique moving level elements and obstacles using C# scripting and the Unity Animator.
- Created an extensive narrative involving a colorful cast of characters that takes place over five days in-game giving context to the platforming levels and purpose for seeing the game to the end. Implemented Dialogue and Quest System in Unity using the "Game Creator" plugin.
- Collaborated with a team of artists and programmers giving direction when needed, delivering clear and concise feedback to both parties, and working through any problems that came up during development.
Paragon is a 3D first-person adventure game where you travel through digital reality growing both your platforming skills and friendships.
Recognition
- Paragon's initial prototype won "Best Aesthetics" as voted by the MSU Game Dev Alumni board for MI445 in 2020
- Paragon's initial prototype was runner up for "Most Fun" as voted by the MSU Game Dev Alumni board for MI445 in 2020
Level Design Process
Each main level went through a similar process while being built out. First I would decide on what type of theme I wanted the level to be before performing online research looking for levels in popular games that made use of similar themes to find inspiration. Then the real design process would begin by drawing out a Level Design Document (LDD). These documents consisted of laying out each major beat the player will experience including what obstacles will be present throughout. After that, a rough sketch of the general layout would be completed before starting to build and iterate on the level in Unity. Often times the levels wouldn't be exact replicas of the LDD or even the rough sketch but they would be helpful jumping off points that helped make each stage better and more efficiently built.
Individual Level Breakdowns
There are five primary levels and one tutorial level that the player will be running through in Paragon. These stages were designed to appeal to a both first-timers and veteran platforming players. There is an emphasis on trying to go as fast as possible to beat not only your own times but the developer's times as well by constantly replaying stages and trying to find the most efficient route possible. However player's can play at their own pace and choose to take easier routes to the finish as well. So while there is not difficulty select in the game, players create their own difficulty through how they play. This design philosophy is used throughout the entire game and is primarily inspired by the classic Sonic The Hedgehog games in the sense that the top paths in those games are usually the hardest to get to but the fastest and vise versa. Most of the moving elements featured in the levels were also scripted by myself and were made to be designer friendly so I could easily make tweaks in the inspector without constantly needing to hop back into code.
Level 1 - The Tower ClimbThis is the first main level in the game after the tutorial. The main goal here was to create a relatively easy but rewarding experience by slowly introducing new level elements throughout. Starting in a cramped hallway with basic jumps and slides leading to a much more open area with the titular tower in full view informing the player of their ultimate goal. Then continuing down the road, death blocks start being introduced to the player giving them a more defined obstacle to avoid before introducing moving death blocks the player will need to avoid on their way inside the tower itself culminating in the final vertical climb. This area expands on the moving death block obstacle by introducing moving platform's the player needs to ride on while avoiding static death blocks. The first half of this level takes inspiration from the Daytime Rooftop Run stage in Sonic Unleashed by having long hallways filled with obstacles the player needs quick reflexes to avoid while also giving the player options as to how they want to avoid those obstacles either by taking the slightly slower but easier paths or the quicker and faster paths into the tower itself. The second half of this level is a vertical climb up the tower. This section of the level still is still fast-paced but has a bigger focus on the player's placement and some trickier platforming to reach the top. It's inspired by the end of the Nighttime Rooftop Run stage in Sonic Unleashed where the player needs to climb up a large clock tower. Overall the level serves to introduce the player to both the fast-paced obstacle dodging hallway style of level as well as the more precise platforming style of level that will be seen throughout the rest of the game.
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Level 2 - Dimension SwappingWhile the first level aimed to introduce the player to all the basic elements of the game, the second throws a bit of a wrench into everything by throwing a level-wide gimmick into the mix. Which is something that will be seen throughout each subsequent stage. As the name implies, this level focuses on letting the player swap between two different dimensions which really means they can switch on and off certain platforms. To ensure the player knows about this new mechanic, they start out trapped in a small cramp space with a big dimension platform blocking the way forward with a tutorial NPC nearby to assist players that don't know they can press a button to switch dimensions. Then this idea is expanded on throughout the rest of the level with the use of these blocks opening up and simultaneously closing off other pathways to reach the end, leaving it up to the player to find their own way to the end. The idea of this level takes inspiration from Titan Fall 2's Effect and Cause main level concept but more in line with the execution of Crash Bandicoot 4's Lani-Loli power-up. The ultimate goal of this level is to allow the player to create their own path to the finish to increase replayability allowing them to try and find their favorite path to the finish.
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Level 3 - Brain FreezeThis stage introduces an elemental theme within it allowing for more unique set pieces and obstacles to be seen throughout. This includes falling icicles that need to be avoided, dangerous snowballs that roll down slopped surfaces getting bigger and bigger as they roll, etc. This level was iterated on many times throughout development. While it originally contained several fleshed out interconnecting paths, the level didn't flow super well having all of these different paths so the level was revamped to combine all of the obstacles that were originally seen on those paths into one more linear challenge to overcome. This way every player will be getting a similar experience with a higher focus on overcoming the challenge ahead. Being midway through the game, this level aims to increase the challenge compared to the previous stages so on top of the brand new obstacles introduced, there are tighter jumps and slides throughout. It's a short and challenging rump to test the player's abilities so far.
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Level 4 - Lava MeltdownThis is one of the last levels of the game and has high narrative stakes coinciding with it. So the main goal of this level was to create the most challenging level up to this point focusing on the player's newly gained platforming skills to reach the end. While the level only really has one main path, the difficulty management is still in play as faster players will be incentivized to take risks and dodge obstacles in a skillful manner while slower players are not pressured to speed through the stage and can take their time. The level introduces several new obstacles and mechanics to go along with the lava theme including fireballs that fly out of the lava, geysers that lift platforms up and down while also acting as obstacles, platforms that will slowly sink when the player is on top of them forcing the player to keep up the pace, spinning fire bars the player needs to avoid, etc. Each of these elements is introduced to the player in a natural and easy to digest setting before throwing them into more challenging combinations which all lead into one final section inside the volcano that is seen from the beginning of the stage where all of these obstacles are combined into one challenging final level beat. The inspiration for this level comes from several different games such as the fire bars being inspired from Super Mario Galaxy and the sinking platforms being inspired from part of the final dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
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Level 5 - The Gauntlet
The level is a culmination of all of the elements taken from previous levels and combine them in new unique ways, such as combining dimension shifting blocks with falling icicle obstacles. This is the ultimate final challenge in the game featuring some of the tightest jumps and slides in the entire game. This level's unique theme is that it takes and combines elements from each previous level and combining those in new ways to make something new. Example include the use of dimension blocks from level 2 being used in tandem with the moving platforms featured in level 1. The main idea behind this level was to be able to create one final challenge that fit thematically while also being able to save on resources by reusing assets created for the previous stages. The idea was inspired by the final level of Super Mario Galaxy which also combines many elements seen from previously in the game.
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Game/Narrative Design
While my major focus in the game industry is to develop levels I also have gained experience in game and narrative design on this project. Writing out an extensive narrative was mostly done to give more context and meaning to the platforming stages while also giving player's more incentive to see the game to the end. The entire narrative was written out on a 23-page long google doc. This doc included every line of dialogue each character will say, the placement of the characters on each in-game day, and the dialogue choices the player can make. The narrative was implemented in the actual game with the help of the Unity "Game Creator" Plugin. This plugin allows the use of different actions and triggers to happen when dialogue is played allowing us to create a cohesive narrative that the player needs to follow to reach the end. Halfway through development, it started becoming apparent that implementing the dialogue solely myself on top of creating the levels was a major time sync. So to be more efficient, I wrote up extensive documentation about Game Creator and handed off the rest of the dialogue implementation to the programmers on the team which led to more efficient implementation allowing me to focus on creating and polishing the levels.
Check out the full release for Windows and Mac on Itch!