The Final Week - Week 8
Overview:
- Stamina Regen balls
- Level expansion
- Finale
The final week was rather stressful, but it was also quite fun. I added the final mechanic I had planned, finished the level, and added various tweaks to make the game feel slightly better. To start, I shall go over the Stamina Regeneration Balls!
When fighting enemies, running out of stamina was quite a chore - although challenging, I thought this was a little too punishing for new players (It was easy for me, but not for any playtesters). So, I had a solution in mind - to allow the player to regenerate stamina faster during combat. However, I didn't want to simply regenerate the players stamina at a higher amount per second, but rather introduce something for the player to aim for. Hence, the blue balls (yes, not the best name, but it fits).
When the player damages an enemy, they drop a blue ball. Each ball restores 33% of your stamina, equal to one blink. However, instead of just sitting there and floating, they start chasing you. This makes them both easier to pickup, but also allows a little trickery and, through delicate movement, you can 'save' the balls for when you need them. This achieves what I intended - to increase the pace of gameplay during combat. Since enemies are the only thing that drops these orbs, platforming sections are slower and more methodical in nature, as they have to keep their stamina in mind before attempting to teleport.
You can view the blueprint for the Stamina Balls here.
Now, we've got every single mechanic I needed for a Minimum Viable Product! I just need to well, actually finish the level. After the very last image in the previous week, there is a checkpoint. After that, however - is what I needed to create. Instead of having a little 'celebration' that games like Super Mario 3D World do, I wanted a challenge. This resulted in what I called 'The Gauntlet'. A long series of challenging enemy and platforming encounters, just before the end of the game.
The first thing I did when creating this was designing the level itself - the platforming was intended to be the most challenging part, so enemy positioning came second (I did not ignore it at this stage, though). To add to the challenge, I decided to take the 'risk of losing progress' to the next level by effectively killing the player should they fall. Underneath the gauntlet is a large pool of 'void lava' that has an extremely high pain causing value that will guarantee the players death should they fall into it. This, combined with an extended gap between the platform and lava, means that the player should get the idea that falling is a bad idea.
When creating the actual layout of platforms, I kept the plant enemy in mind. These enemies are the most related to the environment around them, meaning I had to keep them in mind if I wanted them to be effective. I ended up creating multiple out-of-the-way branches and parts of the platform for the plants to be located at. Having these separate from the main path mean that the player has to go out of the way to destroy them - extending the amount of time the Gauntlet takes to clear.
You may've noticed that the area around the Gauntlet is rather sparce - this is simply due to time. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to finish the rest of the environment. Since this project is more focused on the mechanics of the game, though, I believe this isn't as much of an issue.
And now, for the finale. The ending of this short experience, and (hopefully) the ending of this section of the blog. The ending goes similarly to how the beginning started - a cutscene. While not as complex as the opening cutscene, the ending still gets across a similar idea of mystery and a tease for the future. When reaching a trigger box placed near the ending crystal, the cutscene activates, fading from black as the crystal is revealed. The crystal activates after a moment, sending out a very large boom, before a slow fade to black and text appearing saying 'The Crystal Wavers'. That's it. After this, the game goes back to the main menu, allowing the player to quit or play again.
The intent behind the text 'The Crystal Wavers' is simple - to add to the mystery. 'I thought they were activating? Is something wrong?' ect, ect. These are the questions I want to get across to the player, just before ending the game. Hopefully, this slight bit of curiosity may want them to play the game again. If that's the case? Well, then my job here is done.
Now, we've got every single mechanic I needed for a Minimum Viable Product! I just need to well, actually finish the level. After the very last image in the previous week, there is a checkpoint. After that, however - is what I needed to create. Instead of having a little 'celebration' that games like Super Mario 3D World do, I wanted a challenge. This resulted in what I called 'The Gauntlet'. A long series of challenging enemy and platforming encounters, just before the end of the game.
The first thing I did when creating this was designing the level itself - the platforming was intended to be the most challenging part, so enemy positioning came second (I did not ignore it at this stage, though). To add to the challenge, I decided to take the 'risk of losing progress' to the next level by effectively killing the player should they fall. Underneath the gauntlet is a large pool of 'void lava' that has an extremely high pain causing value that will guarantee the players death should they fall into it. This, combined with an extended gap between the platform and lava, means that the player should get the idea that falling is a bad idea.
When creating the actual layout of platforms, I kept the plant enemy in mind. These enemies are the most related to the environment around them, meaning I had to keep them in mind if I wanted them to be effective. I ended up creating multiple out-of-the-way branches and parts of the platform for the plants to be located at. Having these separate from the main path mean that the player has to go out of the way to destroy them - extending the amount of time the Gauntlet takes to clear.
You may've noticed that the area around the Gauntlet is rather sparce - this is simply due to time. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to finish the rest of the environment. Since this project is more focused on the mechanics of the game, though, I believe this isn't as much of an issue.
And now, for the finale. The ending of this short experience, and (hopefully) the ending of this section of the blog. The ending goes similarly to how the beginning started - a cutscene. While not as complex as the opening cutscene, the ending still gets across a similar idea of mystery and a tease for the future. When reaching a trigger box placed near the ending crystal, the cutscene activates, fading from black as the crystal is revealed. The crystal activates after a moment, sending out a very large boom, before a slow fade to black and text appearing saying 'The Crystal Wavers'. That's it. After this, the game goes back to the main menu, allowing the player to quit or play again.
The intent behind the text 'The Crystal Wavers' is simple - to add to the mystery. 'I thought they were activating? Is something wrong?' ect, ect. These are the questions I want to get across to the player, just before ending the game. Hopefully, this slight bit of curiosity may want them to play the game again. If that's the case? Well, then my job here is done.
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