Shine

You can find a small teaser, see the credits as well as download your very own copy of Shine, directly from our Shine site.

Final and Walkthrough

After testing and balancing, with a bit more balance...and of course, I can't forget the balance, we've finally made it to the final iterations of our Levels.

The wonderful Spider Chase could not have been accomplished without our very own Spiderman Programmer: Jason Kanagaratnam, who without complaint, adhered to my ever changing jerk spiders. :)

I'm really happy with the overall spiralling effect of my level, as well as the mood it set with the central giant crystal pillar as well as the crystals embedded into the ceiling, that light up like stars when you shoot a beacon of light at them.

A wonderful overview of my Level: the Mines made by our talented artists.

And here is a walk-through of my Level: The Mines.

Shine - Level 2: The Mines from Gomey on Vimeo.

Second Draft

As Shine continues to evolve, so does everything else that encompasses it. And this means the Levels as well. Due to our time constraints, we ended up being forced to shave off quite a bit of our game, especially on the LevelDesign side.

Sadly, we saw one Level be cut: the Power Room, which hadn't really fit with the overall theme. All the levels also got reduced in size and duration.

We no longer transform many optional Grumens but now there is but one Grumen who holds the second crystal that will light the Pillar which in turn opens the Door.

The second draft of my Level Design for the Mines, (used to be Cave of Wonders). The Level has been simplified with only one Grumen and two Grunts. The Grunts no longer patrol the area in clockwise and anti-clockwise paths, but instead patrol each a half-moon path. 

Grumen Nests are placed on either side of the crystal pillar, allowing the player to choose which path he wants to follow. 

Mood Board and Level Design Concept

We finally decided on the order and themes of our levels, for our games. 

The first level, which will be the tutorial level, is the Temple. 

The second level, is the Power Room.

The third level, is the Cave of Wonders.

The fourth level, is the Lava Level. 

I chose to create the third level, the Cave of Wonders. 

I find that being in the dark, in a wide-open space, induces more tension than being in a narrow, closed-off darkened area. You know that there is nothing more behind you, and the only unseen dangers lie ahead - not to your right, nor left. Yet in a widened area, danger is all around you and you really have to stop, and listen and look and feel your way around. 

So from the very beginning, I had this image stuck in my head: this grand crystal pillar, right in the middle of the level. I knew I wanted a very organic and open level, in order to break the hard-edged and linear feel the first two levels were shaping up to be. 

I created a test crystal pillar, which was the base of my level. Putting a translucent emissive texture on it, and placing it in my map, I discovered this absolute beauty that this created: anything that passed in front of the pillar was silhouetted against the brightness. It was no longer a bright spot on a dark canvas, but instead, darkness on a bright canvas. To see glimpses of shapes and dangers, crossing past the brightness of the crystal, created a visually stunning effect. 

This landmark, could almost be seen as a beacon of light, in the level - a reference point, should the player ever feel lost.   

Small mood-board, showing off my inspiration and general direction I wanted to build the Cave of Wonders. Visually, I loved the idea of a giant crystal - this great landmark right in the middle, surrounded by raw crystals that littered the ceiling, almost like a night's sky.

I also liked the idea of going deeper and deeper underground - into the oppressing darkness. With that in mind, I decided that a small exotic gameplay would be a nice break. During the whole game, we are taught that we need to go slow, to observe our surroundings and make calculated decisions. A well-placed light-beacon can light up our way. So to break that, I thought it would be fun to have this brief, 30 seconds of heart-beating action.

Thus, the (disgusting) Spider-Chase was born. (Yes, it is funny that the severely arachnophobic person decides to create a fast-actioned chase, with blood-thirsty spiders right on your heels.)

The entire chase sequence would take place underneath the main level. It is a 30-second exotic gameplay section, just to break any redundancy in the game. The winding path descends around the same crystal pillar found on the surface. The player must execute well-timed beacons of light, in order to hit the Bait Spiders, which will in turn force the Chase Spiders to stop momentarily to devour the Bait Spider afflicted with light. This gives the player a little time to continue to run down the path, repeating the action whenever the Chase Spiders draw near.

The Chase Sequence ends when the player makes it to the Safe Zone. 

First draft of my Cave of Wonders concept, of the surface.

Academia 2013 : Shine Production

I feel incredibly thankful to have been given this opportunity to learn and experience working on a production such as this, surrounded by talented students, but also our amazing mentors. 

I was chosen to participate in the 2013 Academia Summer School, in which we will produce the winning prototype: Shine. 

Though I am participating in both the GameDesign and LevelDesign, this blog will mostly focus on my progress in the LevelDesign field, as that is my specialisation. 

I already have a few ideas brewing, based on the original prototype, and what we are slowly building in our Design meetings. 

So far, we know that Shine is a sensorial experience, where the player is forced to rely upon many senses in order to progress through the darkened levels. 

In a world bathed in darkness, Gamma, our protagonist, must use his Lumen powers in order to light the way, as he descends further and further into the pitch-black depths. However, in the darkness, beauty and evil walk hand-in-hand. Gamma  must use his cunning and his light in order to survive the hulking terrors lurking in the dakrness, all the while freeing the beauty that is oppressed by shadows. 

I can't wait until we start working on our LevelDesigns concepts.