SHARAN PICARD
Narrative Game and Level Designer
"Cold Sun is a third person stealth game taking place in an environmental post-apocalyptic world with themes of emigration, survival and hope.
The player incarnate one of the last inhabitants of a slum, seeking out a better place for her little brother and herself."
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Genre: Third-Person, Stealth, Adventure
Engine: Unreal Engine 4
Platform: PC
Team: 24 People
Specification: Winner of the ESAC's Canadian Video Game Competition
Roles & Responsibilities:
-Game Design
-Level Design
-UX
My work as a Game Designer:
conveying a story through gameplay
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Designing the Game Mechanics with teammates
We were three game designers working on Cold Sun and together we came up with mechanics that would fit the design pillars and story: running, hiding, scavenging for water and trading it for passage.
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Designing the 3C with teammates
We brainstormed what we could inspire ourselves from for the player to have a fun and comfortable gameplay experience and opted for a Breath of the Wild type of camera and controls.
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Designing de AI System
We needed an AI the player would need to foil (marauders in the story) and I designed a detection system with states that could easily be understood by designers and programmers alike.
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Designing the Gameloop for the Levels with teammates
We precised how each level would play out using the mechanics we had and came up with game and level loops (exploring the new zone, moments of stealth, collecting resources, finding a safe place to drink and save).
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Conducting Playtests
(See the UX section below.)
My work as a Level Designer:
guiding the player with and through the environment
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Suggesting the Player's Journey and Number of Levels
I suggested to the other level designers a series of levels for the journey of the protagonist, and then we adjusted the number of levels to the minimal required story-wise for the game to feel like a journey to the player.
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Balancing the number of Ressources in each Level
By putting our game down on paper, the two other designers and I could simulate play sessions and balance the number of ressources available in each level to balance the difficulty curve.
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Making list of assets for 3D Artists
After finishing a level plan, I made a list of required assets for the 3D artists. I made sure to reuse assets previously made as much as possible in other levels.
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Making paper concepts and blocking
Along with the other designers, I designed and suggested ideas of levels with paper concepts and blocking.
The player learns how to crouch to pass through narrow passages, collect water and use it to sustain the characters.
The player learns how to sprint, learns about marauders (enemy), to observe them and foil them.
The player learns about border guards and how to bribe them with resource in exchange for passage.
The Level Art tasks:
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Researching for the Art Direction
I participated in the meeting about the Art Direction and did research for references of style for different aspects.
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Communicating ideas between the Design and Art departments
I communicated the ideas of the Art team to the Design team and vice versa to ensure everyone had the same vision for the game.
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Placing the rocks throughout the First and Second Levels
I worked closely with the 3D Artists as I placed the assets in the levels to ask for adjustments when needed. I showed them directly in the engine what I would require and why a modification in the asset or texture was needed.
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Sculpting and Painting the ground
Using the Sculpt Mode of the Landscape Tool in UE4, I did arrangements in the First and Second Levels as well as the Northern Zone of the Third Level (High Risk/High Reward).
My work with User Experience:
understanding the player and helping the player understand
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Conducting Playtests
As soon as the blocking of a level was playable, I conducted playetests with the other designers and took note of how the player reacted to and interacted with the game. I wrote the observations in a document and synthesized the information into concrete points to work on.
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Making the Player fill a Survey
We made the players fill a survey to have their thoughts and understanding of the game. We compiled the results each time to see what adjustments still needed to be made and what worked good with the players.
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Suggesting ways to Guide the Player
According to the information I gathered form observing players play, I suggested we add decals of footsteps on the ground to both guide the player toward the goal and add to the environmental storytelling.
I also suggested Particule System of flies for eye-catching movement near areas of interest and and my teammates added to the idea with oil lamps and fireflies to guide the player and night.
What I learned:
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Communication is Key
Making a video game is all about teamwork, and teamwork requires clear communication in order to work smoothly. Lack of communication leads to misunderstanding of tasks and frustrations that can greatly slow down the team's production speed, or worse.
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Understanding Everyone's Workload
Understanding the process of creation for each department helps estimate accurately the team's production speed and guide the design choices toward realistically doable ideas.
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Less is More
It's better to stick to the minimum required for the players to enjoy a game and then add more content afterwards if the deadline permits it to increase their experience.
Removing content such as game mechanics during the production requires constant adjustment in every department and creates a high risk of producing an unbalanced game that feels (or is) incomplete and rushed for lack of polishing.