Bianca Poroliseanu

Terisa’s Vengeance was a mission I concepted and brought most of the way to ship before handing it off to another designer to complete due to time constraints and expanded resources.

Similarly to Through Enemy Lines, we were given a basic prompt for the mission and it was on myself and my writer to come up with gameplay and story to flesh things out. This mission in particular was a challenge because it was the lead in to the climax, and as a result was one of the biggest and most important to get right.

Video Source: GamerJGB

Rally the New Republic was a mission I took from concept and only partly through to ship before handing it off to another designer due to time constraints and expanded resources.

The challenge with this mission was that it was meant to act as an opportunity for complex support play. The player was locked into playing the support ship, and our gameplay goal was to take them from tutorialization to mastery of this ship since this was end game. Like the other missions, we were given a basic story prompt and the writer and I went to work fleshing out the rest.

Video Source: GamerJGB

Through Enemy Lines was a mission I took from concept all the way through to ship.

We were given a basic prompt when we started designing about this being a mission in Deep Space about ferrying a captured Star Destroyer to a rebel base, but an engine complication causes it to fall out of hyperspace. From there I worked closely with my writer to flesh out the narrative further and seamlessly marry it with fun and engaging gameplay.

Video Source: GamerJGB

Screenshots of what our levels look like in-game. Originally there were no obstacles in any of the scenes. For visual aesthetic as well as design reasons, we decided to include boxes and other items to fill out the space a bit more and make it feel lived-in, as well as to allow for more interesting traversal through the level.

This is ultimately what our levels looked like. We cut them down to 6 from 9, due to technological and time limitations, with the implication through UI elements that the game could be expanded on to later include the cut levels and environments.

At this stage in the design process we had just decided to expand beyond our three levels that we had after cutting the greenhouse and loading bay. The idea became that we would continuously cycle through the same three KillZones (The Airlock, UV Filter and Rocket), but the difficulty and complexity would increase gradually each time, so that the player would have to take an already familiar situation and approach it slightly differently. Our level count grew from 3 to 15, and we decided to separate the replaying of the levels into Chapters. The designs of the last 3 levels for Chapter 5 weren’t even finished before we realised that 15 levels might be a bit much. We cut them down from 15 to 9, and from 5 Chapters to 3.

These were the very first versions of the levels during PreProduction, back when we had 5 distinct environments we wanted to build. On top of the airlock room/foyer, UV filter/Relaxation Room, and the Rocket Chamber, we had also intended on creating a Greenhouse where the Colonists would be killed by corrosive pesticides, as well as a Loading Bay, where forklifts would push large, heavy boxes on Colonists. Due to time contraints, these last 2 ideas were iceboxed in favour of the more unique and space-esque deaths.

Introduction to our 3 Champions:

The Druid is able to jump.

The Warrior has combat abilities, so he can hurt and kill enemies, as well as activate switches by hitting them with his sword.

The Wizard can generate shields in front of and above him. The shield above him can also act as a makeshift platform.

Level Start:

The bridge to the entrance of the temple is not lined up, so they cannot cross. Far above them is a balcony with the switch that rotates the bridge. There is a raised platform on the left of the three Champions, with a pressure plate that activates 2 portals in the room. But it is too high for the Druid to reach, even with her jump. Create a top shield with the Wizard and use it as a platform to reach the pressure plate. Once pressed, you must go through the ground portal with one of the other characters to reach the above balcony, because if the Druid steps off the pressure plate, the portal disappears.

Up top, deadly arrows shoot towards the balcony so going through alone with the warrior isn’t a great option. Take the Wizard through first to set up a shield in front of the switch. Now the Warrior can reach it without getting struck by arrows. Once the switch is hit, the bridge will align.

Bring all three characters back down to the bottom floor and cross the bridge to get through the door, which will open for the three heroes.

(The final iteration of the puzzles included a seesaw mechanic to project the characters that couldn’t jump across wide chasms and into portals.)

Within the temple proper, our champions find themselves face to face with their first foe, a floating demon. Take control of the Warrior and take it out to protect the others. Now they must solve yet another puzzle to proceed.

In front of them lies a switch that controls the water level, and there are wooden platforms which float up with the water, opening the path forward. But without the portals in this room active, even if they all cross over, they can’t progress. To their right is an elevator that is stuck in its top position. No getting down that way.

Down below, in a little alcove on the right of the pit, there is a pressure plate and another switch. The pressure plate lowers the elevator, the switch activates the portal above the final door.

First, take control of the Warrior and hit the switch, raising the water level. A platform will rise that will allow the characters to safely get down to the bottom of the chasm. Position the Druid onto the platform and hit the switch again to lower the platform to the bottom. Then, move the Warrior onto the elevator to the right.

Now with the Druid, jump over to the alcove with the switch and the pressure plate. Step on the pressure plate to lower the elevator. Now the Warrior can hit the switch to activate the first of two portals.

Position the Warrior back on the elevator and jump to the platform with the druid. At the top Raise the water level again to bring the Druid back up.

Now, with all our champions reunited, they can cross over to the next section. Ahead of them lay two more platforms, each with a seesaw on it (The seesaw catapults anything forward when the Druid jumps on the raised end). The taller of the two has another enemy for the Warrior to fight, and two switches that need to be hit. One controls the water level so that the final door below is accessible. The other activates the second portal.

Catapult the Warrior up first so that he can take out the enemy and hit the switch to lower the water. The second switch is much too high up, even at the top of the seesaw, so you must use the Wizard to reach it. Position the Wizard under the raised part of the seesaw and activate his top shield. Climb onto it with the Warrior, then walk the Wizard to the top of the seesaw ramp. Now the Warrior can hit the switch to activate the second portal just above them. Catapult the Warrior and Wizard into the portal, and jump after them as the Druid to reach the final door.

Our Champions have reached the Treasure hidden in the temple.

On paper, I went through a number of different mechanics and mechanisms to use in the two puzzles included in the level. I tried to come up with a mechanic that could be introduced and delivered simply enough, but left room for increased complexity later on. The original idea included rotating platforms controlled by a switch, and then developed into the incorporation of portals to allow access to different parts of the room.

In Hindsight:

If I were to have done anything differently, it would be to turn this project into a social commentary about the power of greed by either forcing the player to leave companions behind to progress, or making it a lot more difficult to bring everyone with you.

These are the events that I scripted to occur in the level.

Events include:

Setting Checkpoints

AI Spawning

Doors opening and closing

Level End

Playing and Stopping Music tracks

Originally meant to play entirely as an exterior level around the outside of the facility.

The final whitebox matched this layout pretty perfectly. I did change the amount of security cameras there were and added the glass sections where the player could go under the floor.

This layout changed slightly in the whitebox stage. I readjusted the size of the level and placement of cover. I added a few more options for the player to reach the higher levels beyond just the stairs.

Juno is presented with a choice between two gems (two trapped gods). She walks forward, the bridge breaks underneath her and she falls to the bottom of the temple.

Juno is presented with her first challenge. There are 3 pressure plates that raise 3 separate platforms up to the elevator, and 3 pushable blocks which need to be positioned on the pressure plates. The first block is easy to retrieve, the second requires the use of the first block, and the third needs two blocks to reach it.

Juno reaches her next challenge. As she approaches the next elevator, she is ambushed by enemies. After defeating them, the elevator lowers again, but it’s broken! Suddenly, the lava begins to raise. Juno must now jump from platform to platform to outrun the lava and reach the next level.

Juno must now face the Forsaken God. The fight has 3 stages. The ending of each stage has the boss platform being raised by lava until the third stage, when the platform finally reaches the top.

Once the boss is defeated, the volcano will become unstable and the temple begins falling apart. Juno must reach her ship. She jumps down the long overpass as pieces of it fall away in front of her. The final piece falls away underneath her and she jumps away just in time to reach her ship.

The 1st iteration had a very Zelda dungeon-esque format. Juno would fall into an underground dungeon/temple, run down a long hallway as a large boulder chased her, and reach a central room with 2 portals, each leading to a different challenge, and a boss door that needed 2 keys to open it.

Originally, the ground floor was meant to be flat, with various structures scattered about where players could jump and slide under. The problem became that it was too flat, and so I decided to incorporate the water and have that be something that the player needed to avoid.

When approaching the lit mannequin, an event is triggered which spawns a mannequin behind the player, which then follows them until they are caught.