Parasitic Sprint 2 Blog Post

Parasitic Level Design Post#2

The second sprint was focused on transitioning from conception to proofing, meaning we would be moving from designing to implementation. The cards assigned to me this sprint are: 

• "As a level designer, I need to make an asset list full of possible assets needed to fill my level with purpose and theme for the shrubbery-filled meadow level."
• "As a level designer, I need to annotate an open-spaced basic introductory level that puts my newly found skills to work in a stress free environment." 
• "As a level designer, I need to block out an open-spaced basic introductory level that puts my newly found skills to work in a stress free environment"
• "As a level designer, I need to populate my level with current assets to get the tone of the level established."

There was also the "As a level designer, I need to create a testing ground where we can test the most up to date mechanics" from Sprint 1 that was assigned but wasn't moved. Luckily, we finished it pretty early on for this sprint since this card just entails the Unity collab we would need to set up to implement and test our levels with.

The first Sprint 2 card I work on was the asset list card. I decided to do this first so I would know what assets I'll need in my level. This would also help me annotate my level's map since I'd know what all the core assets would be. There weren't any problems with this card, but there was a bit of feedback about one asset, which is the elevation/terrain asset; instead of requesting this as an asset, it would be better to use the terrain editor in Unity to make elevation instead. 

The next card I worked on was the annotated map. We had been working on several versions of a map for our levels since the last sprint so for this sprint, it was time to fully polish up an annotated map and use it as a building guide for when blocking out our levels. I did encounter some problems with this card, mostly due to the size of the map in that it might be too big and how the level should play out.

The problem with this map was that it was still too large and that there shouldn't be multiple exits. After taking this into consideration, I went back into Photoshop to resize the grid and repaint the paths. 

This is the final approved version of my map. And the next step would be blocking it out in Unity.

Blocking took a while and this is because of 1) the size of my map and 2) I would need to check off the unmovable spaces individually. I had to go at a slower pace to avoid eye strain since I would need constantly to zoom in and out while also looking back and forth between the Unity scene and annotated map. 

After this was done, I could move on to actually blocking out the scene. And similarly, it took a while too since this wasn't just a choice between green and red dots but adding in different primitives as a way to keep track of what would be a tree and what was a rock. Luckily, I only needed to add six different kinds: cylinders for trees, squares for rocks, squashed cylinders for crates and barrels, spheres for buff spots, tilted squares for treasure, and of course, a capsule for the player. 

Midway through this card, there was still time left in the sprint so we were also assigned the asset implementation card. However, I didn't get to finish this card before Sprint 2 ended so this is the card I have in progress for now and for the beginning of Sprint 3. I have the level mostly populated, the only thing left is terrain building and pathing. 

For Sprint 3, I'll be finishing up the terrain and finally playtesting the level. I'm pretty satisified with the current state of my level and can't wait to see how everyone else's levels turn out. Cheers!

Parasitic Sprint 1 Blog Post

Parasitic Level Design Post#1

The first sprints are usually, always focused on building the foundations of the game. As a level designer that would mean research, concept-ing, and collaborating with the team. The cards assigned to me or rather our fraction of level designers are: 

• "As a member of Parasitic Studios, I need a Unity account" 
• "As a level designer, I need to create a testing ground where we can test the most up to date mechanics" 
• "As a level designer, I need to research and annotate grid-based levels similar to that of XCOM 2" 

The cards that are completed are "As a member of Parasitic Studios, I need a Unity account" and "As a level designer, I need to research and annotate grid-based levels similar to that of XCOM 2". The first being the easiest since a Unity account is required in most CAGD classes. The next one was heavily concept-ing and researched. Collaboration was also a big part of this card as our level designers discussed and shared examples and guides of what strategy levels should feel like, how the grid-based levels would look like, and why certain concept levels work and others do not.

The one card that is still "In Progress" is the "As a level designer, I need to create a testing ground where we can test the most up to date mechanics". This card relied on components from other cards such as a collaborative Unity file where we could set up a testing ground and the grid-based systems and other scripts that our programmers were working on. Thus for this sprint, we focused more on concept-ing and making concept, grid maps of our level. 

Problems Encountered: 

There weren't any big problems aside from being blocked from working on the testing grounds. Problems in this sprint were mainly from developing my level's concept map. My first map was obviously a bit small and very linear. It was a basic block out of the level's terrain and it didn't include any of the enemies or any clear indication where the player would start. 

So to fix these issues my next map was more colorized and larger. This concept piece showed a larger level with more terrain and the enemies/player placements. However, the problem with this level is that it's not a grid, the shapes are hexagons and not squares. The level itself is still too linear and for a level that should that 20 minutes or so to complete this concept still falls short. 

The third concept map I made used pixels instead of hexagons. It's also considerably longer and larger. There are many more enemies and it's definitely less linear. The level starts on one path but splits into three different routes before leading the player into a larger field for a all-out brawl. But the downside of this level is that it's too large and there are way too many enemies, especially that last area which would overwhelm the player too much. Another concern was the fact that the design document described the first level as an open meadow and my map was more like a closed forest. 

My most recent map and final one of this sprint is designed to be more open and meadow-like. The path (yellow-ish) tiles show the player the intended routes but the openness of the level encourages exploration. There are fewer enemies and the length of the level looks good enough to last 20 or so minutes. The only problem with this level would be that it's not fleshed out enough and rather messy. I hope to fully realize this level when we get our testing ground set up and start building the level in Unity so I can test the level for accuracy of length and challenge.