Dev Log 1

Project Back-Up - Level Concepts

Written by Stephen, Jacob, and Max

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N812vZij5xM

Project Back-Up is a game inspired by the idea that ‘the world will end in 5 minutes’. This dev log will focus on our initial concepts and designs.

We went through many early concepts on how we can make a game like this interesting and unique to the player. Our initial inspiration came from DeathLoop (2021), OuterWilds (2019), Minit (2018), Prey Moon Crash (2017) and The film Groundhog Day (1993).

The central concept we wanted to explore was the risk/reward of resetting the loop early, keeping items or playing out the whole loop in order to discover and explore new areas. We also wanted to implement a way to save items between loops, which would speed up the gameplay. As with all games in the early period, parts will change in the future, and certain features of this rewind mechanic will likely be adapted going forward. We also decided to not include a timer in the game's UI, choosing to explore further, resulting in a higher risk of fully resetting.

Moving onto the game's theme, graphical style and setting. Our original concept was a city that had been evacuated due to an unstable nuclear reactor. The issue we found was designing a city to be unique and easily digestible to the player as most cities are laid out similarly with no memorable landmarks to orient the player. We decided to merge this concept with a sci-fi theme and location. Our team landed upon the idea of having the game take place on a city-sized mars habitat. This gave us some creative freedom with the level design and the art style.

We found that the player may spend most of the loop travelling from one side of the map to the other. Our plan for this problem is to implement a transport system (i.e., cars/trains). 

The map’s design has gone through a few iterations. Our first idea was to have a central hub with branching areas. We felt that the map might hinder the player’s movement as the player can only travel in straight lines.

Before changing the design, we wanted to get a sense of the game’s feel in Unity, so we created a draft. The problems that arose were that the map was too small, the character moved too quickly, and the camera was too far away. While this map was never going to be used as a final part of the game, it gave valuable insight that we can use in our final version.

The following concept stemmed from the idea of having a city-sized environment with a dome covering it. We felt that having branched off areas allows the player to understand their environment and not feel too claustrophobic with too many corridors. 

The four images below are some of our designs for the map design. They include a simple line version, coloured, a road layout, and where buildings might be.

The scale of the game world mustn't be overwhelmingly large for the player but big enough for an interesting exploration of the map.

In the game world, this space habitat is humanity’s only anchor on the planet. If the base is destroyed, there would be nothing to rebuild from. We want to make the planet's destruction gradual, allowing the player time to gather the resources and information about this world before they can finally save the planet.

The problem in the world arises when a heavy dust storm is headed for the city. All citizens have to evacuate the planet on a ship while the playable character decides to stay and save the world. The dust storm rips apart the pod, housing all the food. This is where the player’s journey starts. Five minutes after the hab breach, the airlock to the main section breaks open. After another 45 seconds, the final airlock breeches into the powerplant, ending the game.

The reason we decided to have these three sections of the game is to create panic and have the resource of Oxygen run out. Items can allow the player to survive longer, in which new areas can be discovered.

We designed some rough concepts for inventory. In the image below, items such as backpacks can be picked up for extra space (allowing two tile objects), and there is an on-hand option (what the player is always holding). While item required gates are important, we also felt that having knowledge (e.g. a four-digit code for a door) is essential in making the player feel smart and saving time.

That’s all for this week from the team here at Matchboxes. Thanks for reading.