Metroidvania Game Jam: Week 2


You Are The Monster



WEEK 2

On week two we had a long discussion on making sure that we stick to the same style.



The Story

Tim Shaw wrote the story for the game.

SYNOPSIS

[Game Synopsis for submission to the Game Jam; Will grab Players’ attention]:
A young tribesman comes into possession of a mysterious mask that promises him immeasurable power if he only frees the spirit, Mahar, from his prison at the hands of the evil servants of the Great Spirit.

NARRATIVE

[The game starts with a screen telling the Player the backstory]:

Long ago there lived a tribe who worshipped a deity they called ‘The Great Spirit’, who they claimed created the World. One night, as the whole tribe was gathered around a fire in the centre of the village, a mysterious man possessing an odd mask and sword came to the tribe from the shadowy underbrush. Welcoming the stranger, he was invited to share a meal with them, for he was very gaunt. 

When questioned about himself and his circumstances, the man remained silent. It was only when The Great Spirit was praised for his safely finding the tribe did the man speak. “Your Great Spirit is a usurper anda false prophet. The only true god is the almighty Mahar! He made everything and your pretender merely imprisoned him and claimed the glory for his own!”

After his proclamation, the stranger was chased away by some of the more zealous tribesmen who were angered by this outburst, but in his hasty flight, the man had left his strange mask and sword. Discretely, an inquisitive young tribesman called Noim took the sword and mask for his own whilst everyone was distracted, after which he began to hear gentle, hissing whispers from the mask every night. Believing it to be a god of power or war due to the resemblance to a lion, Noim believed he must spend his time listening to the mask so he could become a powerful warrior; maybe even strong enough to become the new Chieftain of the tribe.

Over the next few weeks, he became more and more reclusive and stopped attending the ceremonies to the Great Spirit. His strange behaviour became apparent to his tribe and eventually, the village began to shun him and when news arrived that a religious fanatic would be arriving in the camp, the whole tribe rejoiced. When the zealot did arrive, he denounced Noim as a heretic and he was driven from the village. Swearing he’d take what was rightfully his, Noim took of into the desert in search of a ruined city built in the mountains and swallowed by the sands that the mask had whispered of; the place where it had said he would find immeasurable power if he was to just set the spirit free from his wrongful imprisonment…

Gameplay

The Player begins in a desert, searching for a lost city in the sand. They accidentally fall down a hole into a cavern. Making their way through it, they must jump and air-dash over pits of quicksand (?). Descending further into the cavern and crouching/dashing through a small crevice, the Player faces an odd mask that blocks their path and forces them to dispatch it. 

They then stumble upon a giant cavern where the ruins of a city have been buried under rock and sand. They proceed to recover a bow from a small room that allows them to shoot down stalactites to escape said room, also allowing them to create a path to the sandals by using the same strategy. With the sandals they can walk across the quicksand to retrieve the wall-jump ability that allows them to travel up vertical shafts. This means they can obtain the powerful Explodo-dagger; a powerful throwing dagger that creates a small explosion and said to be a relic of Mahar. With the Explodo-dagger, the Player can blow up the barriers blocking their path and allowing them to proceed on to release the spirit, Mahar. To release Mahar, the Player must use the Explododagger on a big statue’s head. Once activated, the large encompassing statue begins to shake. 

The head of the statue cracks violently down the face from top to bottom. A shadowy entity inhabits the statue. Upon being released, Mahar betrays the Player, claiming he will give them immeasurable power, but by possessing them and usurping their body as a vessel; consuming their soul in the process. As their form is incorporeal and lacks a good deal of physical power, they needed the Player to defeat the Great Spirit’s protective masks that were holding him back and, now free, they want the Player’s body for their own, having only given then the buffs to make it easier for their body to withstand the possession process.

With the Player’s body, Mahar can go spread destruction and chaos across the Great Spirit’s world. The Player refuses to submit to Mahar and the Boss fight ensues. The head now floating free from the statue will start to orbit & animate violently. Several smaller masks that made up the necklace of the statue begin to float around the headpiece in a geometric fashion, changing and shifting violently. In an attempt to contain the boss.

Boss defeated, he flees back into his prison and the game ends on a cliff-hanger with Noim becoming demonic-looking and pursuing Mahar into the prison behind the giant mask, having proven to be stronger than Mahar and potentially just as evil.


The Mask

The mask is finally completed, i changed the colour scheme from the original design to make the mask more neutral and more sinister:

Good


Evil


Enemies


Flying



Warrior




Ranged


The Weapons


Base Khopesh

The starting weapon of the main character, an elegant blade forged by an ancient tribe of warriors.

Cursed Khopesh

This is my second weapon for the character, is an upgraded form of the main Khopesh. elegant and fast, a more powerfull version of the blade.

Demonic Khopesh

The final version of the weapon, now tranformed in a demonic form after consuming the flesh of his victims.


Creating Moodboards

Working with the Team on the Level.



MOODBOARDS

After discussing all night about the environment Style with the team, I been tasked on making some researches for the Cave environment and creating new 3D assets for the environment.

I made a couple of moodboards for the Cave 

This is the feeling of the Cave, I based my board on some African caves I found on google. The cave is old, based in some deserted/arid place in Africa. I may have vegetation growing inside.

Key elements for the Cave are:

  • Yellow arid wall
  • Rocks are dark orange
  • Moss and small vegetation growing inside the cave
  • The rocky formation is wide enough for multiple layer of platforms
  • Rocks can be used as Platform
  • Symbols and drawings can be found across the cave walls
  • Water or Lava can be found in the bottom of the cave, they illuminate the area
  • Can allows Wood platform to be built
  • Torches are scattered across the cave

The Cave

Arid dark cave abbandoed, masked figures habitate the cave.

The cave is the starting point of the character journey, the place must feel like a prison, were the plyaer was trappened for some reason.


Symbols 

These are some drawings that can be found in the cave wall that narrates the story of the protagonist.

The story on the wall depict the main character as a monster, the various symbols and elements shows the main character as an evil entity, and leave the player guess. The story is created by the "enemies" depicting the player as a Monster. This is how I want to narrate the story trough visuals and the 3D environment.


Platforms

Wooden or Stone platforms that allows the player travsal across the level. these acts as environments and add on the player exploration component.

Platforms are important as they are the principal way for the player to stand in the game.


List of Components for the level

Level Parts:

  • Platforms (Circle, long, squares, movables)
  • Walls (many different walls)
  • Doors (opened and locked)
  • Traps Environments (Spikes, Fire, Lava, Water)
  • Traps (moving, darts, falling)
  • Coloumns (can be reused)
  • Statue (can be reused)
  • Rocks (big and small - any shapes)


Objects:

  • Torches 
  • Lantern
  • Destructible (Barrels, Vases, Walls)
  • Collectibles (Coin/Gold) - (Gemstones) - (Health)
  • Explosives
  • Breakable Walls/Platforms

Extra:

  • Statues
  • Fire Places
  • Skeletons
  • Treasures
  • Custom Checkpoints
  • Symbols and objects of interests
  • Background models


Level Design

Tim draw the level map



Josh created some blockout of the Level






Blueprints and Playtests

Jordan made more progress of the gameplay mechanics witht he bluepritns 


Player Control


Attack animation


Double jump


Dashing





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