-Pitch:
Camp Redwind is a 4 vs 1 virtual board game where 4 players play as campers trying to gather keys to escape from the camp and 1 player plays as the monster that tries to prevent campers from escaping. Campers and the Monster will go against each other in a series of minigames, using cards to gain advantages and out-maneuver one another on the game board.
-My Role on Camp Redwind:
Lead design, World, Level, Mechanics, & Gameplay Designer.
-Project Details:
Platform: PC
Engine: Unity
Language: C#
Development time: 7 weeks
Team Size: 4 Designers, 2 Programmers.
-Lead Design:
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As lead designer for this project, my task was that the team end up with a product that we would be proud of.
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I was to make sure the project kept moving forward and addressing human and technical errors with the entire team along the way.
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I tried to play into different team members' strengths and use the expertise of their skills most beneficially.
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I encouraged continuous communication among the team members both progress and setbacks, which led to being more efficient. Meaning team members were able to receive quick feedback from others and solve issues quicker with the help of others.
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I also led morning standups and made task lists that the team members were assigned to keep a better overall view of the scope. This made it possible to detect changes needed before they could affect the overall project.
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The game's look and feel was an open discussion among the members.
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I determined what to cut or add to the game functionally and visually.
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I made the trailer and presented the project to the school and the jury.
-World Design:
Going into the project we received a prompt "Nintendo indie" which made it easy to determine that the world should be somewhat whimsical and fun.
Part of the course, the game had to include online play and some simulation.
I proposed that we make an online board game with different minigames in it. The theme however is inspired by the 80's slasher movies. The rest of the team members seemed to like the idea so we continued.
I used a few board games, movies, and video games as references for creating a campsite where this game would take place.
We didn't want it to be a bloody game so we excluded any gore from the game. However, to keep it unique I wanted to keep the theme of being chased alive through the gameplay so the minigames players play would not be too random and feel out of place. We kept some of the silliness that the Nintendo games tend to have.
-Level and Mechanics Design:
As mentioned previously, the game had to have a cohesive feeling of trying to escape, theme, through the main game board and the mini-games. So all levels are designed with that thought in mind.
All the minigames had a timer that wouldn't exceed 60 seconds the design of the mini-games had to be repeatable, hectic, and most important of all fun, to keep the suspense. All the gameplay elements had to affect one another, the outcome from mini-games would affect the statistics on the main game board.
-Main Game-Board:
I designed it to look and feel like a board game, but keep the eeriness of a spooky campsite. I made a few crude sketches and had ideas about the base core mechanics, thereafter the entire team worked together to improve every aspect of it. I made mainly visual changes to the main board once the core mechanics were implemented.
-King of the Hill:
This was the first minigame I designed for this project, mechanically and visually. The idea is to capture the zone on top of the hill. To do that the monster or campers must stand in the capture zone. To prevent the other team from capturing the point there is a push mechanic, which pushes the players around, leading to being pushed down the hill and having to climb back on it while losing the capture time. If the campers win nothing happens, if the monster wins the campers take a hit to their health pool on the main game board. We kept balancing this specific minigame continuously throughout the entire project.
-Hide and Seek:
For this one, I wanted to recreate the core functions of the game "Dead by Daylight". The goal of the Monster is to find and catch as many campers as possible. For the campers it is the opposite, they have to avoid capture at all costs. The Monster has a first-person camera while the campers have a 3rd person camera view. When players load into the minigame the campers have a few seconds to hide, while the monster sees a timer before they can try to find the campers. There are interactable hiding spots on this level for campers to hide at to avoid being captured by the monster, the monster can search these hiding spots. The level is small and there are not too many hiding spots, but the campers can leave their hiding spot if they want to relocate. To avoid an infinite chase the campers move slower compared to the Monster. At the end of the minigame, campers take a hit to the health pool based on the campers captured in the minigame.
-Dodge Ball:
The goal is to strike out the lives of the opposite team. The campers and the monster are put on each side of the level. The game is played on 1v1. The campers can only take one hit, but if hit the next camper is rotated into play. The Monster can take hits equal to the number of campers in the game. So, if it is a 4v1 game then the monster can take 4 hits, if it is a 2v1 game then the Monster can take 2 hits. Campers win by knocking out the monster or if the time runs out, campers take damage to the health pool equal to the campers knocked out.
-Hook, Line, and Sinker:
The original idea was from a programmer. I refined it and made a level for it. The goal is for players not to get pulled into the water by the monster from the shore. The Monster is in first person, using a harpoon with a rope, trying to pull the campers into the water. There is no visual timer on this level, but the campers are on the raft crossing the river. The mini-game ends once the raft has reached the other shore. Campers can jump and run around on the raft to avoid being pulled into the water by the harpoon. Once the raft reaches the other shore the campers take damage to overall health based on how many were pulled into the water.
I did the level design. I won't describe the mechanics in detail since I only designed the level. The goal however is to get through the maze and get to the middle of the level while avoiding the monster and the encroaching fog.
-The Maze:
-Game Play Mechanics Design:
I used flowcharts to design the basic game functions. This helped spot early errors with the ideas before programming them. It also made it easier for programmers to follow the thought process. I used the same flowcharts when it came to designing the mini-games. Since it is an easy way to communicate thoughts and ideas to others and is adjustable on the fly. I used a flowchart-like mindset when talking about UI design with our UI designer.