Overview:
Pitch: Camp Redwind is a 4 vs 1 virtual board game where 4 players play as campers trying to gather keys to be able to escape from the camp and 1 player plays as the monster that tries to prevent campers from escaping. Campers and the monster will both be going against each other in minigames, using cards to gain advantages and out-maneuver one another on the game board.
Platform: PC
Engine: Unity
Language: C#
Development time: 7 weeks
Team Size: 4 Designers, 2 Programmers.
What I did on the Project:
Lead Design:
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As lead designer for this project, my tasks were to make sure we would end up with a product that we as a team would be proud of.
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I made sure the project kept moving forward. While tackling human and technical errors with the entire team.
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I tried to play into different team members' strengths and use the expertise of their skills in the most beneficial way.
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I made sure there was continuous communication among the team members, both of progress and setbacks. This lead to being more efficient. Meaning team members were able to receive quick feedback from others and being able to 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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Having many discussions about how the game should look and feel. 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 the world should be somewhat whimsical and fun.
As part of the course, the game had to include online play and some kind of 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 moved forward with it.
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 kind of gore in 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 prior, 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 so 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, so the outcome in 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, yet at the same time give 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 both mechanically and visually. The idea is to capture the zone on top of the hill. To do that the monster or campers have to stand in the capture zone. In order to prevent the other team from capturing the point there is a push mechanic that 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. There was a lot of balancing that went into this specific minigame.
Hide and Seek:
Going into this one I wanted to recreate the core functions of the game "Dead by Daylight". The goal is for the monster 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 at a slightly slower pace 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:
Visuals and mechanics are created by me. 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 1v1. The campers can only take one hit, but if hit the next camper is rotated into play. While 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 to try 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.
The Maze:
I did the level design. I won't deep dive into the mechanics 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.
Game Play Mechanics Design:
I used flowcharts to design the basic game functions. This was helpful for spotting 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, as well adjustable on the fly. I used a flowchart-like mindset when it came to talking about UI design with our UI designer.
