Team Awesome G3

Title: Escape the Dungeon

Team Name: Team Awesome

Team Members: Chromious, Z-Fighter, Mebibyte

General Information

Most sections have been updated. Game World information is new. Schedule is unchanged.

Game Description: You wake up in a strange dungeon with a puddle of water at your feet. You can see water rushing in from behind you, and a door in front of you. With no idea why ou you are here or what’s going, on you press onward through the door. In this next room, you are faced with a strange puzzle. You must solve these puzzles in each room before the water completely surrounds you and sends you to an early, watery grave. You have a top-down, possibly slightly isometric view of the surroundings in the dungeon, and the puzzles are always about finding a way to the next room. The player wins by not drowning in the rising water and reaching the end of the dungeon. Or is it really the end?

Why is the game fun: Escaping from imminent death is fun. People love playing with danger and living life on the edge. We hope to create a player experience that feels urgent and dangerous, but also slow and careful while solving various different puzzles. We will also focus on the controls to ensure they are fun at different levels of water. But the water isn’t just an environmental hazard and timer. The water could also lift up platforms, move objectives and trigger sensors.

Game Feel: Player should have a sense of urgency to solve puzzles and escape. This is a dark, dusty, dreary, damp, deep, deadly dungeon, and you are stuck here. At various different depths of water, the player will be able to feel the difference as they move around. From hearing the splash as you step through the puddle, to the slow wade through waist high water, and even swimming around in water almost to the roof, you will actually feel like you are in the environment.

Controls: WASD – Move E – Interact Space – Jump/Swim

Game World

Below are some examples of the types of puzzles we are hoping to implement as part of our game. Early on these would be implemented individually, but later they could be done in combination.

Figure 1: Diving Puzzle

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This puzzle would involve a maze with blocked paths. To make it through the maze, the player must dive underwater to reach a different section. This map shows an example of a possible layout for such a maze. Diving underwater in a cell of one color will result in surfacing in the other cell of the same color. We hope this will be a classic take on a teleporter puzzle more suited for a room filled with water.

Figure 2: Sliding Puzzle

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Slide objects around the room to apply weight to buttons on the floor and unlock the door. Sliding becomes easier when some water is on the floor, but player is able to apply less force as the water level increases.

Figure 3: XOR Puzzle

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Flip switches to light or extinguish torches on the wall. Find the correct combination of switches to light all the torches and open the door.

Figure 4: Water Current Puzzle

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For this puzzle, the current of the water will push the player though the room. The player must find the correct path to get the water to carry them to the exit. This simple example has only two options, carrying the player back to the starting square or taking them all the way to the exit, and would be meant as an introduction to this type of puzzle.

Work Distribution

We have specific aspects of the game that each team member is expected to further develop each week. Here we have laid out our initial plan for these tasks.

Schedule:

Week 1
Z-Fighter: Clean up codebase and upload to version control
Chromious: Puzzle Master
Mebibyte: Improve Atmosphere and Intensify Game Feel

Week 2
Z-Fighter: Implement new player mechanics
Chromious: Puzzle Sorcerer
Mebibyte: Improve polish and textures

Week 3
Z-Fighter: Puzzle Archwizard
Chromious: Further intensify game feel for Avatar, the last airbender
Mebibyte: Work on start screen

Week 4
Z-Fighter: Puzzle Demigod
Chromious: Fixer-upper
Mebibyte: Level Linguist

Week 5
Z-Fighter: Fix bugs
Chromious: Bug bash
Mebibyte: Playtest

Week 6
Z-Fighter: Prepare final presentation
Chromious: Ending Demonstration Practice
Mebibyte: Final presentation preparations

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