Personal Projects
FPS Game
Color Wars
Rafael Pineiro
Level Designer
Jump Man
Game Details
Development Time
3 Month
Role
Level Designer
Team Size
Solo
Genre
Concept
Jump Man was heavily inspired by Mario, Donkey Kong, and many other platform games. The mechanics of Jumpman can be found in many other different platforming games such as Moving platforms Spike floors and Extending platforms.I also wanted to look and the atmosphere of Jumpman to be similar to many of the platform games I played growing up
Platformer
Level Design
Level Sketches
The idea for the rough sketches was it teaches the player about the many mechanics that he would face along the way. Also teaching the player the basic mechanics such as double jumping running and slowing down is also important These rough sketches are just the basic ideas of some of the levels and mechanics that were used in the game
Level Blockout
Blockout allowed me to create spaces that let me imagine how the real game would be. Yeah deal with them just to get the main focus of gameplay and add the real assets later this allowed me to try out different gameplay metallics while also changing certain variables about them
Level Walkthroughs
The player begins the level
1
The player is first introduced to the Turtle enemies that follow a set pattern
2
The players first introduced to the wall jump mechanic
3
The player encounters the spike pillars that rotate and move in a specific pattern and speed
4
The player finds the jump pad by jumping on the place the player can reach newer heights
5
The player sees the speed boost by getting on the speed boost the player can accelerate a great distance to the other side
6
The player lands safely on the other side and reaches a checkpoint
7
The player first encounters moving platforms he must time his jump correctly to get to the other side
8
The player must get through these spike traps if the player touches a flight trap he will be hurt
9
The player has reached the end of the level
11
The player encounters another jump pad
10
The player begins the level
1
the player must dodge spikes that come up during a set period and pillars
2
The player finds a health pack
3
The player must find the right time to jump on the extending platforms before they extend inward
4
The player has reached a checkpoint where you can save his progress
5
The player is first introduced to disappearing crates the player can jump on these crates one time before they disappear
6
The player has reached the second checkpoint of the level
7
The player must dodge these extending platforms so he does not get kicked off the stage
8
The player finds a jump pad that helps him reach the castle
10
The player must Dodge these spike traps so he can reach the end of the level
9
The player has reached the end of the level
11
The player begins the level
1
The player first encounters the flip hazards
2
The player must use the speed boost to get across the level
3
The player must time his jump correctly so he does not get hit by the flip hazards
4
The player must timely get across to the other section while dodging cannonballs
5
The player is first introduced to the invisible platforms if he stays there too long on the platform he will fall
6
The player must dodge the spikes to safely get across the area
7
The player has reached a checkpoint with health to save his progress
8
The player now encounters the switch platforms every time the player will jump the platforms will switch
9
The player is on the last part of the level he must jump safely across each platform to reach the end of the level
10
The player has reached the end of the level
11
Level Beat Chart
Design Techniques
Affordance
By putting these two pillars next to each other I am telling the player that they must double jump to reach the next area
Visual Language - Shapes
Having these pointy objects pointed out in the pillar this demonstrates that is a dangerous object for the player
Visual Language - Shapes
These shapes indicate to the player that a dangerous object can pop out of there
Visual Language - Color
This color is only used for the pillars that allow the player to double jump
Visual Language - Color
This indicates to the player that he must use this platform to get to the other side
Visual Language - Color
This shows a player what crates are breakable and what crates are not breakable
Landmarks
This shows a player what crates are breakable and what crates are not breakable
Breadcrumbs
I use these coins as bread crumbs to lead the player to the correct path I also use it to indicate if the player needs to jump.
Textures
These signs offer guidance to the player whenever they are lost as they tell the player where to go
Post Mortem
What went well?;
- The level of difficulty went well. I would say that each level is balanced and provides different levels of difficulty for each one of them. Each level has their well-developed level curve
- Designing each unique level mechanic for their respective levels. I really didn't have any kind of problem when coding for the level mechanics many of them were simple such as moving platforms or rotating hazards. This allowed me to spend more time in the level design process than fixing bugs
- The project went smoothly I was able to hit many of my milestones and deadlines. I was able to finish the project in a respectable time.
What went poorly?;
- One thing that I wish I did better was when the player is in tight spaces the camera does tend to zoom in too close. Camera collision can be poor in certain areas
- The air control for the player does tend to be hard when you're jumping from platform to platform. This is something that I still have to work on as jumping from the other platform can be tricky and the player needs more air control
-The wall jump mechanic. I did not use the Walter mechanic as many times as I liked. As I tend to use other mechanics in different kinds of levels. The wall mechanic was only used once during level 1.
What did I learn?;
- One thing that I wish I did better was when the player is in tight spaces the camera does tend to zoom in too close. Camera collision can be poor in certain areas
- I learned that having simple yet easy-level mechanics to code takes a lot of time off bug hunting. Many of the level mechanics were very easy to implement therefore I had more time to do other things such as level design and testing.
- If I could start over I would spend a little more time changing the player's variables. I felt that the air control and the jumping still needed more work. Well they weren't horrible they still needed more time I would say that they were okay in the final product
