Ideation & Design
The conception of this game began with the main mechanic of "Run or Die". We then built the entirety of the game around the mechanic, like the theme, narrative, art, gameplay, etc.Right from the get-go we wanted to make a fast-paced game that encouraged the players to think fast on their feet. By having a mechanic like this, we wanted the user to feel a sense of urgency and dread while also enjoying the thrill of it and feel this sense of adrenaline. Based on these feelings that we wanted to invoke in the player, we continued to design the other aspects of the game to reflect this.
Run or Die —
The concept behind the mechanic is simple, you either run forward or you die. The player has to continue to run forward and traverse through the terrain effectively by overcoming the obstacles set in place. If the player fails to keep moving forward by standing still, getting hit by enemies, or fails to clear obstacles, their HP will continue to go down for the duration that they are not moving. Their HP regenerates if they get back to running forward again. We also added a small buffer where the HP would go down slower than normal after they hit a low threshold of HP to give players a chance to come back from the brink of death.We focused on making sure that this mechanic felt really smooth and made sure that the running mechanic felt thrilling and fun since it was the core aspect of the game. Over various testing rounds, we kept refining and iterating this mechanic.
The concept behind the mechanic is simple, you either run forward or you die. The player has to continue to run forward and traverse through the terrain effectively by overcoming the obstacles set in place. If the player fails to keep moving forward by standing still, getting hit by enemies, or fails to clear obstacles, their HP will continue to go down for the duration that they are not moving. Their HP regenerates if they get back to running forward again. We also added a small buffer where the HP would go down slower than normal after they hit a low threshold of HP to give players a chance to come back from the brink of death.We focused on making sure that this mechanic felt really smooth and made sure that the running mechanic felt thrilling and fun since it was the core aspect of the game. Over various testing rounds, we kept refining and iterating this mechanic.
Theme & Aesthetic —
Once we had a solid idea of how the core mechanic should work, we then moved on to defining the theme and aesthetic for our game. We wanted our users to feel emotions like dread, urgency, thrill, and adrenaline. With those emotions in mind, we quickly landed on a grim medieval fantasy-like theme similar to Dark Souls and Hollow Knight. We also gravitated towards a 2D art style like in Hollow Knight as it has the perfect balance between a cute cartoony style and a dark atmosphere. It allows our sprites and assets to be simple while also allows our animation to be more fast and fluid. We also made sure that the music we chose was a good balance of ambient, mellow but also foreboding.
Once we had a solid idea of how the core mechanic should work, we then moved on to defining the theme and aesthetic for our game. We wanted our users to feel emotions like dread, urgency, thrill, and adrenaline. With those emotions in mind, we quickly landed on a grim medieval fantasy-like theme similar to Dark Souls and Hollow Knight. We also gravitated towards a 2D art style like in Hollow Knight as it has the perfect balance between a cute cartoony style and a dark atmosphere. It allows our sprites and assets to be simple while also allows our animation to be more fast and fluid. We also made sure that the music we chose was a good balance of ambient, mellow but also foreboding.
Narrative —
Next, we needed to craft a narrative that made sense with this world that we had thought of. We needed the narrative to complement and enhance our core mechanic of "Run or Die" while also giving the players some sense of direction and something to care about.The game is set in Hallownest Forest, a peaceful, gloomy haven for wildlife, plant-life, and Noir (Raven people) alike. You play as Chichol, the Noir king who has dedicated his oath sworn blood to protect the peace of his village and people. One night, a mysterious deadly mist engulfs the village. Ava, Chichol's wife, rushes outside along with Chichol to witness the chaos of Noirs’ souls withering away, consumed by the fog. They try to escape but Ava trips on a branch is unable to go on. Cichol rushes to her assistance, but it’s too late. The fog engulfs her as she reaches out her wing to meet his and pleads for him to live. He desperately plunges his left wing into the fog in an attempt to retrieve Ava, only for it to be consumed by the fog along with her. Cichol quickly retreats in sorrow and frustration as he vows to bring Ava and his people back and continues to run towards the forest, clinging to life with all his might. The player now has to make his way into the forest, overcoming obstacles and corrupted wildlife while outrunning this mist to find the source of this mist and put an end to it.For a more detailed breakdown of the narrative and story, click on the image below to open the PDF document.
Note: Click on the images below to expand them
Next, we needed to craft a narrative that made sense with this world that we had thought of. We needed the narrative to complement and enhance our core mechanic of "Run or Die" while also giving the players some sense of direction and something to care about.The game is set in Hallownest Forest, a peaceful, gloomy haven for wildlife, plant-life, and Noir (Raven people) alike. You play as Chichol, the Noir king who has dedicated his oath sworn blood to protect the peace of his village and people. One night, a mysterious deadly mist engulfs the village. Ava, Chichol's wife, rushes outside along with Chichol to witness the chaos of Noirs’ souls withering away, consumed by the fog. They try to escape but Ava trips on a branch is unable to go on. Cichol rushes to her assistance, but it’s too late. The fog engulfs her as she reaches out her wing to meet his and pleads for him to live. He desperately plunges his left wing into the fog in an attempt to retrieve Ava, only for it to be consumed by the fog along with her. Cichol quickly retreats in sorrow and frustration as he vows to bring Ava and his people back and continues to run towards the forest, clinging to life with all his might. The player now has to make his way into the forest, overcoming obstacles and corrupted wildlife while outrunning this mist to find the source of this mist and put an end to it.For a more detailed breakdown of the narrative and story, click on the image below to open the PDF document.
Note: Click on the images below to expand them
Level Design —
With the theme, aesthetic, and narrative in hand. We already had a good idea of what our levels needed to look like art wise. Each level would go deeper and deeper into the forest, so the art would reflect that. Between each level, we also wanted to give the player context about the world and what they were doing. So after each level, they would get some narrative before moving onto the next level. We also wanted to give the players the freedom to go back and play a certain level again if they wanted to do so, therefore, we had a level select system in place in the man menu where they could replay levels that they have unlocked.Each level would effectively teach a new mechanic to the player are the beginning that they would need to use to clear that level. As they progress through the level, these obstacles get harder which demands a better mastery of the mechanic that they just learned. So the idea behind this model was to teach a new mechanic, introduce obstacles that would train the users in this mechanic, and by the end of it, they would have mastered it for the future levels.
With the theme, aesthetic, and narrative in hand. We already had a good idea of what our levels needed to look like art wise. Each level would go deeper and deeper into the forest, so the art would reflect that. Between each level, we also wanted to give the player context about the world and what they were doing. So after each level, they would get some narrative before moving onto the next level. We also wanted to give the players the freedom to go back and play a certain level again if they wanted to do so, therefore, we had a level select system in place in the man menu where they could replay levels that they have unlocked.Each level would effectively teach a new mechanic to the player are the beginning that they would need to use to clear that level. As they progress through the level, these obstacles get harder which demands a better mastery of the mechanic that they just learned. So the idea behind this model was to teach a new mechanic, introduce obstacles that would train the users in this mechanic, and by the end of it, they would have mastered it for the future levels.
Development
Paper Prototype:
The first piece of development artifact was a paper prototype. The goal was to find out whether the core mechanic of our game was "Fun". Based on the paper prototype, it turned out that a lot of people found it fun.
Note: Click on the images below to expand them
The first piece of development artifact was a paper prototype. The goal was to find out whether the core mechanic of our game was "Fun". Based on the paper prototype, it turned out that a lot of people found it fun.
Note: Click on the images below to expand them
Early Development:
Initially, we had a bare-bones version of the final game without the art assets, for testing purposes. This skeleton of the game consisted of all the mechanics and obstacles of the final game, without the art assets.
Note: Click on the image below to to expand it
Initially, we had a bare-bones version of the final game without the art assets, for testing purposes. This skeleton of the game consisted of all the mechanics and obstacles of the final game, without the art assets.
Note: Click on the image below to to expand it
Game Mechanics:
Using this shell of a game that we had made during early stages of development, we started designing and implementing our mechanics while constantly testing them to make sure that they worked as intended.
For a more detailed breakdown of all the mechanics in the game, click the image below to open the PDF document.
Note: Click on the images below to expand them
Using this shell of a game that we had made during early stages of development, we started designing and implementing our mechanics while constantly testing them to make sure that they worked as intended.
For a more detailed breakdown of all the mechanics in the game, click the image below to open the PDF document.
Note: Click on the images below to expand them
Art
As the sole artist on the project, I had the opportunity to work on the character art, environment art, UI art and background art.
Character Concept Art:
Here is some early concept art for the main character in the game.
Note: Click on the image below to expand it
Here is some early concept art for the main character in the game.
Note: Click on the image below to expand it
Main Character:
Here are some final art assets for the main character.
Note: Click on the images below to expand them
Here are some final art assets for the main character.
Note: Click on the images below to expand them
Background Art:
Here is the background art for the game. It is layered to give a sense of depth. We planned to add a parallax effect between the layers but couldn't get it done on time.
Note: Click on the image below to expand it
Here is the background art for the game. It is layered to give a sense of depth. We planned to add a parallax effect between the layers but couldn't get it done on time.
Note: Click on the image below to expand it
Platform & Terrain Art:
Here are some assets we used for the platforms and the different terrain obstacles in the game.
Note: Click on the images below to expand them
Here are some assets we used for the platforms and the different terrain obstacles in the game.
Note: Click on the images below to expand them
UI Art:
Here are some assets we used for the UI Hub of the game. This includes an HP bar and two ability icons.
Note: Click on the images below to expand them
Here are some assets we used for the UI Hub of the game. This includes an HP bar and two ability icons.
Note: Click on the images below to expand them
