DREAMWATCHER

STUDENT PROJECT, CAMPUS ADN - 2020

DreamWatcher is a 3D Metroidvania game created in 14 weeks during the pandemic by a team of students.

Steam Release: Fall 2020 (Steam Store Page)

Roles:

Game Designer
Programmer

Constraints:

Developed in Unity
Work from home because of the pandemic
3rd Person view
Maximum of 2 humanoid models and enemies
- With possible recolors
Maximum of 1 biome with possible recolors
14 weeks of production

CORE MECHANICS

Swing

Zip above obstacles

Push & Pull Objects

Solve puzzles and create platforms

Fire Enemies

Burn obstacles

Ice Enemies

Freeze clouds to create platforms

Winged Boots

Double jump and step on clouds

Shadow Fade

Fade into the ground to lift objects

Climb

Reach high ground

Swing

Fly over dangerous areas

Blocks

Push and pull blocks to navigate

Fire

Fire Monkey burns certain ingredients

Ice

Ice Monkey can freeze clouds

Double Jump

Double Jump and land on clouds

Shadow

Fade into the ground and pick up cubes to use as steps

Climb

Access out of reach areas

PITCH & PRE-PRODUCTION

Pitch: I was part of the initial team of 4 that pitched the game. Created and succeeded in communicating the base of what would become the final game. Out of the 6 projects presented, ours was one of the 2 chosen to be developed.

Pre-production: Created many documents with my team of designers.

Rational Level Design
Rational Game Design
Mechanical Mapping of in-game actions
Worked on the 3C of the game
Designed the game ingredients and their metrics
Flowchart of the Avatar's actions

Made sure every design created stayed true to the game's vision throughout development.

*See below for pre-production documents (in french)

Pitch

Gameplay pillars

RLD

Rational Level Design - Abilities, rewards and enemies

RLD

Rational Level Design - Ingredients

Metrics

MLD - Swing

Design proposition for the swing ingredient

MLD - Cloud

Design proposition for the cloud platforms

PRODUCTION

Roles:

Game Designer
Programmer

Tasks (Game Design):

Worked on the 3Cs (Camera, Character and Controls)
Kept design documents up to date
Worked on the game's feedback to the player through art, animation, sounds and any other means
Provided constructive feedback and criticism on all levels to the level designers on the project
Cut features and mechanics that were not working, not fun or that we simply did not have the time to do
- All in order to have the best possible game in the end

Tasks (Programmer):

Scripted many states of the Avatar
Scripted many ingredients
Fixed bugs regularly
Took care of the bug database

Tasks (General):

Found solutions to problem quickly with my team
- We did not have any time to lose and needed to keep moving forward
Played the game on a daily basis

Troubleshooting (Examples):

Metrics had to be reworked and adjusted due to the art team's limitations
Redundant features/mechanics were cut or baked into another
Unfun and uninteresting features/mechanics were cut to elevate the game's quality

The whole production has been done as Work From Home.

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