Spin Doctor Level Design: Purpose and Feature

Purpose of the Level:


Each section of the Victorian Mansion level will have a differently themed room, and are all a part of Reeves' personal home. The rooms included in the game are the Study/Library, Living Quarters, Office, and of course the story-related Ball Room. The Living Quarters being the last room/section of the level, also the last room of the entire game that introduces the player to the end of the game and a final twist in the story.
The sections below are of this level (the third and last level of the game), each section has its own theme. Besides the rotating rooms of original game play there will be special fill-in rooms in-between the original rotating ones, in the same theme, that are more related to the story and a few puzzles for variety in game play. The overall purpose of the level is for the player to see Dr. Reeves in a light, by going through his personal belongings, reading through his journals, exploring his home and seeing the early stages of his plans. This might make the player second-guess if Reeves is actually evil or just a desperate man afraid of losing his wife, going to extreme lengths to save her. This level will tell Reeves' side of the story, making him seem more like a human with feelings and hopes.





Purpose of the Ball Room:


Portraits and paintings can be seen at every corner in every room of this themed section. The most visually appealing section of the whole game, with all its decorations and the festive style to it. Pieces of masquerade clothing and confetti, including worn masks are scattered over the entire section. A steampunky Victorian music device is playing Victorian masquerade themed music. Notes can be found from time to time, written by guests that attended the ball. This section is basically just the aftermath of the story-related masquerade ball event.

Feature of the Ball Room:

As one of the features of this section, I want the player to be able to grab onto a chandelier by using the gauntlet found in the medical zone, and use it to swing. The steam boots can be found in this section.

Purpose of the Study/Library:


The study/library is Reeves' personal library that consists of his studies and the process of it, this including: medical books that hold information about epinephrine, science, medicine, anatomy and diseases, especially those that are similar to Elizabeth's disease, although it is not the same disease. The original purpose of this section was for Reeves need to seek out more knowledge that could benefit his experiments and plans.

Feature of the Study/Library:

The theme of the level is a library. I want the unique feature to be related to the books of the library. Maybe the books are the objectives or the obstacles, maybe the book shelves move with the rotating rooms knocking books over, maybe as a threat to the player because the book case can crush the player. Cross section puzzles involving books could be that the player has to alphabetize the books in order to open a secret passage. 

Purpose of the Living Quarters:
The Living Quarters is where Reeves' spends his spare time and sleep. This is also where most of his personal belongings are. Portraits of Reeves and his wife covering the walls, journal extracts scattered around the quarters, traces of previous work and thoughts Reeves had, all give the player a whole new perspective of Reeves and his personal life and intentions. This room is also the last room the player will explore before being introduced to the final event of the game. and the end to the story.

Feature of the Living Quarters:

The feature of this section is a water based puzzle the player has to solve, in the kitchen area.

Purpose of the Office:
The office was Reeves' own personal room where he could start planning out the experiments before taking them down to the medical zone to examine them even further and bring to them life. Journal extracts, sketches and blueprints related to his previous work and experiments can also be found in his office, along with more books taken from the Study/Library that he used to back up his experiments with.

Feature of the Office:

The feature of this section is a steam punk computer.

Spin Doctor Level Design: Idea, Research and Thoughts

Game: Spin Doctor
Level Zone: Study/Victorian Mansion, Level 3.

 I am going to post some research I am doing here.

So, I know this is mostly up to the artists but I am a minor in Art and I think this will be relevant to the levels themselves, in terms of atmosphere and look of the level, which is a part of Design. Basically, I have always pictured the whole game as being very depressing and evil looking. I wont speak about the Industrial and Medical zone here, because others are taking care of those zones, but I think the mansion should be very Victorian (that's a given!) and I don't mean the poor kind of mansion, I imagine it being a very posh mansion, but it has not been taken care of for the last decades, and I want that to show, not just in the art, but in the actual level itself. It might be a little hard to get across in Google Sketch up and paper down photoshop overview maps, but at least the idea is there. I don't think the whole mansion should be a dark and depressing experience, as I'd like to see some visually pleasing rooms too, that may be a little brighter in looks and atmosphere.

I will mainly do research on Victorian interior and the "haunted house" theme of both movies and games. The first game I've had a look at is "Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers!", a game I used to play when I was younger, it popped into my head and I remembered one of my favourite levels of the game, the Haunted House.

Now, imagine that Donald Duck is Harland, the rooms are rotating and we keep the theme/atmosphere of this, that is how I imagine the mansion will look like, except some sections of the mansion will probably be not as ... depressing.




Ben recommended  "The Haunting" to me,which is probably a good source of inspiration and reference.



Heres a link to the IMDb page if anyone is interested:


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0171363/


And, again, Amnesia! I know I nearly always do some research on Amnesia, but it's a fantastic game and when it comes to atmosphere, not many other games do it better. I always seem to do concept that involves a chase and scary surroundings and environments... The Study Room in Amnesia is a good example of the kind of style I imagine the mansion to be like. I know it's a different time period but it's not far from it and it's mostly the atmosphere and not necessarily the furniture I am pointing out here, although something similar would be awesome to see in the finalised game in the study room, but it might be difficult with rotating rooms... Well, for the sections that involve rotating rooms, I am sure it would be a great filler in between these rooms, visually pleasing and all that. The atmosphere you find in horror games, especially Amnesia, is what I want to aim for in my level designs for this project. Not sure how I will implement it into my level, yet, and it might not even come across properly since it is only design work, but at least this is my idea for level 3, the whole Reeves's mansion. Anyway, here goes:

Spin Doctor Level Design

Today we finished the Manchester assignment. We are going to go back to Spin Doctor now and the focus is on level designs at the moment. I got in a group with Sam and we are going to make level design documents for Level 3: The Mansion, the final level of Spin Doctor. Very excited! The study/mansion is my favourite zone. We have 4 deadlines and this is the plan:

----------------------------¦
Idea
Purpose + Feature             - 15th of February, 2012.
Location + Environment
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Photo Reference
Story                                 - 22nd of February, 2012.
Objectives + Obstacles
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Paper Based Plan               - 29th of February, 2012.
Level Overview
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Walkthrough                       - 7th of March, 2012.

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Manchester Part 8: Summary

Manchester Part 8: Level Walkthrough

Cameras

·         Short directional camera will play in Cabin 01 when the player interacts with the coffee machine (this is a tiny "mission").

·         An interactive cut scene will play in Cabin 01, when the player interacts with the woman who is now sat in front of them. The player can look to the right and left, but has no control otherwise. After awhile the player will excuse themselves to the bathroom and leave, cut scene is over at this point.

·         In between cabin 01 and 02 a directional camera will show the Enemy stand up in Cabin 01, implying that he is going to follow you.

·         A directional camera will play at the end of Cabin 02, when a toilet door suddenly gets the player temporarily stuck, this will trigger a directional camera that will point to the suspicious man in Cabin 01 that started following you (The Enemy), at this point the man is starting to speed up slightly, while pushing things out of his way in an aggressive manner.

·         A directional camera will be played in Cabin 04, triggered when the player interacts with the luggage in the room, the  camera will show the player throwing luggage at the antagonist, making him fall to the ground, temporarily slowing him down. Player is free to run when the cut scene has ended.

·         A cut scene will play in Cabin 05, once the player has entered. People in this cabin will grab the protagonist and try to slow him down, assuming he is drunk. The player will try to break loose from them, until the antagonist runs into the cabin and is grabbed onto as well. As the people in the  cabin realise he's a tough guy they all let go off the protagonist to take care of the bigger threat in the room. The cut scene will end here and the player can run into the next cabin, again, the enemy is temporarily slowed down.

·         A directional camera will be played in Cabin 06, quickly showing the player the room and the locked door at the other side of the small room in the cabin. This will imply the door is locked and hint that the player needs to find something to open it with.

·         Once inside the other room in Cabin 06, there will be a quick directional camera showing the player walking towards the cabin window. The protagonist will try to open the window, but fails this attempt. This will imply the player needs to find another way to open the window.

·         In cabin 07 there is an interactive camera, showing the player kneeling down, in order to solve the combination lock on the safe door, after this a" window" will pop up allowing the player to solve the puzzle close up to the safe.

·         In Cabin 10 a directional camera will play, showing the puzzle to the player (it will show the levers between each door, implying they have to be interacted with)

·         In Cabin 12 a directional camera will play showing the player walking on the fragile bridge as it falls apart and the player will fall down into a room full of crates.

·         Inbetween Cabin 13 and 14, outside the train after the player has entered the cabin window, a directional camera will go into 3rd person and show the player hugging the wall (if they have done so, if not it will show them dying.)

·         An interactive directional camera will play while the player is climbing the ladder and crawling on top of the train in Cabin 15, also when the player jumps down into the top window.

Prop List

Triggered Animation

·         Coffee Machine (Cabin 1)

·         Toilet Door (Cabin 2)

·         Luggage Throw (Cabin 4)

·         Crowbar Door Opening (Cabin 6)

·         Balance Animation (Cabin 6/7)

·         Safe Door Puzzle (Cabin 7)

·         Climbing (Cabin 9)

·         Rope Swing (Cabin 9)

·         Fire Extinguisher Throw (Cabin 11)

·         Fragile Bridge (Cabin 12)

·         Hug-The-Wall (Cabin 14)

·         Climbing of Ladder (Cabin 14/15)

·         Crawling (Cabin 15)

·         Jumping down (Cabin 15)

Destroyable Objects

·         Kickable Door (Cabin 13)

·         Fragile Bridge (Cabin 12)

·         Breakable Window (Cabin 13)

Other Objects

·         Crates (Cabin 6, 9, 12)

·         Pipe (Cabin 9)

·         Steam Shooter (Cabin 13)

·         Tables/Chairs (Cabin 1, 2, 3, 5, 7)

·         Steam punk Typewriter (Cabin7)

·         Safe (Cabin 7)

·         Screwdriver (Cabin 6)

·         Crowbar (Cabin 6)

·         Shelves (Cabin 6, 8)

·         Luggage (Cabin 4)

·         Machinery (Cabin 10, 11, 13)

·         Toilet door (Cabin 2)

·         Bar (Cabin 5)

·         Stools (Cabin 5)

·         Sofa (Cabin 5)

·         Lockers (Cabin 6)

·         Key (Cabin 6)

·         Coffee Machine (Cabin 1)

·         Locked door (Cabin 6, 7)

·         Lever (Cabin 11)

·         Rope (Cabin 9)

WALKTHROUGH

CABIN 01

1a)  Player walks into the train, sits down for a little bit.

2) Player decides to get coffee (this isn't optional), player goes to get coffee, cut scene will play showing the protagonist using the coffee machine (yellow box).

1b) Player goes back to their seat, at this moment a woman (green dummy) is sat in front of the protagonist. This triggers an interactive cut scene where the player (blue dummy) can look to the right and left. Dummy in black can be seen on the left of the camera, giving the player a dirty look. This is meant to make the protagonist uncomfortable.

3) Protagonist excuses themselves in order to go to the toilet (because the protagonist is feeling uncomfortable and wants to get away). When the player goes through the door entering Cabin 2, a directional camera will play showing the black dummy standing up.

CABIN 02

1) The player is walking towards the toilet (no option to run up yet), but temporarily getting stuck due to a passenger getting out of the toilet with the door wide open and the passenger being big in size as well.

2) When this happens (the passenger gets out of the toilet), a directional camera will show the black dummy (enemy) getting closer, pushing people out of the way while yelling "You, wait!".

3) The protagonists proceeds to push the yellow dummy (the passenger as mentioned above) out of the way, ending in yellow dummy falling to the ground. There was no option to run up until this point, but now the player can run away from the black dummy. Player runs through and goes into the third cabin.

CABIN 03

1) Player runs through Cabin 03, nothing of importance happens here, the player only runs through Cabin 03 to get to 04 (this just adds game play time).

2) The player can hear the enemy's footsteps at this point. The enemy will yell "Hey, you there! Wait!" in an angry tone. 

CABIN 04

1) Player can interact with luggage, which will trigger an animation (2)

2) Directional camera and triggered animation. The player will see the protagonist throwing luggage at the enemy, slowing him down temporarily (a minimum of 3 will have to be thrown, so 3 interactions with the luggage).

CABIN 05 (interactive cut scene)

1) Player runs into cabin 05. People (grey dummies) presume the protagonist is drunk and grabs onto him to slow him down. Two dummies will say something, the first will say "You've had one drink too much, I see." and the other, "Show some respect!"

2) The enemy runs into the cabin. The passengers will realise he is a bigger threat and they let go off you to stop him.

3) At this point the protagonist will run out of the room, while the enemy is being slowed down by all the passengers.

CABIN 06  (2 rooms in 1 cabin)

1) When the player gets into Cabin 06, a directional camera will point to point 1, where a door will be locked, implying that the player has to find a way to open it.

2) The key is located here, in the yellow little box. The green boxes are lockers and drawers, that  the player can have a look in, while looking for the key.

1) When the player has unlocked the door, and enters the other room in 06, a directional camera will show the player walking towards 1, trying to open the window here, but fails this attempt at opening it.

2) The protagonist speaks to himself "There must be something in here that can help me open this door." The player is free to look in any of the blue boxes for tools. There are 4 tools that can be found, in one of the boxes the player can find a crowbar, this is what is needed to open the window with. If the player decides to use the other tools they will simply break or not work.

3)  When the player interacts with the window using the crowbar, a short cut scene will appear showing the player opening the window and climbing through it, landing on the narrow platform outside.

CABIN 07

1) This cabin doesn't really exist to the player, it is off limits. The player will be able to see the cabin from outside but won't be able to see what is inside because the windows will be  covered up from the inside. The player can still walk past cabin 07, on the platform. The player has to balance on the platform (which will be a mechanic showing up as a bar with a ball on it, that can go all the way to the left or right depending on how well the player is balancing, if the ball goes all the way to either side, the player will fall off the platform and die).

CABIN 08

1) Animation/cut scene played here. It will show the player climbing into Cabin 08 through the window.

2a) The orange box is a safe, with a combination lock on it, the player has to hit the right numbers in a certain order to open the door behind the safe. A directional camera will point here once the player is in the room.

2b) Animation/cut scene when the player does the safe puzzle. Once the safe has been opened, the player is free to enter Cabin 09.

CABIN 09

1) Player climbs platform by platform, according to height. The path is obvious by the height of the boxes.

2) Here in between 2 and 3, there is a rope that the player can grab and swing to reach the next platform (3)

3) The player has to climb through the pipe here.

1) When the player has crawled through the pipe they will fall down onto the platform below and then jumps down to ground level to proceed the maze.

CABIN 10

1) This is a lever, every yellow square in this scene is a lever that has to be pulled in order to open the doors (red walls). Each door will fall back down, 2 seconds after the lever has been pulled, so the player has 2 seconds to enter each door but can have a rest in between them. 

1) The green boxes is machinery that will shoot lethal steam out, there is no way the player can avoid this as the doors are blocking their way. The player must run to grab the lever, and jump up and down to make sure they are not hit by the steam. 

CABIN 11

1) This is a lever the player has to pull down, once that is done, the machinery will be turned on and start moving.

2) This is the machinery, it consists of a long wall on each side to block the player out (no cheating) and a big metal steam instrument that will hit the ground every 2 seconds. The player has to move through them quickly to avoid them.

CABIN 12

****

CABIN 13

1) These, similar to Cabin 10, are steam shooters. The player has to avoid these and run through them, being allowed 2 breaks in between them, if needed.

2) Cut scene/animation of player climbing through the window.

CABIN 14

Another off limits cabin, with the player on a narrow platform outside (it doesn't look small here, but it would be in-game.)

1) The player has to hug the wall because a train will pass by and would kill the player if he/she stood near the edge.

CABIN 15

1) The player must climb the ladder here, and get on top of the train for Cabin

16!

CABIN 16

1) Players crawls on top of the train, with the enemy catching up to them. The player has to duck (holding down a key) when they enter the tunnel reaching the trains' final destination.

2) Window the player can kick through and jump down into the final cabin of the level.

CABIN 17

1) The player is  the final cabin and must run to the green door which is the exit. Once they have interacted with the door, the level ends. Finished!

1) After the player has jumped from the pipe to the platform they will continue the maze from here and go to the right and to the north and continues to climb through the maze.

2) Player goes to the right from here and then jumps down to the left again on the lower platform to the south until they reach 3.

3) The player has to grab onto a rope here and swing down to the lower platform and then proceed to jump onto platform number 4 which is lower than the current one.

4) The player has finished the maze and can walk down the stairs and walk south and then to the left to exit the maze and enter cabin 10.

Manchester Part 7: Top Down Paper Map

This is the basic overview of the train level which consists of 3 different zones, the public and cargo zone and the engine room.

Yellow: Public Zone, this is where the intro of the game takes place. The public zone will have passengers of the train, the bar and a toilet. This is the "easiest" of the 3 sections because it's the intro of the level, and there are alot of directional cameras and cut scenes in this section. The colour yellow was also chosen because not only is it the easiest zone of the 3, but it's also the most positive one (read "Atmosphere").

Orange:  Cargo zone, this is where the player will face mostly puzzles and the chase will be uninterrupted by passengers, train conductors and the like. The cargo zone will be less visually pleasing compared to the Public Zone, again, this is a reference to the Atmosphere post, it's gradually getting more and more depressing in this zone, darker outside and rainy. This zone feels like it's pretty much a ghost train (no people and dark environments). 

Red: The Engine, the player doesn't actually get to be in the engine room (at least not at all times) because this is an exterior zone. The player has to crawl on top of the train. 

TOP DOWN PAPER MAP

Before you ask: No, I don't have a scanner, so I had to take a photo of it. Hopefully this kind of makes sense to you. 

X = Where the player or enemy stops/stands, temporarily. 

Blue Circle  = Player

Black Circle = Enemy

- - - -  = Footprints, where the player and enemy will walk, Blue = Player, Black = Enemy

Eye thing = Cameras

Ear = What the player can hear

Triangle = Random man 

Green Circle = Woman in the intro

Star = Key

Weird curved doodles = where the player jumps or swings with a rope

Square with circle (11) = Button (Update: Changed to lever on the wall)

Mysterious rectangle with lines in 12 = Bridge

OVERVIEW MAP OF TRAIN LEVEL

Manchester Part 6: Focal Points (+atmosphere)

Focal Points

• The City

Final destination of train, the  city will work as a focal point because it is the final destination of the train, the player will believe this is where the current level/gameplay section will end. It can be seen through the windows of the cabin or when the player is balancing outside the train, grabbing onto it. 

• Protagonists's Comments

The player will give clues to the player as to what is happening and what they should look for or look out for. As an example, if the player has to find a certain object to get through a puzzle or obstacle, the player will make a comment about it: "I need to open this window, maybe I can find something to open it with..." or comments such as "Not long until I arrive at the train station" for example, when the player is near a window or outside. Will work as a guide for the player, if ever in doubt. 

• Atmosphere

The atmosphere will also work as a guide, the darker and the more depressing the surroundings and environment gets, the closer the player is to the end of the level. More info below about the atmosphere of the game.




The atmosphere is somehow relevant in this blog post, as it serves as some kind of focal point itself. Yeah, I've made a section called "Atmosphere" because I came up with a cool idea. I will keep this short since it's not very important when it comes to gameplay, but I still think it's worth adding since it's interesting, IMO. First I wanted a dark, depressing atmosphere/setting, but I decided it'd be cool if everything started off like this: Sunny weather, many people on the train in the cabin you start off in, smiling people, a positive feel to the intro, in general, including the people the player interacts with in the first minutes of gameplay. Then gradually, as the  game progresses, for every cabin the player enters, the weather as seen through the windows of the cabin, will turn from sunny to dark, rainy, misty and depressing. There will be less people for each cabin, and this doesn't have a specific reason other than that it works with the gameplay, since the player will be running away from an enemy and things will get more and more dangerous for each cabin, so to speak. The closer the player gets to the end of the level, the more obvious it will be that the player is moving towards the end of the level, as it goes from sunny and happy to rainy and depressing.


I found a game that does something similar - after I came up with this idea I tried to do some research to see if anyone had done the same or something similar, and this is the closest I got:




As you can see, when she leaves the path, things take a different turn in atmosphere, sort of like my game, except in The Path, this is optional, whereas in my game this is a part of the level, working as a focal point of some sort...

Manchester Part 5: Objectives and Obstacles

Objectives: The main objective is to escape the train.You are being chased by a thief/thieves, who want to get their hands on your folder. You are however stuck on a train and don't have the ability to escape from the train itself. You will have to run forward, cabin by cabin, in a very long steampunk train, until the train reaches it's destination, so you can get off and run for your life. The  goal is to lure the chaser(s), think of creative ways to defend yourself with the surroundings or temporarily disorient the enemy. The player may have to climb through the cabin window (or potentionally break it if you can't open it, unless you find a crowbar),to get to the next cabin, etc, because of an obstacle. The door could also be destroyed but this would take time and you risk the chaser catching up to you.


Obstacles: Puzzles in general. The player will be able to pick up most objects, like tables and chairs, knock them over, use them to block doors with, throw random stuff at things or people, etc. However this is mostly optional, depending on circumstances. Balance will also be an obstacle, ie, when you've climbed out a window, you'll have to keep balance, otherwise you'll fall off the train and this will result in death. This will bring up a balance mechanic, a bar with a ball on it, if it goes too far left or right, the player will fall off the train, so the goal is to keep the ball in the middle of the bar/scale. The enemy itself, the chase is an obstacle as well as locked doors or blocked paths.

Balance mechanic reference (yes, I kind of copied the ball/scale thing )




As an example of an obstacle, if you find a fire extinguisher, it can be used to jam the door handle to prevent the enemy from getting through the door, this will give you a little time to run away from him.  Alternatively, the smoke from it could be used to disorient the enemy.

Kind of like this... except you'd use it to disorient them, not yourself...




So, to sum up all the objectives and obstacles of my level:

Objectives

• Escape the train
• Disorient enemies
• Shake off enemies/slow them down
• Climb through window
• Break window
• Potentionally use crowbar to open window
• Defend yourself with your surroundings

Obstacles

• Picking up/knocking over objects
• Throwing objects
• Jamming of door handles, etc.
• Balance mechanic
• Enemy/Enemies
• The chase

Manchester Part 4: Story

Edward Covington is a soon-to-be world famous inventor who has just invented a revolutionary but top-secret item. His assistant and delivery boy, Lawrence, has to deliver the top secret documents of the blueprints of the invention, to an anonymous man in Steamchester.

Manchester Part 3: Photo References

W.I.P: This is a collection of photos I took the other day, that inspired me. They are all somehow related to the industrial UK or steampunk itself, and even though some of them look totally unrelated to the project I am working on, I still found inspiration in it. These photos were taken in the streets and back alleys of Manchester and inside the Science and Industrial museum in Manchester.


[WIP: MORE PICTURES AND TEXT INC]