In OMG the player plays as a maneuverable golf ball, dodging obstacles and dangers while utilizing their Nitro to speed ahead and get the best possible time.
Specification: My Contributions: Tools:
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Studio: Yellow Sofas
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Student project: 3 weeks
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Engine: Unity 3D
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Team size: 12
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3 Level Designers
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4 Artists
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5 Programmers
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Game design
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Level design & dressing
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Rapid prototyping
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Project management
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Cinematic/trailer
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Quality Analysis
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Player Testing
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Unity 3D
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Adobe Photoshop
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Autodesk Maya
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Cinemachine
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Visual Studio (C#)
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Microsoft Word
Level & Game design
The game itself relies on a simple concept. We knew we had a fairly limited amount of time for actual development. I gathered the team for a meeting about the overall scope and so we went ahead with a platformer game that put the player in constant movement. Like an endless runner that actually ends.
Since the gameplay was set in constant movement we had to decide early on what sort of pace we wanted throughout the game and levels. This proved to be more of a challenge than originally thought. After a bit of trial and error I came up with the three-section-pacing. Basically it was making sure that every level designer divided their level into three managable sections that focused on different elements of their entire map design.
I wanted to create a quick prototype of the game with the camera, basic movement and obstacles during our pre-production. I took one of my afternoons and scripted the movement and the rotating obstacles. I also implemented a Cinemachine camera and adjusted it to the camera setting it is in the final release. I commited all my work and it worked out very well. The other level designers used the scripts during the whole of the pre-production phase in order to test out some basic level ideas. The graphical artists got a good sense of size and measurement from the camera view.
Something that me and the other level designers aimed to do was to create interesting areas through the conventional mechanics we designed for other purposes. For example, a jump pad. Fun on it's own, good for getting the player to high places and gives the player something to aim towards. One of the areas I designed on the 8th level was the jumping fields. A large area of rocky mountains in which there were a large amount of jump pads. The player got a good viewpoint to scout ahead, and with a little planning could access the hidden route. This added an element to the game that made it more sustainable for longer gameplay. The jump pads are introduced as a basic one-time mechanic to get you up to another platform. But as they are introduced for another purpose the player would get excited about exploring that side of the mechanic more.
