Workshop Process

Process work from the workshop environment:

Workshop Environment

My group's workshop was a dentist's office after a societal collapse. Jose Mundo did the waiting room area, Christopher Pavlovski did the patient room, and I did the dentist's personal office.

Made with Unreal Engine 4, Maya

Boss Character

This is my boss I made in my drawing for games class. I will be making this in 3D next semester:

Biome

Final shot and camera movement of the first project of the semester, a temperate broad-leaf deciduous forest environment:

Made with Maya, Unreal Engine 4, and Photoshop

Fortitudo Boss Battle Map

Boss Battle Analysis

I chose to analyze the Fortitudo boss battle from Bayonetta:

Fortitudo is one of the first major boss battles in this game, marking the end of Chapter IV. The player is introduced to the boss fairly early in the game and there are two "mini fights" that occur with him before the actual final battle.

Bayonetta's normal fighting mechanics are used to defeat this boss (shooting, kicking, dodging etc). However, there are times during the battle where the player needs to jump at precise moments to avoid falling into lava. There are also chances for more powerful attacks that can be activated when the corresponding buttons appear on the screen. The weak spots of Fortitudo are the jewels on each forehead.

The playable areas in the boss level itself are pretty controlled- the player has free range on most of the ground of the coliseum, but at certain points the player is limited to narrow platforms. The game mechanics lend themselves to the art because they are both pretty stylized. Bayonetta's attacks leave butterflies and colorful streaks in the air contrasting the scary and desolate landscape of the environment and the creepy angelic nature of the boss.

At the start of the battle, both dragon heads attack the player with fireballs and it's own tail. Most the attack choices are limited to dodging (which then activates Witch Time) and hitting fireballs back. At some point, Fortitudo will destroy the platform the player is standing on and there is a choice to either fight on the ground or use the magical hourglass to repair the broken platform.
Once one of the dragon heads is removed, the attack pattern changes to include lava filling the floor of the level.

When the other dragon head is removed, Fortitudo blasts the coliseum into the air and the player must fight what is left of him within a time limit (Witch Time). At this point the boss has different attacks which include ramming into the platform, shooting spikes through the floor, and shooting a giant laser beam. Once Fortitudo's health bar is depleted, the player can finish him off by pressing the corresponding buttons on the screen and a demon will come and drag him to Inferno.

The rewards for beating the boss are: watching the death scene, progressing to the next chapter, and... I think thats it?

Full playthrough of Fortitudo boss battle (not mine):

Toy Obstacles

This is a simplified map of how I would want my three obstacles laid out to use with my finished toy (temporary shield). These obstacles throw projectiles and increase in difficulty.

1: introduces the player to projectiles and how they harm
2: forces player to work with the shield for a few seconds at a time
3: player has to use shield to deflect projectiles into the monster

**Throughout this the player will be able to see how the shield deflects objects and be prepared for the last obstacle
(EDIT: the shield only lasts for 5 seconds now)

Mall Kit Video

This is the video we made to show our modular kit. The levels are shown in this order: Christopher Pavlovski, Alec Hanson, and myself. This video was edited using Adobe Premiere



UPDATE 4/4/2018: Original owner of video may have taken it down, not sure if I have a video of my piece saved somewhere, sorry.

Character Design Lab

Here are the finished drawings for my Drawing for Game Art class. These designs came from silhouettes, doodles, and textures. Made with Photoshop

Modular Mall Kit

Here are final and progress shots of the modular kit I worked on with Alec Hanson and Christopher Pavlovski. Made using Maya, Photoshop, and Unreal 4

Game Mechanic/Toy Ideas

1. Switch between third person and first person view
2. "basically basketball"- press a button to launch a ball into the air and then shoot it to make it into the goals
3. Drop a ball onto a top-down map with moving goals
4. A shield the player can turn on and off to deflect projectiles
5. Summon copies of the player that just follow the player's movements
6. In third person view, slowly break objects by standing close and clicking (punching)
7. In third person view, roll/push objects into specific places
8. In the rolling ball view, jump/navigate through hoops and obstacles
9. Jump and float by continuously pressing jump (kirby)
10. Slippery ice obstacles (player has limited movement and can slide in one direction) 

Lab Encounter Level Design

The setting:
This lab was used to formulate the most delicious soda flavor ever conceived (green raspberry). However, a rival soda company has sent in spies in the form of people carrying large guns to either extract the secret info or just destroy it so they cannot produce the green elixir. Luckily, the lab had some extra money after laying off half the staff to afford a small military to fight back with.

In this level there would be lots of tables and desks to hide and take cover behind, along with other lab debris such as smaller crates and metal barrels. There is a separate room for each of the spawn points, two of which are unreachable from the ground floor (hopefully preventing players from camping at the spawn points on those ledges). If there were teams playing against each other, the lab militia would spawn from the two ground floor rooms and the spies would come from the upper levels.

The giant skull and crossbones in the middle represent where I think most people would die. It is a larger, more open area that all the spawn points lead to.  

Team Fortress 2 Badlands Level Map

Larger PDF version

This map shows the team bases and checkpoints:

Approximate locations of health and ammo:

And level boundaries:

Team Fortress 2 Level Analysis

I chose to do the control point Badlands level in Team Fortress 2 for my multiplayer fps analysis.

Level Description:

As this introduction video describes, the objective is to capture all five checkpoints in the level for your chosen team. Each team can take, defend, and recapture lost control points during the game by having a team member stand on a point for a set amount of time. Like the name of the level suggests, it takes place in a desert environment with kind of a cloudy purple sky, maybe around dusk?

The major areas of the level are the team's starting points/bases, the second control points on top of some rocky hills, and the middle check point area by the train tracks. In this level there are many, many different routes a player could take to get to any of the control points. This makes for fun gameplay because the player has to be on the lookout for the other team and has to constantly choose whether to pursue the available checkpoints or defend the ones they already have.

Treacherous Trenches level design

This level takes place in a deep cavern underground in the present day. After an incident involving a nimble fire demon stealing her favorite hat, our protagonist has decided to follow it into the caverns in hopes of getting it back. Along the way she will also find bits of treasure and lesser demons. This cave is quite dark and has some dangerous spikes growing along the cave floor.

Jungle Hijinks Level Map

Larger PDF view

Platformer Level Analysis

The first level in Donkey Kong Country is a good example of a tutorial for a platformer, here's why:

As soon as the level begins, there is a path in front of the player with bananas leading the way. This lets the player know where they are supposed to go and gives them some space to get adjusted to the controls. This first part also contributes to the story because if the player chose to go into the cave to the left, they would see DK's empty banana hoard AKA the reason for going out and collecting bananas.

 
After that, the first enemy appears on screen. It moves pretty slowly so the player has a chance to see it and figure out what to do. If the player didn't know they could roll into the enemy, they would most likely jump and either avoid it completely or land on top and still kill it.

The next enemy is larger and moves faster, but it is on a higher platform so the player can see it and watch before having to deal with it in the same manner (jumping or attacking). Bananas are on the higher platform as an incentive to go where the enemy is instead of just bypassing it.

After awhile the player comes across a much larger enemy that moves back and forth. Donkey Kong can still kill it by jumping, but if Diddy Kong is in front he will get knocked back if the player jumps on this enemy.

Items you can use in the level are easy to see. The save-barrel breaks automatically when the player passes it so they can start from that point if the player happens to die. Other barrels can be picked up and thrown by pressing the attack button (Y).

There is one other type of enemy in this level- a vulture that does not move but throws nuts(?) that bounce down the platforms. The player can choose to just quickly run past and avoid this or go the more challenging route to get the large shining object.

There is also a box near the last part of the level that can let the player ride a rhino if they jump on it. The rhino controls are very similar to DK's so it is easy to use and the player can get a feel for how these animals can help in future levels by breaking walls, killing enemies, etc.

Lastly, the player has an incentive to explore the highest, potentially more dangerous platforms because there are usually hidden items such as extra lives, large bunches of bananas, or signs such as the one above that lead to other useful things.

Asteroid Zone Attract Trailer

A short trailer made for my racing level:

Vehicle

My finished model of a 1966 Fiat 124:

Made with Maya, Photoshop, and UDK