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Erin Hao
Description
Player as a young sorcerer/astrologer who specialize in moon magic. The city of Venice is deluged by Atlanta in an alternative fantasy future, you travel here to call away the tides and recover lost knowledge and culture while exploring historical sites. With your twin moons, you have to recede the flood.
Mechanic
Player Ability
Twin moons - Yield the Full moon & New moon
Full moon --"may the tide rise" Lifts water in range
Interrupts waterfall
and effects water level.
New moon --"ebb and flow"
Interactables in Environment
Cats for rescue
3 per level
Other Interactables
floatable Book
Gondola
environmental Clues
Waterfall
waterfall Control
Goal of the Game
Overarching goal: Drain all water in each level to recover what was lost to Atlanta.
Rescue all cats & Retrieve your moons to pass each level
Reflect & Learn
What went wrong?
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I was over excited to make a game on my own in unreal engine, and over ambitious at first. Narrowing down the possibilities and deciding on a single mechanic that’s interesting enough took some time, every mechanic related to the story seemed fascinating. The design process often requires multiple iterations in every stage, and it wasn’t easy when I just stare at my own idea.
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Working as one person does allow a bit more procedural flexibility, as I could mess around with the order in which I make the game happen. However, it was hard to keep track of the bigger picture and overall process when I’m indulged in one aspect, and dwelling in my little perfectionist approach.
Checklists are helpful, but when I face a whole page of tasks to do, I didn't know where to start.
What I learned
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I would devote to more playtesting like in boardgames, to avoid rushing into later stages before a more mature demo.
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A clear hierarchy is always helpful during production stage, as I cannot afford the same amount of details in every aspect. Sorting out priority and focusing on fore elements is important. Committing to this project helped me establish a more thorough understanding of the interconnection between departments, which could effectively propel future group work
Design Process
Art & Environment
Art Decisions
Stylization
Middle Ages to Renaissance gothic architecture,
whimsical, bright and peaceful mood
Characters Design & Modeling
A young sorcerer who specialize in moon magic.
A doll I encountered in Venice, at Carnival costume store
Player’s companion, A Venetian Cat doll that came alive, it guides the player and leads the player to
rescue other cats.
Balancing the Blues
Blue is effective in painting mysterious, quiet and serene atmosphere, but easily contradicts with the peaceful and delightful mood I want this game to have.
How could I make a happy blue?
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I shifted the hues to the lighter on the color wheel (color theory: green is lighter than purple in value by nature)
deeper blue in astrology tower
aqua in church
turquoise in library
Munsell's Color System
I made sure to add enough objects of warmer tone to compliment the blue and turquoise.
2.
wooden materials
bright bookshelf & white marble
warm, saturated,
glowing corals
characteristic orange roof
Design Process
Puzzles to Level
Game Loop
Design Pattern
Simple >> Complex
Gradual increase in level difficulty to support learning curve. Allow player to practice new acquisitions.
Puzzle Design
Mechanic Puzzles
Small puzzles based on core mechanics, combined into more complex levels later.
Chords derived from Leitmotif of La Cathédrale Engloutie "The Sunken Cathedral" by Claude Debussy. This piano piece vividly depicts gradual submergence of a church by tonal painting.
Music Puzzle
I recorded the chords and mixed them to fit the environment.
Level Design
Flowcharts
Demo & iteration drafts
Level 2 -- Library Level
Level 4 -- Astrology Tower
Level 5 -- Mermaid's Tail Church
Design Process
Ideation & Research
Initial Inspiration
Why Venice?
I visited Venice back in 2022, and the city left a unique impression on me. Despite being constantly threatened by the tide, history and culture are well preserved. Their omnipresence resemble the canals that run through these islands like blood in vines.
Lots of valuable things are lost while we gain and advance swiftly into a technological age, just like how land gets swallowed by the rising tide bit by bit. The tide of time comes and goes, and only the crystalized and polished shall remain.
It is unreasonable to follow all traditions ignorantly, to linger in an irreversible time, but necessary to remember past trial and errors beyond our life time. Learning from historical process and establishments ensures a firm foundation for innovation. For example in art, learning about art history, color theory is always crucial to building up artistic sense.
We often see capsuled and compressed history in museums, where people walk through centuries in 5 minutes and try to catch glimpse from static artifact and plain labels. By making this game about Venice and referencing local historical sites of cultural importance, I wanted to create a captivating immersion that encourages players to be aware of disappearing cultural heritage, and spend more time to “feel it” in a first-hand experience.
Fantasy?
Fantasy! I think fantasy is a fun way to combine narratives with topics that may not excite many. I aimed to raise attention through this monumental fantasy game as I integrate the topic into a playable game experience, and incorporate fictional/fantasy features to enhance narrative dynamic.
Research
Tide & Moon
The ocean and the tide are a part of the city, and scientifically tides are directly affected by moon phases.
High Tide (Acqua Alta) mostly occur in winter, and flood happens when these events coincide:
Full / New Moon
Sirocco wind blows water up Venetian Lagoon
Low atmospheric pressure
over 20th century:
Venice subsided 120mm
(groundwater exploitation)
Sea level rose 110 mm
Future Potential
Unpolished Levels
Level 1 - Tutorial
Level 3 - Church Plaza & Fountain
Future plans?
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better architecture models, more accurate (Venice is dominated by gothic architecture, which are highly ornamental, very hard to find good assets)
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other levels that are inspired by other parts of Venetian history
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Mask/masquerade costume store level (history of duke)
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Opera theater levels
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St Mark's Clock interior level
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Fresh water wells, doves in fountains, lion sculpture covered in barnacles (by Giovanni Bonazza)
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San Michele Cemetery Island Level (burial ground)
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Underwater levels (fish and new mechanic)
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More narrative related interactions to enhance the storyline
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