Progressive Disclosure in Stage Design

I've recently been designing a new the beginning stages of the game with the concept of progressive disclosure in mind. Given that my game flow idea, detailed at the end of Semester 2, has been scrapped, I feel it necessary to properly illustrate to new users the game mechanics. I've put particular attention in to making the game mechanics obvious and easy to learn whilst keeping the levels somewhat interesting and challenging to play. As a means of instruction I've titled the levels so that they relate some meaning to the completion of the stage. To make this effective the stage name should be shown at all times somewhere on the heads up display.

STAGE 1 - ROLL TO THE GOAL
As the first stage, the only thing I want the user to concern themselves with is the basic movement of the player object, hence controls are limited to only to the left and right keys. In the final build it will desirable to have a graphc overlayed somewhere on the level indicating visually which keys to use and their function. The stage is straight forward to allow the user to get a hold of the rolling mechanic whilst establishing the end goal object as the user's target, as it is the only other object on the screen.

STAGE 2 - OPPOSITES ATTRACT
This stage introduces one of the fundamental mechanics of the game: opposite polarities attract. The player object is set to red (positive) for the entirety of the stage offering no new control options over simply rolling left and right. The level is designed to force the player towards the blue (negative) polarity fields as the only means to reach the goal. The level illustrates the ability to stick to and roll along a surface when polarities are opposite. Particularly important is establishing for the user that the left and right movement controls rotate the player object clockwise and counterclockwise, as opposed to left and right movement. This is illustrated to the user when rolling across the ceiling. The trip wires are also introduced here, with little penalty should the user fall into it and be reset to the beginning, as the stage is relatively short and straight forward.

STAGE 3 - SIMILARS REPEL
The other fundamental mechanic of the game: similar polarities repel. I've kept the player's polarity locked to red like in the previous stage, with all fields in the stage also red. The immediate instinct for the user is to roll left towards the goal, whereupon the effect of like polarities will be demonstrated. Switches are also introduced in this stage, as the only other interactive object it becomes the target for the user once they concede that they can't reach the goal.

STAGE 4 - POSITIVE MANIPULATION
This is the first stage where the user is given control of their polarity, though at this stage it's only neutral or red (another control graphic should be displayed showing which key to use). The idea behind this stage is for the user to master polarity manipulation at their own pace, constraining it to only one polarity in order to simplify the process. One concern is that some users have failed to get through the level for it requires precise control to get across the mounds on the ceiling. Redesign may be required to make the solution more apparent.

STAGE 5 - NEGATIVITY FOR THE WIN
This is the first stage where the user is given control of negative polarity (a further key graphic should be utilised). The primary aim is to teach the user to subtly manipulate polarity control in order to float through the stage.

Further stages need to be designed to introduce the other game elements, presenting the mechanic in an obvious way whilst keeping the stage challenging and fun to play. It is a careful balancing act that needs to be done in line with other level design and is arguably the most important part of the entire game design process.

Title Animation

Here is a short mock up of a possible title animation. Imagine it taking place over only 1 or 2 seconds. cross fading from one screen to the next.





This animation is subtle yet effective at bringing focus to the game title, finishing with the game mechanics of - and + being clearly highlighted. The only concern is making the smooth transition from animated introduction to user controlled menu without forcing the user to sit through an extensively long start up, hence the short time frame of 1 or 2 seconds.

Menu Redesign

Prepare for a long, image heavy, post.

THE OLD MENU
Whilst functional I've always had some reservations with its appearance and waiting until recently to redesign it after we received comments supporting my reservations. Generally, it's just somewhat uninspired from a visual regard

CIRCUIT BOARD INSPIRATION
Inspired by the polarity symbolism and functionality in our game I sourced some circuit board images as i believed it a natural extension of the design. I then went about redesigning the title screen with this influence.

CIRCUIT BOARD MENU MOCK UP
The result is the above. The rest of the team agreed on the design though concurred that the colours needed revising.

ALTERNATE GREENS
Keeping the green look only with more muted background, highlighting the title more.

ORANGE CIRCUIT BOARDS
Orange circuit boards were offered as a design inspiration by a number of people.

ORANGE COLOURING

ORANGE AND GREEN BLEND
A blend of both green and orange. Whilst we agreed the orange colouring was attention grabbing, particularly in contrast when combining with green, we felt the effect wasn't as pleasing as the purely green designs.

FINAL COLOUR CHOICES
The final colour design incorporates dark muted greens in background whilst evoking circuitry imagery, and highlights the title effectively with neon green.

MENU FUNCTIONALITY
The above image illustrates the complete menu functionality. From the initial title screen the user selects an option which leads to a sub menu, panning and rotating the background to orient with the screen; text disappearing and appearing as appropriate.

Sound Colaboration

Early in semester 1 I was in discussions with a musically inclined friend about collaborating on composing an original score for our game. We were both keen to work to an 8bit inspired chip tune sound to fit the rest of the design. Unfortunately my friend, whilst being eager to contribute, has been lacking in time, and with a tight schedule in mind we've decided to move ahead with on our own to design sound. There is still room for inclusion of my friend's design pending its completion and the group's opinion of it, though our priority for now is to design the sound ourselves.