Awarded “Best Controls” - Design & Game Showcase
Creator
Explore wacky alien planets as a robot in this 90’s inspired 3-D Platformer.
Play Classic Dot here!
Background
Dot’s Galaxy Adventure is a exploration platformer inspired by 90’s titles. As a kid, I loved exploring the countryside and following my curiosity wherever it took me. I wanted to capture this feeling by giving the player the freedom to explore anywhere they want through various abilities.
Jumping
Jet Pack
Wall Jumping
Gives the player great mobility!
Process
When designing the early levels in Dot’s Galaxy Adventure, it was difficult to design levels on paper since vertically was such an important factor.
To remedy this issue, I designed the levels using basic Unity Game Objects. (cubes galore!) This process helped in the long run as it made testing and iteration much faster.
Having the freedom to explore everywhere is refreshing, but it can potentially be a daunting task.
To ease players into the experience, I use various methods to direct them along a “Main Path” to give them a tour of the planet.
Archways and high contrast blocks stand out and grab the Player’s attention.
“Bread crumb” stepping stones help visualize a path.
Unique landmarks in high places give the Player a destination to reach…
…and create useful vantage points.
Tutorial
The intro layout teaches everything the player needs to beat the game.
Little bump can’t be passed until the Player learns to jump.
Hold the button to jump higher.
Use the Jet-Pack to reach higher areas.
Classic Dot VS New Dot
Before | After
Camera System
As I was learning Unity over the years, I also learned how to use Cinemachine to provide more dynamic camera movements and the ablility to prevent the camera from clipping through walls.
Character Animations
Even though these are the same animations, I reworked them to get them less stiff and more bouncy as the 3D artist originally intended.
New Jet-Pack System
I wasn’t a fan of how the jet pack felt in the classic dot as it felt more like a fixed double jump.
I reworked it so it’d feel more like a jet pack with believable propulsion.
To mitigate the jet pack’s new ability to break the designs of my levels - I opted to provide a fuel bar that only replenishes when the player is touching a surface. This provided a fun layer of risk and reward to the platforming that was previously lacking.
Post Processing Effects
During playtests, I found that players had difficulty with perceiving depth as a lot of similar color blocks would blend in to eachother, Thankfully I learned about Post Processing effects. Adding Ambient Occlusion solved this issue. I also added a touch of bloom and Anti Aliasing as I felt it gave it a more polished look.