Project Discovery is a first person puzzle platformer in which the player controls an archeologist delving into a recently discovered temple. Equipped with a gun and flashlight, the player must make their way through the temple uncovering its secrets and avoiding its traps.
Genre: Puzzle/Platformer
Engine: Unreal Engine 4.26
Team size: 1
My Role
My role is to create a functional greybox containing puzzles that require the use of the flashlight and revolver. I also need to ensure that the level is properly paced and that the difficulty scales properly.
Initial Design Intentions
I initially equipped the player with a gun and flashlight. The gun was meant to defend the player from enemies while the flashlight would illuminate the surrounding of the player. As I wanted this to be a puzzle game I decided to make the flashlight interact with items in the world in order to solve puzzles. I also felt like enemies did not add much to the gameplay and decided to remove them and use the gun to interact with breakable objects. This added a new layer to both items and allowed for the puzzles to be more complex.
Game Objects
Green Gems
This gem can be interacted with by shinning the flashlight onto it. Often it will open doors or move platforms.
Yellow Gems
This gem can be interacted with by shinning the flashlight onto it. It will illuminate an area for one minute. This will allow the player to see their surroundings better than with just the base flashlight.
Swinging Traps
These traps will smack the player around and often off platforms. They swing back and forth and players will need to get their timing right if they want to pass under.
Game Moments
The boxes help show distance and the planks of the floor lead the player down the canyon. This being the opening shot to the game makes it relatively straight forward on where the player needs to go. In this game moment the player is intended to continue down the path.
Not being able to fully see the statue located at the top makes the player feel tiny in comparison to the temple. The contrast of the shadows on the temple face leads the players eyes to the stairs and door. In this game moment the player is intended to walk up to the temple door.
This room starts off relatively dark but the player can light up the room by charging up the yellow gem with the flashlight. Then both Anubis heads can be seen pointing towards the sarcophagus leading the player to walk up to it. When the player approaches they will be met with a prompt to open the coffin.
In this game moment the player is walking through the maze while avoiding the swinging traps which will knock them into the pit. The player is navigating with the use of the flashlight but can walk up to the yellow gem to light up the room further if they wish.
