2024.12
Theme - 2D and 3D
Duration: 3 weeks
Personal Project
Game Link:
Game Video
Game Overview
This is a 2D-3D hybrid puzzle game where players switch between two perspectives to solve puzzles and guide the character to the goal. In the 2D view, players can move the character, but the environment appears completely flat. Switching to the 3D view allows players to alter the environment and terrain.
Inspiration
The inspiration for this game originally came from my thoughts on 2D side-scrolling games. In fact, many 2D games are created using 3D assets, but they appear 2D because players can only see one face of these assets. Thus, players are unaware of how the entire game world's resources actually look and for those who only know one plane, as long as it appears passable, then everything works.
I want to turn the process of constructing a 2D game in a 3D world into a gameplay mechanic. By breaking down the objects seen on the plane into different layers and allowing players to modify each layer, the character in the 2D space can move to the endpoint. This is how the idea for this game was born.
Gameplay
At the start of the game, players will be in a 2D perspective. In the initial level, players can only move left or right.
As you can see, there is an impassable gap between the character and the endpoint at this time.
When the player presses the Q key, the game switches to a 3D perspective. At this point, players can select 2D Cassettes on the desktop and insert them into slots at different layers. Then, when they switch back to the 2D perspective, the level environment is altered.
If you switch back to the 2D perspective now, you will see that the previously impassable platform can now be crossed because a new block has been inserted into the second layer, making it passable from the 2D viewpoint.
Other Mechanism
Players can insert multiple layers of different Cassettes to plan and solve puzzles, which enriches the puzzle-solving gameplay of the game.
Even the Cassettes that are in the slots at the beginning of the level can be removed by the players to either place new Cassettes or relocate them to different positions.
Additionally, there are blocks with different functions, which also provide more possibilities for gameplay.
In certain levels, the character is placed inside a movable Cassette, and players can move the character by moving the Cassette. Additionally, these Cassettes may carry different characters with special abilities.
Levels
Level 2
In this level, I introduce the use of multiple slots to players. Different Cassettes can be combined to construct a path in the 2D perspective.
Level 4
In this level, I extended the entire level and added more horizontal slot options, allowing players to reuse some Cassettes. Also, there are some Cassettes that are pre-placed at the start of the level, which are also interactive, giving players more options.
Level 6
In Level 6, I designed a process where players use the Cassettes to move the character to reach the endpoint (in the previous level, I introduced characters with new abilities and the design of characters being placed in Cassettes).
Upon entering this level, players might be puzzled by the design that completely encloses the area near the endpoint. I hope to prompt players to think by using a design that appears impossible at first glance, in order to find the correct method to complete the level and teach them this method of operation.
Design Process
Version1.0
Initially, I did not mark the fixed blocks, which led to players often moving onto blocks that do not exist in the 3D perspective when they switched to the 2D view. This caused the character to fall and die when switching back to the 3D view. Even if players noticed this, it was difficult to recognize their current position without marked distinctions. Therefore, in later levels, I made distinctions in the materials of different blocks.
Version2.0
In the second version, I addressed the issues found in the previous version by adding different materials to the foundational blocks.
However, during the testing of the second version, I discovered that many players were not satisfied with the overall interactive experience of the game.
1.In the original design, after players selected a Cassette on the desktop, they had to move the mouse to a preset slot for the Cassette to move above the slot. This led to many players not knowing what to do next after selecting a Cassette.
2.After selecting a Cassette, players could only cancel the selection by right-clicking while the mouse was over the Cassette, but once the Cassette was floating, the contact area between the mouse and the Cassette was very small, making it difficult for players to know how to cancel the selection.
3.Some players felt that the Cassettes placed on the desktop were too small and wanted to be able to view details about each Cassette.
Version3.0
1.In the third version, I added UI prompts for every interactive step, so players can know what actions they can take.
2.Now, when players select a Cassette, there will be a more obvious color indication, allowing players to clearly see that the Cassette is in a selected state.
3.In this version, after selecting a Cassette, players can cancel the selection by clicking the left mouse button anywhere outside the slot or right-clicking anywhere.
4. Added a feature to view individual Cassettes, allowing players to more carefully plan their strategies.
Continue
Currently, this game is still a demo, and there are many areas that can be improved. If I continue to optimize further, I would focus on the following points:
1.The character controls in the 2D perspective are not very smooth. There is room for improvement in the speed of movement and the feel of jumping. Also, due to the program logic designed at the time, ghosting can be clearly seen in the new characters in the later levels.
2.Design more interesting levels. In addition to the existing mechanics, new features could be added such as environmental effects that act as background Cassettes or mechanics that require cooperation between different characters.
3.Enhance visual and artistic effects. Due to time constraints during development, I did not have much time to explore better artistic effects, so all visual effects were kept at the minimum level necessary for players to understand.