Happy Star Wars day!
It has been over a month since the last update from the kitchen.
Although I don't have a new playtest version or a changelog for you I do have some updates to share.
😳 We're almost at 200 wishlists! If you're reading this and haven't yet, please wishlist Pablo's Journey on Steam - it really does help!
I've spent the last month planning out the Demo version of the game, working on level design, adding and tweaking mechanics as well as working on the first boss for the Terra planet.
Level Design
I have gone back to basics here and spent some time writing out my level design rules. These will help me design consistent levels with a shared language for the game. I was inspired by reading the level design rules for the game Doom, you can read more here
The idea is you write these things down and keep them in mind when making your levels. They may sound a bit too obvious, but IMO it's very easy to forget these principles, and thinking about them often aids the design process, and makes it more deliberate. The early levels for Pablo's Journey were not created in the most deliberate fashion, and I think that really shows.
The other thing I have been working on is mapping the progression for the game, which in turn aids the level design and pacing. Essentially I'm mapping out all the mechanics that currently exist in the game, and figuring out how to introduce and reinforce them over the levels I want to have. Taking this step helps give levels a certain theme/goal. For example to teach the player how to throw their weapon, and reinforce that mechanic throughout. Or another example, to introduce a specific enemy type, so the player might learn the enemies behavior patterns instead of throwing all enemies at them at once.
I have ended up with a much clearer picture of how I want the levels to feel in Pablo's Journey. Now I need to work on making them. To aid this I have enhanced my level editor + improved my "grayboxing" suite. What do I mean? Grayboxing is a technique where you design levels as their barebones. The levels don't look pretty, but they function as they will once they are fully "dressed" if you will. This means you can quickly iterate on the "shape" of the level without the sunk cost of having already made it look nice. I have a nice feedback loop going where I draw levels on paper, quickly graybox design them in my editor and play them in the engine. (The editor is based in the engine itself and hopefully I can release it one day!).
Pushing mechanic
This leads me on nicely to a new mechanic I wanted to add to the game, pushing. Quite simple really, you should be able to push objects in the environment to aid you in some way. Perhaps to push a crate over some spikes so you can make a jump, or to push a barrel onto an enemy to kill it from up high. This is exactly the reason I added it to the game, I have been designing the first boss sequence and I really wanted you to be able to also damage the boss with barrels in the level, by pushing them onto him whilst he is vulnerable. Here's a quick look at the mechanic in action:
And here's a silly video I made about it:
I'm building this primarily for the first boss on the Terra planet, which I've also been creating graphics and the encounter sequence for. I don't want to spoil too much yet, more on that in the next log.
What's coming next?
- First boss reveal - finalising the Terra planet boss graphics and encounter.
- Demo build - continuing to plan and assemble the Demo version of the game.
- New levels - applying the new level design rules to build out the early game.
- More pushing puzzles - designing levels and encounters that lean on the new mechanic.
That's all for now! I will be poking my head back up for air in another month or so with some more updates.
How do I stay updated?
We'll be sharing more updates here, and on the steam page as I continue development. So stay tuned!
If you want to chat development, Pablo's Journey or just say hi, you can drop into my Discord server.
Until next time - may the force be with you.