Valley

Intentions

→ Find the right balance between creating interesting areas and not influencing the player. We wanted to demarcate certain areas that will be impacted by his actions (forests, lakes, etc.), but the territory must not be demarcated in such a way that the player is forced to build a path in a particular place. The goal is for him to be as free as possible and for him to think about how to place his markers.

→ Immersion in nature. Recreate a natural, provided, and living environment.

→ Place interesting landmarks on the map since these represent the objectives of visitors traveling through the valley. These are the landmarks that the player will seek to mark out to satisfy visitors.

→ Make the environment dynamic: create interesting compositions to catch the eye of the player.

Constraints

→ Camera: Challenge of readability and optimization of assets. There are many vegetation assets present on the map. These reinforce the immersion and the contemplative aspect of the game. However, in zoomed-out view, the player needs to have an overview of the paths he has created. So we set up a LOD system.

→ Metrics: Player should be able to place paths unhindered. For example, we defined that a distance of three visitors was needed between each tree for them to pass correctly on a created path. This requires careful world building work.

Valley is a top-down management game in which the player embodies the manager of a national park whose mission is to preserve the valley and its ecosystem while ensuring the well-being of its visitors. He must create paths by placing markers, install infrastructures to protect the environment or to satisfy his hikers, and beautify the valley to make it a unique place.

Valley is my graduation project on which I was the Level & Quest Designer within a team of 9.

Level Design

As the Level Designer, I designed the three maps of our game (two small for the tutorials and one big that is our main map). I worked with two Game Artists on the level art of these maps.

Draft of a Map

Step 1 - Example of draft on whiteboard

Tutorial 1 [Miro]

Step 2 - Searching for ref [Tuto 1]

Tutorial 2 [Miro]

Step 2 - Searching for ref [Tuto 2]

Main Map

Step 2 - Searching for ref [Main Map]

Main Map

More detailed view of our main Map

Informations

Thoughts about Level Design and Quest

Onboarding

Exemples of drafts & shemas I did for the game.

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

Screenshots made from our player thanks to the photo mode we added.

Quest

For this project, the experiment had to be shown in approximately 20 minutes (time imposed by our jury). This is a particularly challenging constraint on a management game with a lore.

We therefore had a lot of work on all the feedback in game but also on onboarding so that the player quickly understands in which universe he was evolving, his objectives, and all the tools available to him.

I was responsible for the game tutorial which I chose to split into two parts. The first allowed the player to learn the basics of the game, the second allowed him to learn about more advanced elements. These two parts were done on two different maps, which allowed us to create small workshops and control the player's experience on these two maps.

Regarding the structure of each of the tutorials, I chose to completely guide the player during the first steps (camera movement, blocked unnecessary Inputs,...) then to include a last step where he was free and had to solve a situation by reproducing what he had just learned.

Once the tutorial is finished, the player arrives on the main map where he finds Woody who gives him quests. The objective of the game is to reinsert a bear in the valley, but for that you will have to restore it by repairing bridges and clearing scree, increasing the valley’s popularity by creating paths for certain types of visitors and placing infrastructures, then place the search center.

Once completed, these quests unlock new infrastructure and allow the player to earn money.

I also created an NPC (art by Louise-Akiko Poullain) who directed the player by making him carry out the different steps of the tutorial step by step. This NPC also follows the player when he arrives on the main map, and, if he no longer guides him directly, he gives him quests related to the narration and the gameplay.

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.