With all of the primary mechanics sufficiently developed to allow playtesting, the next step in the project was to develop levels to teach players how to use them as well as a single level containing puzzles for players to solve using the knowledge provided in the tutorial levels.
The Tutorial
The game tutorial is split into five short levels. Each level imparts knowledge of one or more of the previously developed game mechanics. The number of tutorial levels was decided by listing out all the required mechanics and dividing them up across a number of levels that gave each mechanic the desired amount of attention. The goal of this was to ensure that the player was not overwhelmed with too much new information at any one time. Here is how the mechanics were divided across the five levels:
Level 1: Player movement, looking around, jumping, and interacting with objects
Level 2: Command generation system, Activate command, and signal blocking and range limitations
Level 3: Controlling robot NPCs, target destinations, Follow command, Move To command, Cancel command, NPC-locked doors, and pressure plates
Level 4: Using the Attack command against NPCs and destinations
Level 5: Reflective and absorptive surfaces, signal reflection, low-frequency signals, signal penetration limits, and secret areas
Tell and Show
The tutorial levels all follow a pattern of tell then show. Every mechanic is explained via text on walls in the levels, and immediately followed by an opportunity or obligation to use that mechanic.
For example, the first tutorial level starts with the player facing a wall displaying the controls to look around. In order to progress into the next area, the player must use those controls to turn around in order to see the way out of the starting room as well as the text explaining how to move.
Similarly, at the beginning of the second tutorial level, the controls for generating an Activate command are displayed on the wall in front of the player with a door to their left. They must successfully generate an Activate command to move into the next area.
Designing the Puzzles in Level 6
After completing the tutorial, the player is taken to a single level containing three main areas. Each area contains a puzzle consisting of several steps the player complete in order to open the door to the next area. Over the course of the level, the player must use all of the mechanics presented throughout the tutorial levels. The first area requires the player to use movement, jumping, looking, Move To commands, Activate commands, and low-frequency signal generation. The second area requires the Follow, Cancel, and Attack commands, and it contains a secret area. The final area requires use of the Move To command as well as reflective and absorptive surfaces.
Countering Low-Frequency Shortcuts
Low-frequency signals presented a considerable challenge in level design. Extra effort had to be made across the whole of the final level to ensure that the player could not shortcut through puzzles by using low-frequency signals. In the first part of the level, this meant relying on absorptive surfaces to block any signal attempting to reach a switch. However, in the final part of the level a different approach was used. Multiple panes of glass were laid seven deep across the middle of the final area to allow the player to view what was happening in an unreachable part of the level while disallowing any low-frequency signal to reach objects on the other side of the multi-pane glass wall.
Given the short amount of time allowed for the project and the desire to see all mechanics implemented, low-frequency signal transmission was built in such a way as to always be available to the player, but the original design was always to have this mechanic as an unlockable upgrade in the same way as one might unlock new abilities in a game like Metroid. The design process for level 6 has confirmed that this would be best practice, as it is very easy to shortcut through puzzles using low-frequency signal generation.
Communicating Progression Mechanics through the Environment
Opening and moving through doors is the primary means of progressing through the game. Multiple types of doors were developed in order to facilitate variation in this progression mechanic. There are four different types of doors. The first type, Activation-linked, will only open in response to an Activate command generated by the player. The second type of doors used in the game is NPC-locked doors, which will only open when one or more NPC robots are nearby. Pressure plate-linked doors are the third type of door, and these will only open in response to a change in status of the pressure plates linked to them. Pressure plates are squared-shaped objects on the floor of a level that change their state if the player or an NPC robot steps on or off of them. When a robot or the player step on a pressure plate it is considered activated, and when a robot or the player step off of a pressure plate it is considered deactivated. The default configuration of a pressure plate-linked door is to open when all of its linked plates are activated, but this configuration can be reversed, meaning it will only open when all of its linked plates are deactivated. The final type of door used in the game are Switch-linked. These doors are linked to switch objects in the environment and will only open when the linked switch receives an Activate command.
Each door in the game has an object on the wall nearby. These objects are referred to as decorators, and the type of decorator indicates the type of door. A square-shaped decorator indicates an Activation-linked door, a circle-shaped decorator indicates an NPC-locked door, a rectangular-shaped decorator indicates a pressure plate-linked door, and the absence of any decorator indicates the door is a switch-linked door. The decorators provide an important visual cue to the player to inform them how to progress beyond each door.
The Mechanics
The first three mechanics of movement, looking, and jumping are ubiquitous across games and no effort has been made to modify these mechanics in any unique way.
Movement
The player can use the W, A, S, and D keys on their keyboard to move their avatar in the world forward, left, backward, and right respectively.
Looking
The player can use the mouse to control their view of the world by looking up, down, left, and right, including turning around to see parts of the world currently not visible to them.
Jumping
The player can use the spacebar to make their avatar jump. The avatar can only make one jump until it lands back on a walkable surface. The player has the ability to exert a small amount of control of their avatar while it is airborne.
Interacting
The player can use the E key on the keyboard to interact with objects in the environment. At present, this mechanic is limited solely to an 'elevator' that marks the end of each level similar to those in Portal and Portal 2.
Signal Generation
As the controls for signal generation have already been discussed in depth in a previous dev log, they will not be discussed here.
Low-Frequency Mode Toggle
The player can use the X key on the keyboard to switch between high-frequency signal generation (the default) and low-frequency signal generation.
What are Low-Frequency Signals?
This concept was briefly explained in a previous dev log, but not to the full extent needed, so here is further elaboration on it:
The default mode for signal generation is high-frequency signals. These signals stop when they hit an obstacle that is not a reflective surface. In contrast, low-frequency signals will penetrate through up to five obstacles, allowing them to reach a sixth object on the other side before stopping. This approximates the real-world acoustical phenomena of sound diffraction and transmission. Since low-frequency sound waves are so large (the wavelength of such signals are usually measured in feet/meters), they can bend around obstacles that do not completely block them, and can also transmit through obstacles as well.
Conclusion
Overall, the tutorial and final level feel very strong for a four month project. The next step is to gather playtesting data, which will likely be the subject of the next dev log.
