Catography

This project is currently under development

My contributions: Game designer, Level designer, Sound Designer, Technical Artist

The main objective of this game was to mix both Collectahon and slow games. The first genre already has an embedded cute aesthetic, so the challenge came from adding contemplative and relaxing interactions that define the latter. 

First, I started with extensive research on how Collectathons work, from a mechanical and level design perspective. Once I had all the critical elements of the genre, I added moments of contemplation. This, for example, can be seen when the player enters a new zone—a cinematic plays so they can admire the scene and plan future moves.

On the other hand, the level design was focused on making an open world work within a small context. The map had to showcase all the mechanics of the game and offer exploration at the same time. To tackle this, I created a small tutorial that leads to the island. Then, the placing of collectables is utilized to create a critical path following a mechanical progression. The player is free to change the root at any time, however the design lures them into a defined path.

To test the functionality of the design, I implemented a system capable of reading and displaying player information natively in Unity. The system would save player input, position and times and would output heatmaps and trace maps. This allowed me to visualize and understand the relationship between the player, the map and the dynamics at play.