Mobile Game Development



Beyond the Cave


Beyond the Cave is a narrative simulation mobile game where the player takes on the role of an ice age tribe leader and makes meaningful choices for their tribe. Our vision is to provide an immersive experience and allow the player to create their own personal story and journey through the rigors of early human life.




I am the level designer and 2D artist for Beyond the Cave. In the beginning, much of my work was iterating on the game's original vision and trying to streamline it to work for mobile. Thanks to the AGILE workflow and philosophy, we were able to further iterate our design and see where things translated well for our players, as well as figure out what didn't work. By learning where players felt lost or confused, I was able to improve the game flow and player's UX in those areas. I designed the UI layout as well as create all of our game's art assets, title screen, and implementing brief tooltips to help guide the player through menu navigation. This project is the first mobile game myself and the rest of the team have produced and published, and is made available in Google Play for Android only.


Google Play Link






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Sprint 7

December 7, 2020


Wrapping everything up for our game, myself and the team worked closely to finalize and have a finished build ready for launch. I completed all remaining art assets we originally set out to include, created tutorial pop-up windows to help teach the player, wrote additional events with choices and outcomes, and did some final internal testing to find any hidden bugs. In the end, we came quite close to completing the remainder of our cards that we planned to finish, not including certain features that were previously cut. There were only a few low priority cards we didn't get around doing. Regardless, I consider this to be a very successful game production overall, and am proud of the work we put into it.




For the tutorial, I kept things simple enough by having a tooltips pop-up window for each of the four panels (Map, Tribe, Events, Calendar). This way the player can jump into the game for the first time and be given a briefing - telling the player what that panel is about. Once the player taps anywhere, it will remove the tutorial for that panel and allow them to freely explore the game's interface. By not keeping the player for too long or overwhelming them with information, they are able to get the gist and begin playing as quickly as possible.




Cards Completed
  • (1) As a Player, I would like neutrality to be visually represented in a caveman aesthetic so that I can feel immersed.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like happiness to be visually represented in a caveman aesthetic so that I can feel immersed.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like sadness to be visually represented in a caveman aesthetic so that I can feel immersed.
  • (3) As a Player, I would like to have a visual for the Calendar so that I can quickly gather information and avoid the feeling of boredom while reading text.
  • (7) As a Player, I would like finalized art icons and UI for all components of the game.
  • (3) As a Player, I would like a set of tutorial pop-ups that teaches me how to play the game.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like 3 wet weather events so that I can feel like my location affects my tribe.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like 3 mild weather events so that I can feel like my location affects my tribe.
Cards Incomplete
  • (1) As a Player, I would like 3 dry weather events so that I can feel like my location affects my tribe.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like 3 extreme weather events so that I can feel like my location affects my tribe.

In closing, for the home stretch we continued to strive in bettering the state of our game based on previous playtest feedback. We made many improvements to our game between the last playtest and what will be released to the public. This is good and bad, as certainly things came together nicely, but any new elements that were not previously there have not been externally tested. Things like balancing event choices and how they weigh to each other, for example. All in all, we stuck to polishing our game loop, small features, and visuals, and I believe it will accomplish in creating fun player stories for our users.





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Sprint 6

November 20, 2020


This sprint I have been continuing working on creating a more visually pleasing experience for the player through more art assets and designing for our game's UI and considering the UX. These being creating UI art, having a finished start screen and game title, and conceptualizing our Calendar panel layout for it be more readable. Unfortunately, at this point we do not plan to continue with the Shamanism panel as it is still an incomplete feature and considering it's this late in the game - it will be cut.

We wanted the player to have more interaction within the Tribe panel than simply just viewing stats, and so we created tribe roles (Hunter and Gatherer). The player will simply tap one role to active it, which will deactivate and grey out the other. The roles themselves will passively benefit the player's Food (changed from Hunger) depending on which region the player is currently on (viewed through the Map panel). Some regions may have poorer vegetation, yet having big game, and vice versa.

With the game title added to the start screen, Beyond the Cave now has its own identity, so to speak. It was quite a challenge when deciding how our title should look in-game, and considering how important it is to get it right for mobile as it's the first thing players will see. I went through several concepts, and eventually ended up with this thin, sharp but still stone-like look which I feel does well to not clash with the rest of the art. I also went on to create button art for our menu. Following the graphic design philosophy of CRAP, I will carry over the aesthetic and color of these buttons to the rest of the game's interface when moving forward.




Cards Completed
  • (1) As a Player, I would like to be able to assign default roles to my tribe members so that I can feel like my choices are responsible for my tribe's success.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like my Title Screen to be finished so that I can feel like I am playing a high quality product when I open the game.
  • (1) As a Designer, I would like a concept for the Calendar panel so that I have an idea of how information will be conveyed to the player.
Cards Incomplete
  • (1) As a Player, I would like neutrality to be visually represented in a caveman aesthetic so that I can feel immersed.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like happiness to be visually represented in a caveman aesthetic so that I can feel immersed.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like sadness to be visually represented in a caveman aesthetic so that I can feel immersed.

We also had our Beta build out and playtested. From that feedback and the accumulated feedback from previous playtesting, it is clear to us that we need to have a sort of tutorial or tooltips to explain what the player can do within each panel. To guide the player in understanding the game: to make event choices, whether to stay in a region or travel, and to consider your tribe stats. Besides that, my tasks moving forward for the home stretch is to continue creating more art for our game.
 




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Sprint 5

November 5, 2020


I have been very productive this sprint - even having completed all of my assigned user stories. This includes creating our Shamanism panel layout and functionality, implementing the character template into the game based on the design concept from a previous sprint, what information will be displayed for the player on our event results pop-up window, and writing more events and choices and redefining how those choices will be applied to the player's stats. I faced few issues along the way as I stayed in constant communication with my lead, and made sure my work was up to snuff.

For the Shamanism panel, it will work as a sort of item shop (except it will be more like buying a spell that has a one-time use). I essentially created a basic points counter and display, and buttons showing the points cost for purchasing that particular spell. The character template, or how the player will view each tribe member, took the design concept from sprint 3 and its layout was implemented within Unity. As for the rest of my tasks, I wrote out new events and the possible choices, as well as what kind of results will be displayed for better player feedback.




Cards Completed
  • (1) As a Player, I would like the Items panel to be changed to a Shamanism panel where I can perform basic actions by spending Shamanism points.
  • (3) As a Player, I would like to be able to spend Shamanism points on supernatural abilities such as foreseeing the weather, bringing the rain, or blessing a hunt so that I can feel immersed in the mind of a Neolithic tribesman.
  • (3) As a Player, I would like a character template that can be used to track the stats of each of my tribe members.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like a follow up pop-up panel that tells me the result of a chosen event so that I can feel like my decisions have direct consequences.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like 3 cold weather events so that I can feel like living there affects my tribe.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like 3 warm weather events so that I can feel like living there affects my tribe.

As we approach the final two sprints, our projected goal is becoming more and more achievable. Moving forward we plan to complete our Shamanism panel as well as our Calendar panel, then begin polishing things up with more art assets and possibly SFX and other graphical effects.





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Sprint 4

October 24, 2020


For this sprint, our goal as a team was to finalize our Events panel. As level designer, and now UI artist, I focused mainly on redesigning the UI and UX for the Events panel, having the player be able to swipe through their events fluidly, as well as defining what our stats mean for the player and our game and how it will affect the game loop. During this sprint, we also got our Alpha build out, playtested, and received some reassuring feedback.

The UI artwork I got done includes a general template and layout for how events will be viewed, art for the buttons which the player will press when making a choice, and color coding them to create visual identity for event types. Event types are categorized as follows: general event (brown), weather event (blue), social event (red), tribe event (green), and an individual tribe member event (yellow).




We are really starting to understand the importance of utilizing visual cues to provide information for the player, and allowing them to catch on that color is associated with a certain event type is just one way of doing that. Assuming there are more general events than the other types (making brown the most common color), it will make the player feel a certain level of excitement if whenever a blue or yellow colored event pops up instead. It is a brief moment for the player, but it is enough to keep them better engaged with even something as subtle as that.

From our playtesters, we also learned that our stats were clear and understandable as players quickly noticed them and saw changes to them as they completed events. Players paid more attention to the change in Happiness (smiley green face, neutral yellow face, sad red face), than they did with Hunger (currently displays a percentage). We intend to change the Hunger to instead be seen as a bar that fills up. Moving forward, we will continue to better improve our game to be more readable through icons and symbols for things like buttons and other stats we have yet to implement. That way our players can more easily navigate through menus and get to the game loop.


Cards Completed
  • (1) As a Developer, I would like a finite list of all game stats so that I know what I can use and what I can edit.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like a new Event panel with a layout that supports swiping current events and choosing between options so that I can feel like the game is more responsive in my hands.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like to be able to swipe left and right to go to the next pending event on the Events panel so that I can feel a physical flow to the layout of that panel.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like the Events panel to have a background art and color coordinated event so that I can quickly determine what feeling I should derive from an event.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like my events template to have a graphic for the buttons so that I may feel immersed in the theme of the game.
Cards Incomplete
  • (1) As a Player, I would like the Items panel to be changed to a Shamanism panel where I can perform basic actions by spending Shamanism points.
  • (3) As a Player, I would like to be able to spend Shamanism points on supernatural abilities such as foreseeing the weather, bringing the rain, or blessing a hunt so that I can feel immersed in the mind of a Neolithic tribesman.





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Sprint 3

October 10, 2020


This sprint has been quite steady moving along. I continued working on some more art assets - creating a sprite sheet of characters the player will view as their individual tribe members. Myself and the team have been especially happy with the direction I have gone in breathing life into our game with these visuals. I aimed to create enough uniqueness between them for character, while also leaving things ambiguous. There is a split of male and female characters as part of the game will be to have tribe members coupled and share a child, which is how the player will grow their tribe.




I had also worked on designing the layout for the gameplay menus so that navigation and menu transitions will feel smooth and intuitive for the player. We are trying to keep the UI as non-intrusive as possible by laying out all important buttons at the bottom of the screen (while in portrait). This allows for easy reach for the player, but also leaving much of the phone screen left for visuals and important text like our Map, Tribe, and Events panels.

Lastly, I made a concept for what exactly the player will be seeing as they view their tribe members and their individual statistics under the Tribe panel. Of course, this submenu will be scrollable by the player, and they will be able to view their tribe like a list. We aim to communicate important stat information first with visuals before settling with numbers and text. For example, a tribe member's current Hunger level is represented with a bar, and current Happiness with a face icon. Survival, Endurance, and Spirituality will be viewed as a numbered stat for now.




Cards Completed
  • (3) As a Player, I would like a bunch of cave painting drawings of people so that I could associate each of my tribe members with an image.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like to move between gameplay sections seamlessly with only one button press so that I can quickly access areas of the game that interest me.
  • (3) As a Player, I would like to be able to view my entire tribe so that I may assess their needs quickly.
Cards Incomplete
  • (1) As a Developer, I would like a finite list of all game stats so that I know what I can use and what I can edit.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like a new Event panel with a layout that supports swiping current events and choosing between options so that I can feel like the game is more responsive in my hands.

This sprint has been very productive and positive for the team as we were able to assemble and put out our first electronic prototype. This prototype was intended to test our game's UI and UX, and with a total of 13 playtesters we got some good feedback in relation to this. Moving forward, we now know what errors we made and need to fix or work on to make it better. We also received positive feedback in regards to our game's premise, art, and features we presented (without functionality). Players seemed to like the direction we were intending to go, and so for our next sprint we will carry this bit of encouragement with us.





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Sprint 2

September 23, 2020


The work I got done for this sprint was mapping out a list of events based on conditions and stats, title screen art, and an order of concept for player creation upon starting the game. For the list of events, it was easy to carry over the worldbuilding flavor text that was used in our paper prototype, given our playtesters responded positively to it. I then expanded upon each event by labeling them with their own event name, conditions that need to be met to trigger it, what stat is being tested, and what the successes and failures are when trying to resolve it.


Event List Chart



When creating the title screen art, I was also essentially deciding our game's art style. I was given free reign in regards to this, and settled with something to keep things both in the spirit of the game's premise and in a simple art style in favor of quick art asset creation moving forward. The process of finding that style was surprisingly difficult as I had went through several iterations to capture that simplicity while also considering the quality of the final product. Though it took a bit longer than I would have liked, myself and my team are very pleased with the result.

Finally, the order of concept for player creation was made to give us an idea as to what we want the player to be presented with when starting their game. We knew we wanted to give the player the ability to name themselves, and the rest of the tribe members, for a better player experience. We also know that for mobile getting the player engaged in gameplay as quickly as possible is key. To solve this, I included brief narration followed by a simple prompt of asking the name for each member. We settled with having the player start with four members total - this is to keep player creation short as well as a nice tribe starting size. The final prompt would ask what item the player would like to take - which may be a feature added later - before starting the game.


Cards Completed
  • (3) As a Team, we would like a list of events that can be used to shape our world narrative so that we can immerse the player in the game.
  • (3) As a Player, I would like a start screen visual that pulls me in to the game and shows me what the game is about.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like to be able to create my own player before I start playing.
Cards Incomplete
  • (3) As a Player, I would like a bunch of cave painting drawings of people so that I could associate each of my tribe members with an image.

Unfortunately, I was unable to even start my last card that was assigned to me this sprint. This is likely due to poor time management with also misjudging the workload. I plan to step it up for the following sprint with a more organized workflow.





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Sprint 1

September 11, 2020


For this first sprint as level designer, I was tasked in creating a wireframe for our game's general UI, creating a paper prototype for in-house testing to figure out what feels better for our game between portrait and landscape orientations, and conceptualizing and pitching a minigame to the team should it be implemented in a later sprint. I also assisted in the creation of our paper prototype for outside playtesting, and had playtested it myself to ensure that the prototype was playable and is testing the intended mechanic. The mechanic being player movement between regions based on events, and to find out the motivation for why the player would move.


Wireframe



Cards Completed
  • (1) As a Team, we would like to use Scriptable Object game floats so that we can perform simple logical operations in events without code.
  • (1) As a Team, we would like to have a well tested paper prototype to ensure that we can collect the right data from it.
  • (1) As a Player, I would like a prototype menu bar so that I have control over my game's state.
  • (1) As a Team, we would like a paper prototype of the Event UI in landscape and in portrait so I know which is better to use.
  • (3) As a Player, I would like a hunting minigame that can engage me and break up the monotony of event-based gameplay.

Overall, this was a very smooth and productive couple of weeks for me. I was able to complete all of my cards prior to the end of the sprint, while also maintaining a high level of quality to my work. Lastly, our game lead, Arjun, intends to utilize Scriptable Objects when building our game, and had provided a tutorial for the team to watch as it was new to myself and our programmer, Branden. We are all willing to learn and understand this method, and have already begun to design the framework for our game around it.


Tutorial Link

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