Blog #16
Week in Review
Welcome back to blog #16. Apologies for the shorter nature of this blog, but I took my first extended break since early December and gave myself Wednesday through Sunday off. While this was a lighter week I still made a lot of progress—though much of it involved behind-the-scenes housekeeping for our Gamelab VR project. That said, the prototype for that is coming up soon (due Wednesday 2/19), so I'm glad I could use some time to get everything in order.
Capstone Progress
A New Direction for the Level
Based on valuable feedback from Rick Hall (a legend in the video game industry), I completely revamped the previous map concepts for our armadillo-based project, “Dillo.” What started as an open-world forest with a river cutting through it has evolved into a more pinball-like, cave-based environment featuring:
Impoverished Rat Kingdom: A run-down area populated by rats living in poor conditions.
Mine: Where rats extract metal for their machinery using a massive drill.
Aristocratic Rat Area: A more affluent neighborhood the player will explore.
Castle: The fortress at the heart of this underground kingdom.
A river will eventually run through the cave, adding more dynamic elements for traversal and storytelling.
Fort Objectives
Within this new cave environment, I’ve designed two forts so far:
Fort 1 – The Impoverished Rat Kingdom
The player (as Dillo) must break through three ropes holding up a statue.
After severing the ropes, you knock into the statue to destroy it and conquer the fort.
Fort 2 – The Mine
Here, rats use a giant drill to gather metal.
The objective involves destroying supporting beams around the drill to bring it down.
A third fort will eventually appear in the wealthier rat neighborhood along the river, but that section is still in early development. While the current objectives are a bit rough around the edges, the core idea is starting to take shape.
Plans for Next Week:
Gamelab VR Prototype
Complete a first full playable blockout of our VR project, ready for the prototype deadline on 2/19.
Capstone Forts
Make the first fort (impoverished rat kingdom) fully playable and ready for internal playtesting.
Begin constructing and iterating on the second mine fort with a clearer objective flow.
Level Design Project Cleanup
Continue refining the level layouts and objectives to ensure a cohesive experience.
Stay tuned for more updates next week, where I’ll share how the first full playthrough tests went for our Gamelab VR project and show more progress on “Dillo’s” forts and level design!
