LIAM NORMAN GAMES DESIGN PORTFOLIO
Leveling Designs Virtually
Ascent
Ascent was my first ever project in which I had to work professionally as a team and not solo and also my first University project, this brought many challenges I was not ready for but I had learned a great deal in doing so. Working in Unity Engine wasn't so bad because I had previous experience in it before this project went ahead, but my peers were not so advanced so it took some getting up to speed with them in order to develop this product.
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My main roles were in: Level Design and gameplay Flow
Gameplay Flow
Ascent's flow relies on the player micro-managing their heat and Stamina levels as seen in the image(Right) as they attempt to progress through difficult terrain in search of relics that will save their tribe from a terrible curse. By collecting mushrooms and other edible foods, the player can regain stamina to balance out the two mechanics in order to stay alive.
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Through each level the player can find one of two relics depending on the map itself, should they go exploring for them. Having worked on both the first, second, and fourth map I tried my best to balance these out for players by adjusting the length it takes for a player to reach one of these goals depending on how much stamina/heat it would take to get to a goal.
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One of the things I do regret about Ascent is being stretched so wide on an engine I was not too particularly good at originally.
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Not only that most of us were too inexperienced to get complex mechanics into the game, so transferring data between levels was out of the question which made Ascent un-completable. Overall Ascent still stands as an open-level showcase of what could have been, alongside how much effort was put in.