Switch
Switch is a concept born of a High Voltage Software design fair in 2012. All participants were given 5 days to:
I went a bit further and employed my 3DS Max knowledge to create custom geometry to use in the level as well as put together a more fleshed-out concept document before working with the rest of the challenge.
The design fare ended with one-on-one meetings with designers from High Voltage, who critiqued the 4 pieces that were created for the event. The top designs' creators were given the opportunity of an entry-level designer position at the company. This concept got me as far as an interview with the design director and a tour of the facility with high probability of a job offering.
While I did not get the job, this concept was the proof I needed that I have at least some idea of design that can catch a person's eye, and I've been dabbling in it ever since. Below I have listed the pitch and some concept description as well as gameplay footage of the finished prototype.
Switch is a concept born of a High Voltage Software design fair in 2012. All participants were given 5 days to:
- Create an elevator pitch
- Create a 2D layout of a level for the game concept
- Write up a maximum 2-page walk-through for the level
- Create a playable version of the level in a major game editor (I chose UDK)
I went a bit further and employed my 3DS Max knowledge to create custom geometry to use in the level as well as put together a more fleshed-out concept document before working with the rest of the challenge.
The design fare ended with one-on-one meetings with designers from High Voltage, who critiqued the 4 pieces that were created for the event. The top designs' creators were given the opportunity of an entry-level designer position at the company. This concept got me as far as an interview with the design director and a tour of the facility with high probability of a job offering.
While I did not get the job, this concept was the proof I needed that I have at least some idea of design that can catch a person's eye, and I've been dabbling in it ever since. Below I have listed the pitch and some concept description as well as gameplay footage of the finished prototype.
Concept
Use the Switch Gun to navigate through the PaciTech building to regain control and kick out the rogue invaders. The Switch Gun has the incredible ability to activate special switches which alter the room they are wired to in many different ways. Even though it may be a gun, the Switch Gun is unable to directly damage anything and must be used to indirectly change the player's surroundings to make it to the Control Room.
Inspired by the Portal series, the player must solve puzzles using a device that is not meant to directly tackle an obstacle. Switch has a decidedly different mechanic in that the player can manipulate the environment to maneuver around the level, rather than adjusting their placement in the level to progress. The game has the player constantly thinking of the way out, and always moving around to keep out of harm’s way.
The game utilizes a set of switches that only the player's weapon can interact with. I say this is inspired by the Portal series as the player isn't really a direct threat to anyone, but they can use their weapon to interact with the environment in interesting ways. The switches I had envisioned are as follows:
In the prototype, I included the first 3 switches described, and they certainly offer up interesting ways to move around the level. The game Q.U.B.E. came out shortly after I went through this design fare, which offers very similar gameplay mechanics through a different interaction medium. Seeing the success of that game makes me think there may be hope in fully realizing this prototype, but that will be for another day.
- Simple Switch (Blue Diamond) – Opens doors and other ways out
- Move Switch (Skewed Red Cube) – Shifts the room in some way
- Rotate Switch (Green Arrow) – Rotates the room in the arrow direction
- Gravity Switch (Purple Pyramid) – Changes gravity based on pyramid direction
- Teleport Switch (Yellow Lightning Bolt) – Teleports player to that switch
In the prototype, I included the first 3 switches described, and they certainly offer up interesting ways to move around the level. The game Q.U.B.E. came out shortly after I went through this design fare, which offers very similar gameplay mechanics through a different interaction medium. Seeing the success of that game makes me think there may be hope in fully realizing this prototype, but that will be for another day.
Gameplay Footage
This video is being captured through the UDK Editor as it was created to be handled at lower resolutions (it was created on an older machine of mine and demo'd on a low-mid level laptop) and going full-screen with the game caused some lag-spiking. Apologies for the smaller window, but it gets the job done in this case.
The area of this footage is from the last third or so of the full prototype level. The layout was put together by me as well as all of the Kismet scripts, triggers, lighting, animations, etc. that are going on. The switch models were created in 3DS Max and I just applied some textures from UDK's palette. Given that I had 5 days total to go from concept to working prototype, this actually turned out alright (very clearly rushed, but alright).
This video is being captured through the UDK Editor as it was created to be handled at lower resolutions (it was created on an older machine of mine and demo'd on a low-mid level laptop) and going full-screen with the game caused some lag-spiking. Apologies for the smaller window, but it gets the job done in this case.
The area of this footage is from the last third or so of the full prototype level. The layout was put together by me as well as all of the Kismet scripts, triggers, lighting, animations, etc. that are going on. The switch models were created in 3DS Max and I just applied some textures from UDK's palette. Given that I had 5 days total to go from concept to working prototype, this actually turned out alright (very clearly rushed, but alright).
