Evan Darling
Game Designer
Soul Kin
3/2017 - 7, 2017
Responsibilities
-
Employed testing techniques to quality check team designs on a daily basis to ensure basic functionality and project cohesion and worked to provide meaningful feedback to help improve team design iterations.
-
Designed and was responsible for owning 6 levels, each with a unique environmental theme and mechanic to match it, and worked through my designs to promote cooperation and interactivity between the players.
-
Created and maintained critical design documents using Google Drive software and Excel, including a 62-page game design document as well as 16 weekly build notes outlining feedback and technical issues.
-
Employed agile development methodologies over a 4-month period to successfully complete weekly sprints/iteration cycles to learn and simulate industry experience and conditions.
-
Developed over 70 scripts using C# scripting, and was responsible for implementing, polishing, and testing the UI, level mechanics, and character progression systems.
Game Designer/Level Designer
Soul Kin Trailer
Soul Kin is a 2-D cooperative puzzle-platformer, that was a collaborative effort between myself and the other 4 members of my capstone project.
In Soul Kin, the players inexplicably find their souls linked together and must progress by solving puzzles that are designed around their unique abilities as well as cooperation, as they try to find an explanation for their mysterious condition. The players attempt to accomplish this by progressing through a series of 5 increasingly difficult levels. The levels are each themed around certain mechanics and player abilities and are set up in a way so that the players are taught about and introduced to the highlighted mechanic of the level. The players are introduced to new abilities by finding and unlocking them early on in the level. Once the players have unlocked the level's ability, the players will continue practicing the mechanic as they are slowly introduced to new ways for them to interact with the environment with the mechanic. As they are doing this, the players will attempt to find collectibles called soul shards, which will allow them to progress to future levels. Each level progresses like this in a similar manner until the players finally reach the "boss" level, which contains a series of difficult puzzles that will test both of the players' mastery of their abilities and mechanics.
Soul Kin was originally pitched as my final project idea, and as there was only going to be 3 teams of students that would be formed, it had to compete with other student pitch ideas to be chosen as an approved final project game. Once the pitch was approved, we were assigned into teams and my team of 5, which included myself, began development. Soul Kin had a 4-month development, and while there was stress, numerous struggles, and occasionally conflict, it was like nothing I have ever experienced before. I am extremely pleased with the final product of our work, and all of my future projects will benefit from what I have learned from the development of Soul Kin.
Final main menu design. Each player is represented in the menu by one of the two glowing particle effects.
An in-editor look at my final version of level 4 with all of the art assets in place. This is the first half of the level, and in it the players can find a power up for the mage character(P1), represented by the glowing fire orb.
The second half of level 4. Here, both of the player must quickly make it across the chasm in order to reach the level end orb, as the green blocks will destruct on collision.
The UI displaying the second player's abilities. The button icons represent Xbox controller symbols and will change if the player is using a PS4 controller instead.
The UI displaying the second player's abilities. The button icons represent PS4 controller symbols and will change if the player is using a Xbox controller instead.
This is the controls page for the first player if they are using a PS4 controller. I made this image using google drawing, and then imported the final image into Unity.
This is the controls page for the first player if they are using a Xbox controller. I made this image using google drawing, and then imported the final image into Unity.
This is the final version of our overworld, which I worked on extensively over the four months of the project. Each level is represented by an island with the vines connecting them, and the players are the triangles on the first island. Also displayed above the players is their respective ready up markers.
This is an early in-editor shot of the second half of level 4. In this shot, the players must work together and use their individual powers to move the small silver box towards the box outlines, and then resize it until the box matches the size of the outline.
This is a wide angled in-editor shot of an early version of level 4.
Level 9 was themed mechanically and environmentally around ice. This scene shows the players attempting to melt the ice block that is blocking their path, by reflecting the deadly laser beam towards the ice block with the mage's magical shield. Level 9 was cut from the game at the last minute due to the lack of available art assets.
The final puzzle of level 9 would have involved the players working together to rotate this wheel, while they attempt to light the braziers on each side of the wall with the fire blocks. However, the braziers would have been put out if any water block touched it.