Overview
Black Dungeon was my second major project in Digipen. For this project, I worked closely with the computer science degree. During the second half of the project, we were to import the game into the tech team's custom engine.
​
As the design lead, I took charge in designing the mechanics; characters, level layout and narrative of the project.
Genre: Adventure
Game Engine: Unity, Custom Engine
Platform: Windows
Project Duration: 24 Weeks
About the Game
Black Dungeon is a 2D adventure puzzle game, players control Jerome a young blacksmith who is on a noble quest. To scale the mysterious mountain and its dungeon within, to acquire a magical artifact and resurrect his recently deceased grandfather.
​
Armed with his trusty hammer, Jerome ventures into the dungeon and encounters a host of strange and quirky characters; Jordan the bullied child and Breakar the ice elemental. Along his adventure through the dungeons, Jordan must overcome the dangerous beast lurking within the caves and overcome its perilous traps.
Learn about the quirky characters you encounter in the dungeon, as you help them overcome their personal trauma.
​
Will you be able to complete your quest in reviving your grandfather, or will you succumb to the darkness of the mysterious dungeon?
The process
My personal goal during the development of Black Dungeon was to create a narrative game that could be completed within ten minutes and had simple mechanics.
​
I took inspiration from games such as Don't Starve and the Phoenix Wright series. Black Dungeon would follow the isometric and art style of Don't Starve; while the characters' design and expressions were inspired by the whacky citizens living in the Ace Attourney world.
Designing the cast
I wanted players to encounter strange, fantastical and alien characters but yet they are able to relate with the NPCs. Despite having strange backgrounds and history, these NPCs shares the same struggles as we do in the real world.
​
The main NPC in the first stage was suppose to be a talking skull named Fill who refuses to accept his death. This NPC was changed to Jordan; a boy who seems to be from the far future and is suffering from constantly bullying thanks to his family background. Jordan wanders into darkness and was transported into the dungeon, unfortunately he was unable to overcome the obstacle and is eternally trapped within the mountain.
The other character players encounter is Breakar the ice element. Fed up with his life being controlled by his heritage and family legacy, Breakar decides to run away from home. Unfortunately he ran into an accident and was mysterious transported to the dungeon.
​
Players encounter Breakar in the second level, a mysterious creature stands in Breakar's way of completing the dungeon. When players navigate deeper into the dungeon, they discover Breakar's backstory and the trauma that is holding him back.
​
Each of the main puzzles and events encountered within the dungeon has significance to their respective NPC's backstory and personalty.
Core Gameloop
Black Dungeon follows a simple gameloop. Players first arrive into a level of the dungeon; next they interact with the main NPC of their respective dungeon, finally players accquire the key item that has relations to the NPC and the portal to the next level will appear.
​
Having this formulaic structure allowed me to plan out and have different variations of the level layout & quest progression in each level.
Building the Dungeon
Besides being a narrative linear experience, I wanted to implement puzzle elements that would help enhance player experience of exploring a dungeon within the mountains.
The first level is a simple linear path. At the end of the level, it brings the players back to the start. Symbolizing Jordan's unfruitful path at seeking revenge upon his school bullies. Along the path; players will have to pick up three pieces of an item, once put together it forms the hammer that Jordan used to exact his vengence on the bullies.
​
Puzzles encountered:
-
Pressure Plates: Mysterious orange clay plates that rest in various areas of the level. Standing on a pressure plate will trigger a door to open or an event to occur. There are two types of pressure plate; the orange one triggers will an object is placed on it, the purple one triggers when an object is removed from it. I was able to create unique events and cutscenes to trigger thanks to the characteristics of the two types of pressure plates.
-
Rolling Boulders: Strange rocks with a face embedded into it, it appears to have some form of sentient, following a specfici patrol path. Boulders are capable of instantly killing players upon contact, I was able to create interesting rooms for players to overcome.
I wanted to implement some form of verticality in the second level of the project. There are two levels which players must navigate using the portal doors. In this level, players must help Breakar stand up to his opposing father. By overcoming the various areas in the level, players will slowly craft the magic hammer; Breakar will be able to break free from his family traditions by using the hammer.
​
With all family issues, there are multiple layers can complications, I used the level's verticality and multiple areas to personify the issues Breakar faced in his relationship with his father.
​
Puzzles encountered:
-
Pressure Plates: The pressure plates make a comeback in the level and are the key mechanic in overcoming two areas within the level.
-
Portal Doors: Reworking the portal door into an obstacle, players are able to teleport across various areas of the level thanks to these doors. These door are a key mechanic in one of the puzzles encountered in the second level.
-
Ice Floor: The latest addition to the ensemble of obstacles, the ice floor makes it harder for players to move and acts as a mobility obstruction. Players will have to make use of its slippery surface to push boxes across.
What I've Learnt
This module was the first cross disciplinary project amongst three degrees; design, art and tech. It was an eye-opening experience to work alongside the computer science degree, understanding their workflow and both aspect of the team working together and developing a game that we are proud off.
​
I have learnt about the constraights and considerations when design a project to be implemented into a custom engine. As the engine may not have all the features that Unity has, it is extremely important for both sides of the team to communicate regularl, ensuring that the designers are able to create features that are implementable in the custome engine, and the tech team able to realize the designer's vision of the project.