Joffrey BARIBEAU
Level Designer
Platform
PC
Engine
Unreal
Genre
-
Racing
-
Party
-
2 Players
-
Competitive
Features
-
Move blocks around the level
-
Punch enemy character
-
Cast offensive spells
-
Cast defensive spells
Tasks
-
Level Design
-
Project Management
-
Playtest Assessment
-
Levels Intro Cinematics
Development time
6 months
Team size
21 persons
Platform
PC
Engine
Unreal
Genre
-
Racing
-
Party
-
2 Players
-
Competitive
Features
-
Move blocks around the level
-
Punch enemy character
-
Cast offensive spells
-
Cast defensive spells
Tasks
-
Level Design
-
Project Management
-
Playtest Assessment
-
Levels Intro Cinematics
Development time
6 months
Team size
21 persons
Platform
PC
Engine
Unreal
Genre
-
Racing
-
Party
-
2 Players
-
Competitive
Features
-
Move blocks around the level
-
Punch enemy character
-
Cast offensive spells
-
Cast defensive spells
Tasks
-
Level Design
-
Project Management
-
Playtest Assessment
-
Levels Intro Cinematics
Development time
6 months
Team size
21 persons
Platform
PC
Engine
Unreal
Genre
-
Racing
-
Party
-
2 Players
-
Competitive
Features
-
Move blocks around the level
-
Punch enemy character
-
Cast offensive spells
-
Cast defensive spells
Tasks
-
Level Design
-
Project Management
-
Playtest Assessment
-
Levels Intro Cinematics
Development time
6 months
Team size
21 persons
Platform
PC
Engine
Unreal
Genre
-
Racing
-
Party
-
2 Players
-
Competitive
Features
-
Move blocks around the level
-
Punch enemy character
-
Cast offensive spells
-
Cast defensive spells
Tasks
-
Level Design
-
Project Management
-
Playtest Assessment
-
Levels Intro Cinematics
Development time
6 months
Team size
21 persons
Platform
PC
Engine
Unreal
Genre
-
Racing
-
Party
-
2 Players
-
Competitive
Features
-
Move blocks around the level
-
Punch enemy character
-
Cast offensive spells
-
Cast defensive spells
Tasks
-
Level Design
-
Project Management
-
Playtest Assessment
-
Levels Intro Cinematics
Development time
6 months
Team size
21 persons
Description
Ice Climber is a 2.5 D vertical scrolling platformer in which the player must reach the top of a cylindrical tower and pick up the vegetables that have been stolen by the tower dwellers, the Yetis.
At the beginning of the project, we made the decision to create a very large semi-linear level divided into a main path and an optional path.
We were 2 level designers working on this project, I was in charge of designing the main path of the level, the challenge encountered by the player and establishing a difficulty progression.
Platform
PC
Engine
Unreal
Genre
-
2.5D Vertical Scrolling Platformer
-
Single Player
Features
-
Jump to break ice blocks
-
Avoid falling icicles
-
Cylindrical vertical level
-
Collect vegetables
Tasks
-
Level Design
-
Playtest Assessment
-
Levels Intro Cinematics
Development time
7 weeks
Team size
12 persons
Mechanics
Jump
Break ice blocks
Break icicles
Icicle kills
Collect vegetables
Level Design
As a level designer, one of my task was to design and test multiple challenges for the player to go through. Before building them in the level, I drew them on a piece of paper and sorted them by difficulty.
Here are some of them.
Some challenges
Tools
The map
System to sketch the level layout in Photoshop
-
Black = Hidden area (players have no visibility on this area)
-
White = Visible area (players can see this area and avoid obstacles)
-
Red lines = Optimal visibility (beyond those lines, the player's visibility is hidden by the tower's curvature)
Metric for :
-
Cylinder Height and circumference
-
Size of destructible blocs
-
Size of the character
More Time?
-
Ennemy AI with different behaviours (Yeti, Bear, Bird etc...)
-
Breaking ice blocks in front of the character to make objects standing on them fall or to create a path.
-
Slope on which the character could slide on.
-
A "Metroidvania" level in which some parts of the levels require specific items such as a pickax to climb walls.
-
Coop (or fake coop) mode with the other Ice Climber Nana.
-
Outside and inside level (or section) such as a cave.
-
The cylindrical shape of the level naturally causes one side to be darker than the other. A level based on that could be great. On one half everything seems happy, beautifull and warm and when the character reach the other half it's the total opposite. Everything becomes dark, cold and dangerous.
-
A warm / cold system where the character freezes and dies if he stays too long in the cold zones. The player must find the warm and safe zones to progress such as a campfire.
-
A level with a big monster in the middle who tries to kill the character while he is climbing the tower. Once at the top, the character must defeat the monster.
-
A level where the whole tower is melting, the player must reach the top as soon as possible or he dies at the bottom of the tower. (maybe a pool of lava is causing the tower to melt or something is eating the tower)
-
A level select that could be used as a HUB world and a tutorial at the same time:
-
The first time the player starts the game, he starts at the bottom of a very small tower. The player must then climb the tower learning all the main mechanics. When at the top, multiple towers appear in the background. The player can move around to select one of the tower to climb.
-
The Kondor from the old Ice Climber game:
-
When the player selects a tower (level) the kondor grips the character and a cinematic starts showing the character in the sky going to the tower. The Kondor could also be used during gameplay to reach higher section of the level.
Credits
Damien Audy Laplante
Mohamad Abdi
Sofyia Bakyrova
Joffrey Baribeau
kathleen Borduas
Sandy Alexander Chow
Pierre-Alexandre Côté
Charles Fortin
Corey Martineau
Cédric Moncheaux
Gabriel Rouleau
Stéphane Tcheukam Tchamou
SPECIAL THANKS :
Medhat Hanbali
Bernard Desjardins