Project Concept

The Game.

Concept is puzzle game focused on crafting automated processes, solving various issues of increasing complexity within a 2D world. Concept sees you starting out in complete darkness at an old broken design factory, with the demand that you "mock-up" a series of concepts. Light your way and uncover colours, elements, using the components to program and craft prototypes that match the brief and bring your concepts to life.

TOOLS

TEAM

1

Game Programmer

1

UI/UX Game Designer

01

Making the Game.

A personal passion project of mine has been to build a game from scratch and oversee all aspects of the game’s design, to its eventual publishing. It is an opportunity to experience the end-to-end game design journey, and to showcase engaging player experience and user-interface (icons, items, menus), which is heavily inter-weaved into the game’s theme, mechanics, and writing. The challenging task is coming to terms with scope, opting to create a game or case study that is realistically feasible and can be technically implemented in time we’ve allowed ourselves.

Concepting

Interaction Design

Information Architecture

Documentation

02

Structure

I spent the first part of my mission developing the concept of the game, game introduction, core concept design, game elements, and broad player experience. Recording ideas with sketches, note-taking apps and visual boards.

03

Player Journey Mapping

Creation of an end-to-end interaction of a game app, producing user journey mapping. Along with storyboarding and concept flows, prompting how and when to provide clear and effective feedback to players.

I was responsible for the game progression structure, developing scenarios, levels, and puzzles of advancing complexity, coming up with ways of awarding players to shape and enhance continued player motivation. This process moved from flows to low fidelity wireframes to prototypes, testing and validating placement of key functionality, buttons, menus, and navigation.

04

Art Direction

Whist game structure was evolving, I began to build on the themes and art direction. My leading design inspiration was the story of creation shown via a design brief. Seen through an abstract lens of being within a design studio, completing tasks my programming components akin to the game Opus Magnum. Mixing puzzle elements of construction management and automation from Factorio and elemental puzzle design in the temples of Legend of Zelda.

Wanting to convey playfulness and humour by giving game elements a paper-craft look-and-feel, utilising circular shapes, flat colour design and characterising / humanising modern-day iconography. This theming would constantly be evaluated, iterated through multiple visual styles and variations

05

Implementation

The work put into the high-fidelity wireframes ensured a seamless transition into the visual design, and creation of a component library. Looking at accessibility criteria, typography, interaction, grid, and layout. The HUD, menus and navigation had several design challenges that were able to be solved through the comprehensive wireframe investigations. The progressive UI library has helped in the ability to create high-fidelity prototypes for testing, effective storyboarding and documentation using real assets.

05

Currently implementing

Currently I’m in the process of communicating the design vision to the programmer through a progressive game design documentation. We will then collaborate in creating small prototypes to test on mobile devices.

We then hope to start integrating the UI design into your game engine. Options as what technical approach that would better the optimisation and reduce time may lead to tweaking the game mechanics. These issues will help our understanding of the capabilities of the engine and unity tool.