Fall of Ralph - Showcase
Introduction
Fall of Ralph is a 2.5D, physics precision based platformer inspired by “Getting Over It”. The player has to traverse to the bottom of hell while avoiding different obstacles and traps without ascending back to heaven by the constant pull of Zeus. The goal with the level design was for something challenging but ultimately something not as frustrating as "Getting Over It" and for something that had replayability. Since the game is of heaven and hell we took insporation from Dante's inferno for how hell would look like and feel. I worked on the level design with another person in a team of 12 over the span of 4 weeks and here is how it went.
First page concept. We planned for different stages with varying difficulty. Keeping in mind the first stage should act as a tutorial.
Second page concept. Along the way mechanics started to form. Dissapearing branches, moving platforms and portals.
Third page concept. This was supposed to be a "break" in the flow where you could take a breather by just flying through portals.
Fourth page concept. Here was the first and at the time, only safe point with the long pillar functioning as a thing that would catch you if you "fell".
Fifth and final page concept. Early on plans were to have multiple ways to get to the end, being the hand at the center. More mechanics here, another variant of the dissapering platform, spikes and an emphasis on timing.
Full Map Overview
The Blockouts
Early blockout of all the stages.
The player starts in heaven. During the blockout process we decided it would be cool to divide the stages to layers of hell as the player journeys down.
The second layer, gluttony and greed, at this stage we still wanted the player to be able to fall all the way back up to the start, so keeping that in mind so as not to let the player fly off the map. Still very challenging. We wanted it to be a bit funny as well. So the entrance to this layer would be a well.
The third & fourth layer, anger & heresay respectively. This one was the first layer we decided to have a small checkpoint. And we played here around with the portals. We now called them caskets to fit with the theme.
The fifth layer, Treachery, this screenshot is from a revised version. During this time in development I was tasked with the lower layers whilst my level design partner did the upper layers. Here we made a decision to guide the players to a specific point with walls as they "fall" back up.
The bottom layers, three to five. Here the walls can be seen better as well as some small secret rooms. These were points on the map where you could find collectibles. This idea of collectibles had been present during early brainstorming but due to time it got scrapped but morphed into something else later.
Here's the map showing more refined walls and paths. The idea of the easter egg points got replaced with hidden fail zones that would be active during harder difficulty of the game. During this point in development we were concerned with time. So the ideas of multiple paths on the bottom layer was scrapped and was remade to what you see on the picture and the collectibles became "golden wings" that you recieve based on how quickly you journeyed through the game.
The final map view from Unity with assets and the moody colours implemented.
What I took with me from the project
Don't hold on to the first idea
The first idea of what you have will get you started. But soon longer and longer as a project goes on you will have to change things. Then it is important to be able to change things and let go of the old ideas.
Importance of good communication
This project taught me the importance of talking with each other and how far you can get with only good communication and great planning. It was also great seeing everyone’s progress and feel proud that as a group you achieved what you wanted. I also need to speak up more as I tend to be a bit quiet at times. Luckily for me, my team did encourage me to speak up more which felt good so it later also got easier to do it by myself.
Good Documentation
Being able to have a great Game design document(GDD) that everyone has access to and can give input on is essential. Having one early on is great. Not only for everyone in the team but also for yourself, keeping track of what you're doing etc.