Scraps is built using Unity and C#. The game was a school project where the school gave us the base mechanics and a few switches that we could use in our levels. We were tasked with creating two new mechanics for our levels. While also designing a level that was in accordance with the game design document provided.
I chose to create an abandoned laboratory facility where the player had to locate and recover research papers and collect the three antidotes for their client.
Once the player enters the lab, they will see that the building still has some power and that the elevators are out of order. I originally wanted to implement some type of wiring mechanic that the player would interact with and enter a sort of mini-game to fix the wiring. Unfortunately, due to my lack of knowledge at the time, and the limited time available to work on the project, I could not create this mechanic. I opted for using one of the provided switches (pressure pad) and connecting it to the platform that I made.
As you can see in the gif the player is introduced to the mechanic and also the player learns which object is used for the pressure pads. I ensured that all the moveable blocks in the level had the same wood texture.
Using the IPM method, the player gets to practice and master this mechanic as its complexity increases.
I wanted my second mechanic to be something I made from scratch and not just rely on what was given to us. For the mechanic, I chose to use something that was taught to use earlier in the class. They showed us how to use a ghost object to showcase to the player what needed to be fixed. The example was a tractor that had two missing tires. Where the tires should have been, there were transparent tires. We had to gather the tires and place them where the transparent tires were. I took this idea and made the key card readers that needed to be reattached before the player could interact and open the door.
I was especially proud of this because though I was taught this mechanic in class, I was able to take what I was taught and implement it in my own code.
Other than the two mechanics I created, I also added in the collection of research papers and antidotes and then linked that with the quest system that was provided to us. There was relatively simple and something I had done a few other times in different projects. The difficult part for me at the time was figuring out the quest systems code and understanding how to make the collection of the items update the quest system.
Outside of the mechanics, I created the environment outside of the laboratory, along with almost all of the assets inside of the level. The only objects that I did not model were the computers, some lab tables, pressure pads, and lamps. Everything else was a prefab that I created during the toybox week that we had. The outside is not shown, but the area is surrounded by mountains and trees, and there is also a pond to the left of the facility.
I've included the level map and bubble diagram I first made below. Though the final layout changed as I was building out the level.
Toybox level, this showcases all the prefabs I created.
This is the final form of the Scraps project that I created. At the end of the project, I had to team up with another classmate and combine our levels together. In this project, I put the knowledge I learned about IPM and IPTM to work and showcased the mechanics I came up with. The one mechanic I am most proud of is the key card reader mechanic. This was something I had to create from scratch and was very fun and rewarding to figure out. In my level, you will see all the custom-made assets I have created and some of them I added texturing too, such as the moveable boxes. I wanted the boxes to stand out from the other objects to let the player be able to recognize them at a glance and know they can be moved. Below are some pictures of the bubble diagram and the level map. Both changed as I created the level, but these were the initial ideas for the level. I also have the link to the LDD here that can be viewed.
