Journal Entry 1 - Game Design Study

11.4.2021 - Starting work on project B - ~3hours - First version of the level according to the game design document

The level design I received is situated in some kind of prison. You find yourself in a cell and your objective is to escape. I started with drawing the layout of the level and placed in moving platforms along with some enemies. At this point 80% of what was in the game design was implemented. I quickly realized, however, that this just wont work. The level is basically 3 long empty hallways with big packs of enemies at the ends and few enemies scattered along the way. Having 5 enemies next to each other isnt any more challenging to beat that just a single one. They die in 1-2 dashes depending on how stacked they are and even if they hit you, you only lose 1 hp and gain an invincibility frame. Or even better just shoot them from a distance where they dont  even see you. 

I came to the conclusion that for this level to be good it needs

1. more verticality with platforming elements (it is a prison but its also a platformer :p)
2. some restrictions on the player (how did a prisoner get all these weapons??)

I find my second point especially interesting. My idea is something like this: you start with no weapons. Then you ~somehow~ get a hold of a crowbar/stick that is your melee weapon(Someone drops it for you through a window in a cutscene etc.. I will figure it out later). With this you can break your cell door and start roaming the prison. At some point you also get a gun, but bullets will be scarce sou you cant just shoot everything. This way the game will "make more sense" and also be more challenging. 

Adding platforming elements will arguably be the hardest to make interesting but even if its not, the mentioned restrictions will make the game much more interesting.

I already figured out how to disable and enable your weapons with an in game trigger and implemented limited ammo. Enemies also drop a pickup that restores some ammo. (You can see all this in the very beginning of the current build. You cant melee attack initially, but if you walk over the white box nearby, it gets enabled. You can then walk through the door that doesnt have a hitbox and kill the enemy that will drop an ammo pickup, which you cant pick up yet :p. Also you only get 5 pistol shots.)

After I finish implementing these features, I want to try and find some free assets to use for the whole prison aesthetic. 

Overall I like where this project is heading, Im kinda worried Im deviating from the initial design too much, but I think its for the best.