When thinking of how my game would be laid out, whether that would eventually end up looking like a fully 3d platformer or a 2d platformer, I imagined my designs moving around the little levels I made and decided that 2.5D would be best. 2.5D meant that my characters could still wander around in the worlds I created while still being able to move freely in and out of the environment they were in.
I could still make my levels/areas using 3d terrain in Unity while keeping the camera focused on their side profile. The camera is angled at a Dutch angle esc view, not exactly a Bird's eye view but lower down to say exactly. The characters would be able to move towards the screen and behind any structure they come across.
When looking at games that had done similar, I looked no further than "Paper Mario", "Hollow Knight" and "Super Bunny Man". These games have the 2D left-to-right level dynamic style but where Super Bunny Man does this differently is when players in the game can move slightly forward and slightly backward. The movement is limited to jumping and directional controls but the level design is definitely what I have in mind.
Some of the newer games in the Paper Mario series have unique 3d world elements while still sticking to a 2D-level design overall. In "Super Paper Mario", Mario can switch (for a limited amount of time) the view of the level to find secret paths and hidden areas in order to progress. The way the levels are just sat on giant rectangular beams and the structures above them vary in height is what I want to achieve and pull off with my game.
Super Paper Mario Gameplay 3d to 2d section
super bunny man level example 1
In Paper Mario Sticker Star, Mario can freely move around a 2d/3d environment with a gameplay mix of both allowing the player to fall or climb up behind the background of the level and stopping them from completely falling off the map layout. These kind of behind-the-scenes pathways is also what I wish to implement as it is also a key part of one of the main levels I have redesigned to make them more interesting.
Paper Mario Sticker Star level design example 1
Sticker Star depth of field perception in level design.
Super Bunny Man level example 2
Super Bunny Man level example 3
Super Bunny Man is a 2D platforming game where the player can jump and move left to right. Many of the levels are repeated themes and reuse the same assets. Spikes appear in almost every level, Carrots, as shown above, are collectibles that may require some skill to collect. I had a Heart piece in mind which would be split in two and when both halves are collected they would snap together and be whole. This idea is quite fresh and has not yet been fully developed to have an ultimate purpose in the game. Perhaps these are what the keys would look like or perhaps that would be a skeleton key, only time will tell.
The picture to the right however is where I got most of the level ideas in the first place. The initial idea for the mesa wasteland level area came from the Super Bunny Man cave levels. The picture shown is "Level 27", some of the minecart tracks are unfinished and may require the player to jump off at the right time. The minecart I have in my level starts at a high point and then descends with enough speed to reach the end of the track at the other side of the level. The picture to the left also showcases the scale that I want to try to implement in some of my levels like "Golden Utopia/Angelic Utopia", "Mesa Wasteland" and "Creation Lab". (Also possibly "Memory Archives") Some of these levels have quite high structures and background elements which I want to refine to try to make the levels not too big but still include some amount of detail.
Main game idea and story stuff planning for LIDD & TDDUA
Basic level plan for TDDUA and LIDD
Creation Lab
Memory Archives
After the first level areas, there are 2 science & magic themed environments that have specific puzzles and activities that are exclusive here and will test the player on what they have learned beforehand.
Deaths homeland
Golden utopia/Angelic Utopia
The initial two main level ideas were to have a specific area for both Death and Time. Death would go back to explore his Homeland which would showcase his past and reveal hidden secrets while also traversing the uneven environment. The Golden Utopia, now named "the Angelic Utopia" is the home of Time, everything here is covered in gold and chrome. There are tall and short pillars/towers and a small castle//fort where the king resides and governs the other areas in space itself. Death's homeland is quite busy whereas the Angelic Utopia is barren.
Zebibyte Library
My first TD-DUA-level ideas included a basic tutorial zone.
Hollow Knight level design example 1.
Hollow Knight level design example 2
The last of the games I looked at that was similar to my game idea was Hollow Knight. Hollow Knight has a lot of linear levels with paths that lead in different directions. When looking through the many areas the game has, the two above are perfectly similar to my initial idea of the "Creation Lab" and "Memory Archives" level areas. Both of these areas had quite dimly lit environments which were then interrupted by hanging light-sourced items. "Memory Archives", funny enough is an archived level at the moment but its level design was unique as it required the player to rise above the clouds, dash across the rainbow arch, hide from the Siren enemies, and ride the minecart to the end.
first initial TD.DUA prototype layout
Game idea progress and environment design with real-life comparisons.
Tutorial Level Digi Design
Deaths homeland level 2 Digi Design
The first of the Digi designs of my main levels were the tutorial level and Deaths Homeland. The tutorial level is quite short but as it is an introduction to the main mechanics at play, it gradually shows off the key information that each new player would need to know. This tutorial level would introduce the character-switching gimmick and how each character has their own skills that are better in certain situations.
When thinking of what Death's Homeland should cover whether that is my initial idea of bone structures holding up a castle with a giant stretch of gravestones lining up the streets, I traveled up to central London, Marylebone where just last year I had taken some photography of similar gothic architecture for another project involving knights and their castles.
To capture what I saw, I took photographs of varied castles and then did some line art over them which I would then use to identify the simple shapes, I could use In unity to make my level functional.
Angelic Utopia Digi design level
Mesa Wasteland Digi level
The Angelic Utopia, once named "The Golden Utopia" in early production, is the home of Time and here Time and his people govern the flow of the past and the future whilst making sure Eternity does not prolong any person's life any further than needed.
The Mesa Wasteland was created upon the idea of the vast amount of ways to die in the desert. Death as a theme is often seen here, with vultures and ancient burials uncovered all the time. This level however takes place in an orange Mesa canyon, there are still cacti but there are also oil refinery machines still lurking around just above a vast mineshaft of adventure to uncover.
Zebibyte Library Digi level
Creation Lab Digi design
The Zebibyte Library is a physical location, the 5th of 6th levels proposed for my game that is the main story-focused area. This library holds data on everything that has ever happened, Time helped forge these archives but upon visiting it with Death, a lot has been destroyed, could this have been Eternity's doing?
Zebibyte is a hard word to pronounce but its meaning is that it is a unit of digital storage used to denote the size of data. Many traps are scattered across its zig-zagging layout in the shape of the letter "Z". At the very top there is a guide rail closing off the main entrance to the library, the player must jump over this and onto the cable car/lift that will take them so the next section of the level. Stalagmites and stalactites are littering the ceiling and floor as well as a few potholes that could reveal a new way forward. My idea for the Zebibyte Library came from the location of "The Spirit Library" in the third book season of the animated show Avatar The Last Airbender.
The Creation lab is one of the many workspaces of Eternity. Eternity uses his mechanical devices to create new beings, give them life, and chuck them into the world without checking if they would be a danger or not. Time was made so that they could solve these problems with the help of the Sirens; creatures that were the space police. There is not much known about where the lab is or how to enter the premises but the inside of the lab is known to every living thing as if it was ingrained in their minds. Some creatures that did not get made are left to rot.