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Shock Jock

Description

Shock Jock is a fast-paced cyberpunk 3D platformer where the player is encouraged to get through each level as fast as possible.

Project Story

To Be Added

Creation Year

2025

GENRE

Action Platformer

PLATFORM

PC, Xbox, Playstation

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Full Gameplay

Mechanic Prototypes

Mechanic Design Principles

  1. Game Vision

    1. Our game vision relies on speed and flow through the levels and the parkour system allows for the player to effectively traverse obstacles in the level while still maintaining those two elements.

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  1. Player Agency

    1. The parkour system  allows the player more agency when it comes to interacting with ledges, walls, and other terrain objects within levels

  1. Clarity and Learnability

    1. My systems are designed to be clear and simple to use and there will be environmental tells to hint at when the mechanic should be used.

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  1. Reward and Punishment

    1. The currency of this game is time, the scoring system for the game is based on how long the player takes to clear the level. By adding these systems the player is given many creative tools for easier obstacle traversal and failure forgiveness for slightly missing jumps. The punishment for many of the systems is that the animation takes time to complete and the speed of the player is reduced which causes the need for balance when using the different tools.

  1. Feedback

    1. The parkour system has a fully designed animation system that makes the player’s current movement status clear and also allows for the various parkour states to be cancelled at any time.

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  1. Iteration and Variation

    1. There are multiple variations of the mantle system and each one has a specific animation and time investment required. There is a quick, standard, and long animation that is based on the height of the object being mantled. Another variation is that the player has the ability to mantle immediately after another movement mechanic such as dash or wall run which allows the player to chain movement systems.

My Levels

The Great Wall (Run)

Level Design Principles

  1. Visual Cohesion

    1. The level will have a city alleyway theme that is similar themed to games like Ghostrunner where it will be a cyberpunk style city streets passing through alleys and rooftops. The main level gimmicks will be things like boost rings, drone platforms, destructible walls, and wall running.

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  1. Player Choices

    1. The level design is focused around having two distinct paths. One is a high path focused on high speed but less combat and collectables. The second is the low ground path in the alleyways that focuses on parkour and verticality that has more combat and collectables.

  1. Player Feedback

    1. The level design is very cyperpunk/ neo-futuristic in nature and will have a lot of neon style lighting. Areas in the level that are mainline for progression will be highlighted by a combination of neon-coloring such as blue streaks on the walls for intended pathing and also having lighting elements near interactable/traversable objects to highlight things critical to the level’s progression.

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  1. Gameplay Progression

    1. The level will mainly be focused on practicing many of the core mechanics introduced within the first level of the game with core systems such as wall running, mantling, and dashing being the main gameplay components of the design. The upper path will focused on using wall running, mantle, and dash with a focus on speed over anything else. The lower path will focus on verticality and explores more substantially some of the level mechanics focused on vertical movement such as bounce pads, drone platforms, and dash rings.

Pre-Production

One concept that I have struggled with in past projects is the concept of scale. In the past, I have had issues with sizing the world appropriately to match the player character’s height and characteristics which led to levels that felt unnatural or confusing for players to logically think through and associate with. For this project, play testers had a much higher approval with the scaling of the level compared to previous projects and felt that the scale was well developed for all the sections of the level.

  1. Over the course of my projects my ability to create mechanics in a well-documented and modular manner has improved with every project that I have worked on. When working on this project I was able to create and develop my mechanics in an efficient way by creating base mechanics and implementing interfaces and components to modify them in creative ways without necessitating the creation of an entirely new blueprint. Doing it in this way significantly reduced the amount of time I needed to create my mechanics, which allowed me to improve the design of both my level and mechanics.

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This project was a significant improvement on my ability to collect and use references to use in the initial design of my level. During the creation of the level design document, I was able to collect and use a variety of reference images and layouts that I was able to use for the creation of my level from start to finish.

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