We had a problem, as it was early in the game's development we all had an idea of what the game was going to be, however everyone had a different idea and nobody really knew.
Just after I had designed the grey box area we held a meeting where we would play some games to gather some ideas and inspiration, and find what would make our game unique. We saw games that has nice set pieces, variations in game play and puzzles, and animated environments.
As we wanted our game to have a focus on exploration, we decided that animated environments where the way to go if we wanted to create a unique identity. Of course the puzzles and set pieces also gave inspiration to what we wanted the game to become.
However this meeting was not enough, as I started working on my next task I realised, along with Monika, that we had no real idea of what the context of our game would be, in terms of story and setting. I knew that I needed to know a lot more about what the puzzles could involve, and it seemed like we were straying from some of our original ideas.
Originally we had an idea of a dream-like world, with time and space ripping apart, and you find things that wouldn't necessarily belong there, then through your progression you would save it, with some clever time travel elements along the way. However then it began to involve a castle area in 3 different times, which was set in a desert and we started thinking about what would be there logically however this felt inconsistent, as there was also a castle, bird and a bell tower. I also found this quite limiting and this would make a lot of puzzle ideas void. The story involved sands in some way, probably along a sands of time story. We held another meeting, this time we also decided to choose a lead designer to keep things on track. Whomever wanted to be the lead designer started by pitching what our their idea of the game was (including me, I will post my ideas below) and then a vote was held for who it would be, and it ended up being Joe. This then lead into a discussion with Joe making the final decisions, however we all discussed our idea, what we liked, what we didn't and what would fit in. The end product was a mix between what we started with, still involving a castle at three different times, however the idea of time and space ripping apart and strange phenomenons happening was taken forward, which gave me much more room for thought in my puzzle designs, to really create something cool and memorable.
My idea process and what I pitched for lead designer included thinking about of a variety of things and how they worked.
For game play I wanted jumping to be limited, not really high like it is in some games. Slopes are used sparingly which helps asset implementation and due to modular travel there are potential work-arounds to give a feeling of going up. Puzzles should not interfere with the feeling of exploration, but instead should support it, rewarding the player's effort. There should be various rotation elements to the game play.
Cross world elements, such as strange things that don't belong in places, I wanted to exaggerate. I wanted to have grass, swords and shields in the canyon, which was something I put in from my own thoughts and feedback from others. I thought of having a dream world bridge between main areas and really showing that time and space are ripping apart.
For visual style I went with what everyone was thinking already, it isn't really my area and I knew that people liked this direction.
I also pushed the idea of modular travel and game play, thinking that there is something clever that we can use it for.
Though I didn't get voted as lead designer, a lot of these elements ended up being highly considered or implemented anyway, which was useful for me and my process in creating the game.
From all this I realized that when people sit down, push the idea they want and really focus on bringing the game together and what it is going to be, then some really good and focused results can come from it, it isn't the complete end of the design process but does give a good clarity and direction. I also learnt that who the lead designer is really doesn't matter, so long as they listen well, have a clear vision of the game and make key decisions properly, and ultimately respect what everyone wants to achieve, and I feel that Joe is very good at all of these things.
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