Level Design, Chloe

Working in a group of 3, I suggested creating a game using the two free asset packs of the month on Epic Games Marketplace: Ultimate Ship Package and Museum Environment Kit. Using these assets, we could create a pirate ship exhibit in which the player paints and ruins the art. Within this process, I documented the storyline along with the comparisons with chapters 17/18 from the game design book, as well as the level design. Following the 5 steps of Ch.17's story stack, we first decided that our fantasy would a sense of freedom within protesting. Specifically, it would be from actions of firing paint from a cannon. In order to make this a two player game, we added someone whose fantasy is cleaning, or protecting the arts. Their action would be cleaning the paint up in a competitive scoring system against the painter, bringing us to the economy of the game. Points are given for the player's respective goal, and the same amount of removed from the opponent. This is how you can earn a win. Next, to give more sense to the world, I said we could be in a pirate exhibit because we are by the coast near lots of shipwrecks. We are painting because we are protesting for visibility, perhaps for Polly Wants Free Speech, a silly idea based on how parrots can talk. The janitor is cleaning to protect the culture the art holds. 

Within the level, I wanted the ship to be the focal point of the level, so I had the front of the ship and the bowsprit protruding out of the wall towards all the art to paint over. Around the floor, I added seats and statues for visual interest and as obstacles for the janitor player. The walls have many different sizes of paintings, which consist of a blueprint AJ designed that randomizes the frame and the painting material. Next, I also wanted the museum to overall be pretty light colored, as to emphasize where the paint splatters have ended up. Otherwise, I have a darker wall to accent against the ship to add a little more dimension to the level, as all the whites and grays was making it a bit flat. Originally, I planned a simple rectangular room with stairs just leading up to the ship, but to give the player more places to go, I added an overlook that has stairs on each side for the player to go up. From this overlook, the player can enter the ship and use the cannons. The room has a high ceiling, giving the player lots of room for painting, as well as giving the room a more grandiose feeling to match the size of the ship. This is museum is fan-cay.

I also did the lighting of the level. I added spotlights that softly light up the paintings so that it wouldn't reflect too much off the materials, making the paintings hard to view. The sun was also created to be a little past noon so that the sunlight could show through the arching ceiling windows. I didn't want the sunlight shining on the paintings themselves, since realistically, paintings should not be exposed to sunlight. 

Finally, I helped write the description to the game.