Today we’ll write about the design process for the main villain: The Shadow Puppeteer!
Compared to the development of the Boy where the focus lay primarily on the physical aspects, the development of the Puppeteer was much more psychological.
When creating a villain you have to decide what makes him or her a villain and what «brand» of evil that is. With the Puppeteer we had to consider this: Is he aware of his actions and the consequences? Is he dumb? Is he intelligent?
Testing is an essential part of developing a game. Today we’re taking you through the part of our game development that is directly related to testing.
Testing is always an exciting part of development. For the new developers it means that you have to overcome your fears and show off what you have made. You have to understand that there is a difference between people criticising your game, and criticising you.
Today’s post will take you through the design process for the boy, from the first sketches in 2010. to the final, refined look.
The very first concept of the boy was presented for the Dare to be Digital contest to show the idea behind the game. It was team member, Torgeir, that designed the look and feel of the early style for the game. Torgeir is no longer an employee in Sarepta studio, but he will always live on in our hearts (and in the game, as several other members of the team has pointed out the resemblence between the two). But he didn’t start out like that.
Today’s post is by our Level designer, Klas, and is a short introduction to how we go about designing levels for Shadow Puppeteer.
Once we know what new gameplay elements we want to introduce to the player in a level, the creative work can start. The first step is often the hardest one, yet it is probably the most important: The idea phase. Members of the team bring their thoughts to the table, discuss them, and sketch out basic concepts. These are often scribbled on paper and contain possible layouts and/or abstract interactions.
Today’s all about the concept at the heart of Shadow Puppeteer.
Simply put, “Shadow Puppeteer” is the story of a boy and his shadow, who once separated have to learn to work together by manipulating light and darkness.
The game is centered around three major gameplay elements: