Playable Story Spaces - The Story of Rapunzel
I designed this small game individually. All materials and objects in this game were made in Maya or Unreal from scratch. The Pick Up and Destroy functions were implemented using Blueprint.
Here's a few screenshots of the level.
Level design document
a)
Once upon a time, a man and a woman had long in vain wished for a child. One day the wife wish to have some beautiful rampion - Rapunzel - which was planted inside a garden that belonged to an enchantress, who had great power and was dreaded by the world. Then the man went to steal the rampion and got caught by the enchantress. The enchantress was angry at first, but after she heard why the man want the rampion, she said “I will give you as much rampion as you wish, but you must give me the child which your wife will bring into the world. The deal was made and the child was took away. The child was named Rapunzel and she was kept in a high tower by the enchantress. Everyday the enchantress went in and out of the tower by climb upon Rapunzel’s extremely long hair. One day, a prince was attracted by Rapunzel’s song when he was passing through, and he managed to also climb on the tower by her hair. They fell in love and wish to go away together. However, the enchantress found out and took Rapunzel into a desert and made the prince fell out of the tower. Many years later, the miserable prince and Rapunzel magically met each other again and then they lived happily ever after.
b)
There’s another version of this story that was made by Disney in 2010 called Tangled.
Tangled by Disney
I actually prefer this version because in this version Rapunzel was always long for freedom and she managed to get out of the tower by herself. Also, her long hair has magic power and I believe this can be a great element in the game. Thus, I want to choose the inside of the tower as my level space. There will be several storeys in the tower and each of them will have a few small rooms, such as Rapunzel’s bedroom, enchantress’s bedroom, living room, enchantress’s magic spell room, and the balcony where Rapunzel would let down her hair.
c)
I want to make this a puzzle solving game in which players play as Rapunzel and they need to find the way out of the tower.
d)
To finish this level and go to next level, players need to find and open the secret door. And the subgoals are:
Find the keys to open the door of her own room and go to Enchantress’s room;
Find the keys to open the door of enchantress’s room and go to the next floor;
Grab the torch and find the secret door on the floor while not being noticed by the enchantress.
Find enough crystal to open the secret door.
e)
The obstacles:
There are two locked doors in Rapunzel’s room, and each room leads to a different enchantress’s room. Players can choose to find all the keys and explore both rooms, but only go to one of these two rooms is enough to complete the level.
Both of the enchantress's room lead to a same staircase that leads to first floor.
Once player reaches the first floor - the living room - they have one more task other than finding the items and the secret door, that is avoiding the attention of the enchantress, and the enchantress will randomly wandering around the room. So on this floor, it’s more like a stealth game.
There will be a feeling of increasing difficulty from a spatial aspect. For now my design is that Rapunzel needs to first figure out how to get out of her own room, then find the way out of the tower. Get out of her own room is relatively easy because the space is much smaller and the items required are fewer, while getting out of the tower is more complicated.
f)
The supports:
The cute little chameleon from the Disney movie Tangled - Pascal. He was apparently Rapunzel's only friend during her imprisonment within the tower.
The chameleon - Pascal
He will have the power to warn the player when the enchantress is approaching; he can be used as a distraction to change the enchantress’s attention, and he can also help the player to reach the items that Rapunzel can’t reach such as on the ceiling or under the closet.
Rapunzel’s magic hair. The hair can cast a spell when Rapunzel found enough crystals. The spell could be let Rapunzel be invisible for a while or unlock the secret door without the key.
The magic hair
g)
This tower belongs to the enchantress, who was dreaded by the world, and no one knows how long has she lived. However there are some most beautiful rapunzels growing outside of the tower, and Rapunzel has an optimistic heart. Thus, the interior of the tower have a medieval furniture style with a mostly dark color tone, but the exterior is bright: a blue sky and a shining sun. Thus, the sun will cast clear shadows through the window and make the interior of the tower have some contrast feeling.
h)
The detailed map:
Upper floor
Lower floor