Role: Solo Project
Duration: December 2024 (2 Weeks)
Engine: Unity
In Sparks, you meet your friends at a campsite when disaster strikes. All you have is a set of matches and a chance to escape. Beware of the beast!
• My main goal for this project was to create a mechanic that transformed how players experienced and navigated an environment.
• I iterated upon different level blockouts to design a level that reinforced narrative elements and enhanced gameplay flow.
Game Design
Core Mechanics
Match Lighting
Ignitable objects
The primary function of the match is to provide light and ignite objects in the dark campsite. I made the first player objective to light six different areas in the campsite to give players a natural familiarity with their surroundings. This becomes important in the second phase of the game, as it helps build the player's intuition for how to navigate the map.
Match Duration
First Phase
Second Phase
The first phase of the game acts as a tutorial, so I gave the player an unlimited amount of matches to let them familiarize themselves with the match function. The second phase of the game adds a level of challenge by making the map pitch black and limiting the player to five matches. This required players to be strategic about the usage of their matches and also contributed to the horror aspect of the game.
Match Duration
First Phase
Second Phase
To further the surprise and difficulty in the second phase, the duration of a lit match goes from 15 to 8 seconds. This variability in the match duration not only contributes to the gameplay, but also ties into the narrative, as the rain prevents the match from being as effective.
Level Design
Map Layout
Sketch of map
Final Layout
I designed the map to look and feel open, but still have an obvious main trail to give players an intuitive sense for the pathing. The structures that were required to be lit naturally took the players to each campsite, which were later have the two items needed to escape. When the second phase of the game brings limited visibility and danger from the bear, I wanted players to feel a sense of urgency and fear but still know what to do to win the game.
Bear
Items
Since the bear is the main obstacle in the second phase of the game, I designed it to circle around most of the playable area and directly cut off the exit for a short portion of its pathing. However, I left ample room for the player to navigate the main path and pick up the items required to exit; without knowing the exact path for the bear, the player should feel as though the bear is always close enough to catch them but not consistently obstructing their path.
Ideation
Initial Planning
This project was created from an initial, abstract prompt of "sparks," which I explored through fire and matches. I also incorporated the theme of sparks narratively by subverting a peaceful scene to suddenly stranding the player in the middle of a campsite during a storm with a wild bear on the loose.
References
