Memories of War
Like It Was Yesterday
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After so much time was spent in guided random level generation on The Light Brigade for vanilla release, work on expanded content began right away.
It was decided quickly that while WFC was worthwhile, it could never truly take the place of fully hand-crafted content. For that reason, we found a place within The Light Brigade's world for fractured memories from the past that acted as lore vignettes in a dreamlike void-space.
They still had elements of randomness (Loot, enemy placement, traps, and even entire segments of levels could be swapped out on the fly), but at its core, this was a more traditional endeavor for us to craft a series of intentional experiences.
(Released Aug. 2023)
Random Level Generation (WFC)
Run It Again
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On The Light Brigade a large portion of non-boss related level content was made with infinite replayability in mind.
For that reason, it was decided that we endeavor the seemingly impossible task of attaining the feel of hand crafted care, with
random level generation—achieved using Wave Function Collapse.
Were we successful? You decide!
(Released Feb. 2023)
The Other Side
Intro
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The Other Side is a secret mini-campaign unlocked by finding hidden objects in Distance’s Lost to Echoes campaign.
(Released May, 2019)
This page is dedicated to explaining:
1. Why it was made.
2. The design pillars of the gameplay.
3. How the level design / gameplay was achieved.
Made From Scratch
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To lasso my thoughts on what this mini-campaign should be, I wrote down every thought I could muster on potential hazards, themes, and atmospheres. From there I was able to articulate my thoughts to the team and we could appropriately scope and design each challenge individually before proceeding to the level editor
Mosphe - Water Challenge
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The first order of business in for this challenge was ensuring that the gameplay felt different than it might in a “normal” environment.
To begin, I added a force zone component to the work-area to give the underwater environment a floatier atmosphere. This allowed me to lay out several timed obstacles that might not be possible under normal circumstances, as the gravity was more forgiving.
On the flipside, this also opened up the potential to add ‘jet thrust’ type obstacles to blow the player off of the road with far more ease, requiring players to choose their battles carefully and look before they leap, breaking the normal flow of gameplay much of Distance is based on to embrace a more puzzle-y style of play.
Üzz - Lava Wall Challenge
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Embracing our inner Death Star trash compactor, the Lava Wall challenge is a time attack stage, inspired by the indestructible behemoth enemies from games like Clock Tower and Dead Space that never cease pursuit, leaving hasty escape as your only option.
We don’t have “button logic” in Distance, so it necessary to kitbash a number of existing components, triggers, and animators to give the illusion of a functional “new” asset.
Once the mechanic was established early in the room, the platform’s difficulty level was increased by three factors:
1. Multiple buttons required to drop the next platform.
2. Hide the buttons out of plain view, requiring a bit of searching under time duress.
3. Place one or two blocks in the room’s progression towards the Pursuing Lava Wall to really ratchet up the panic.
For those that really want to test/hate themselves, there are also 3 hidden buttons in the room required to unlock 1/3 of a secret. It gets a sweaty.
The Veil - Gravity Challenge
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The gravity challenge was achieved by grouping two force zones vertically in the cylindrical room, then animated on a linear timer up and down; this would act as a deadly metronome for the duration of the challenge. Force zones were also set to the opposite values inside of the safety pylons leading to the exit in order to act as a safe haven.
From here all that was left was selling the visuals to inform the player that they were in danger. The crab statues were animated to clamp their claws down, then kind of strain under the pressure of the ensuing gravity onslaught. Followed by a red biodome animated into the scene, because:
1. Red is danger incarnate.
2. You gonna argue with Dragon Ball Z?
The last important detail was having the particles begin to return upward after a Gravity Flux to project that while it was not yet safe to move platforms, it was about to be, giving the player a brief nod to make their move.
Obstacle Breakdowns
The “Waffler” Obstacle
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The Waffler was a simple-ish solution to a need for a new obstacle that works in a fairly modular way. Here’s my thought process on developing it:
Magnet Sphere Obstacle
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The Magnet Sphere obstacle is probably one of the most complex obstacles we have in Distance. It’s used fairly sparsely for large spectacle moments in one level themed entirely around electricity and magnets. Here I do my best to articulate its function and minimize rambling:
