the brain

ANIMA is one of two capstone projects of the 2023-24 students of Campus ADN, a video game school in Montreal, QC where students specialize in one of four disciplines: Level Design, Animation, Art, or Sound Design.

Project Constraints

Fully playable game developed in 15 weeks
Level Design team and Scripting team also in charge of Game Design.
Max size of level imposed, for scope of art department (2 rooms measuring 40 x 56 x 48 m).
Imposed guidelines for Game Design: must have 2 fully playable characters, no enemies.
Must use Unreal Engine 5

Overarching Game Concept

The player controls Andro.ID and Min.I, two robots that have been awoken by a mythical creature known as Guide. They are inside of a colossal robot and must help the Guide reactivate its different parts to bring it back to life.

Characters & Mechanics

ANDRO.ID

Hefty and analytic
Anima ability: can materialize or dematerialize objects by absorbing or injecting an Anima point
Magnetic arm: can pick up and place ferromagnetic objects. Can also use it to attach herself to the underneath of conveyor belts.

MIN.I

Small and nimble
Can jump, walljump, carry batteries

THE GUIDE

Narrative character
Used to guide players through levels

“The Brain” overall concept

ROOM 1 : The Anima Conduit

The player must reactivate the Anima energy conduit that heads into the Brain. The Brain Conduit is split into 4 sections. It connects to the “Locus Natalis”, the Guide's birthplace.

2D Maps

ROOM 1 - Section 1

ROOM 1 - Section 2 (Top view)

ROOM 1 - Section 2 (Perspective view)

ROOM 2 : Locus Natalis

Here the player wants to access the central closed area, but it closes when they enter the room. They need to get to the Emergency Control Room, but must overcome some puzzle sequences first.

2D Maps

ROOM 2 (Top view)

ROOM 2 (Side view)

Level Gameplay Beats

BEAT 1 - Level Mechanic Intro: Brain Conduit #1

At 1 I teach the player a simplified version of a Min.I platforming combo appearing later in the level, which then allows Andro.ID at 2 to give Min.I access to reach the switch at 3 .

This sets off a short cutscene that shows the player that activating this switch brought back to life the first of four colossal energy conduits ( A , B , C ).

My most crucial intention here is to familiarise the player with my level mechanic, which becomes their main goal.

BEAT 2 - Collaborating on Separate Paths

At 1 , we have a Min.I platforming sequences I taught the player in Beat 1, so that he can reach the Anima point 🟡 at 2 .

Min.I is then cut off from Andro.ID but the Anima point allows her to progress ( 3 ) through a platforming sequence using conveyor belts ( 4 ). This gets her to the switch at 5 that allows Min.I to progress.

Here I want to set the pace of the gameplay: the robots must go on their separate paths but still need each other to progress and attain their common goal.

BEAT 3 - Reactivating Conduit #2

Another relay here, first with Min.I in 1 and 2 , then with Andro.ID in 3 and 4 which reactivates Conduit #2 ( 5 ). At 6 the robots are reunited to they can progress to the checkpoint.

Here, as the player is getting more familiar with the platforming sequences, I serve them a more difficult one for Min.I.

🏳️CHECKPOINT 1 🏳️

BEAT 4 - A Dark Room?

At 1 , an elevator takes the the robots to a dark and mysterious room. An exhaust fan from level 3 returns, preventing Min.I from moving forward. Andro.ID is thus the one who has to plough forward ( 2 ), eventually reaching the switch at 3 .

At 4 , ith Min.I still inside the elevator, turning on the switch reactivates the elevator sending him even higher to a separate section.

I wanted to break up the pacing and change the mood of the level with this more dramatic sequence.

BEAT 5 - Min.I finds his way + Conduit #3

Min.I faces his most difficult platforming sequence of the level ( 1 ) so he can reactivate Conduit #3 ( 2 ) and finally get an Anima point ( 3 ) for Andro.ID to be able to progress.

Finding a compelling way to mix up the platforming while trying to have a clear vision for the architecture was challenging, but I continuously produced improving versions of this section until I found something that worked.

BEAT 6 - Andro.ID speeds along + Conduit #4.

Andro.ID also faces her biggest challenge yet, with platforming sequences at 1 , 2 and 4 , turning on the switch for Conduit #4 along the way at 3 .

This section was tricky. I designed it around her ability to adhere to conveyors to traverse sections, a mechanic that unfortunately took more time to work out than we hoped and it meant that it was harder to nail down the flow of the gameplay. With more time, I’d love to have another go at it. I love the idea of her jumping from conveyor to moving platforms and back again.

🏳️CHECKPOINT 2 🏳️

BEAT 7 - “Locus Natalis” aka Nearing the End

At ( 1 ), we start off with a big dramatic beat: we return to “Locus Natalis”, the Guide birth place and stasis chamber, which the player saw in the cutscene at the beginning of the game. But at 2 , we see that the room detects the player and shuts off access to the central area. The player must get to the Emergency Control Room (Console d’Urgence).

So after some exploring, they find a battery ( 3 ) they use on the elevator at ( 4 ).

This is key moment where I really want to leave a mark on the player, making use framing, environmental storytelling, scripting and architecture.

BEAT 8 - Final Puzzle: Working hand in hand

The last puzzle platforming sequence reunites all the robots skills ( 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ) with an optional stop in a hidden room for a log at 3 .

The challenge with designing this sequence was having to navigate the plethora of ways in which the robots could soft lock each other, while still having the difficulty feel appropriate for a last level.

🏳️CHECKPOINT 3 🏳️

BEAT 9 - The End: Reaching the Emergency Control Room

At 1 , the robots reach the final switch of the game, which undoes the lockdown sequence of the Locus Natalis. This allows them to access the center of room at 2 , pick up a final log, and exit the level.

Planning & references

Level Flowchart

Ideation + Visual & Functional References

Planning gameplay based on Rational Level Design

Leading the team

My main responsibilities as Lead Level Designer:

Ensuring good team communication through daily scrums
Communicating with the other leads via meetings twice a week
Coordinating the Level Designers so that we can keep on track with the plan

Below are some of the tools we used to get there!

15 week plan

This was made by out teachers and had to be followed quite strictly by the teams. This just the Level Designers part of the plan to give you a bit of insight on what we were up to!

Custom icons kit

I made this to ensure our maps were legible between one another. Also, having to make a standardized visual kit was a good test to make sure our game ingredients made sense to us.

Level Design Documents

We used a huge Miro board to group together all of our planning. This helped us easily access each others' research, preparation, references and 2D plans.

LD Dashboard

I used this to take note and keep track of what our team needed to be doing. Everyone had access, so we could review it daily during our scrums. Most of the time people would take up tasks they were drawn to, and it also helped me dispatch some tasks if need be.