Plant Cell Dungeon
September - November 2023
Download (Windows):
2D Map design
Video link:
This project was worked on during my junior year at DePaul and is my fourth overall. The class I made this project in was about level design, so I was able to learn a lot about how to make a good level. In this game, the player explores a dungeon heavily inspired by the anatomy of a plant cell with the main goal of ridding the cell of virus-like enemies that had invaded the dungeon. The player must explore the dungeon and collect items needed to reach a certain room in the dungeon in order to fully expel the viruses.
I came up with the idea for this project after doing some brainstorming in the beginning of class. I decided on the idea to base a level on the anatomy of a plant cell because I found the idea interesting and how the different rooms could be used in relation to the cell organelles they are based on. The first thing that I did was design a 2D sketch of what I had envisioned for my level, and after that, I began to implement my vision in Unreal. I also decided during this time to have a minor story in this dungeon to make sure players go to one room to the next. After the story, a mechanic I decided to focus on to tie the level together is collectables. I used collectables as a way for the player to explore the rooms and to progress as certain collectibles were needed to open the doors to the other rooms. The collectibles also play into the story of the level, as the player needs to collect green fruit in order to get help from an NPC.
Speaking of the rooms, I worked to make each room feel different from each other and I took inspiration from many of the organelles of a cell. I used different materials to make the rooms different colors, although the main color of the rooms is green. I also created different props within Unreal to populate the rooms and to show the player their purpose. For example, the room based on the mitochondria is an orange room with a lot of technology, to give it the vibe of being the powerhouse of the dungeon. Another example is the room based on the nucleus, as it is pink due to how the nucleus is compared to the brain, and the room has a large computer, to show how this room is used to control the other rooms.
During the development of my level, my professor provided me with good feed on how to design a good level. One piece of feedback I received was to provide a detail that helps guide the player through the level and to show them how to progress. I was able to achieve this by creating vines that hang on the walls and at one of the top ends of the vines, was a large glowing fruit that showed the player where to go. Another piece of feedback I received was not to overwhelm the player at the beginning of the game with collectibles. The room the player starts is a greenhouse full of green fruit growing in flower beds, and originally all the flowerbeds had fruit. But, I was told this could be overwhelming for players since a lot of collectibles at once could confuse players. So I removed most of the fruits, and because of that change, I changed the look of the room to add to the story. I made the room look messy as if there was a break in, and this ties in to the overall story of the dungeon getting invaded.
Overall, this was a fun project to work on. However, I did encounter problems, mostly problems with programming since I struggled and spent a long time getting certain things to work the way I wanted them to work. There were bugs present in the game which I was unable to fix due to time restraints and a lack of knowledge. Despite these problems, I was able to finish the game and was able to showcase my game to my classmates, who all enjoyed the hammer that I implemented in the game. I left the class with new knowledge about level design and how to keep the player engaged, how to tie a story into a level, how to use visuals in a level, and how to incorporate sound within a game.
Plant Cell Game Gallery:
