Dev Diary #8

MY MOOD

I chose a/the mood of Inspired.

When the song begins with the level; a player should have a sense of gloominess as the slow song begins while rain pours down from an overcast weather. During the time; the song continues to build up in a happier tone, the player will then continue to walk through beautiful landmarks that will bring their spirit up. This evokes the feeling of inspiration because the island shows that even though a player could be experiencing a bad weather condition; something good can come from something bad.

MY SONG

My song is ”Heroes” by Alesso ft. Tove Lo.

This song exemplifies the mood of being “Inspired” because the instrumental aspect gives a feeling of inspiration to strive forward, just a slow pace song in the beginning that leads into a joyous upbeat song to help fuel an excitement spark. I personally love this song for its lyrics and pacing of the beat, the meaning behind the song is about how an ordinary person can become something/ someone big while sharing their journey with a friend, feeling inspired and invincible together. I always listen to “Heroes” whenever I need some motivation to get me through many obstacles that may seem difficult, it makes me feel like I can achieve great things from just believing in myself that “I CAN” obtain great accomplishments in life. Growing up I was always told I can’t be a gamer and that I couldn’t make that my profession in the future because I’m a girl, well I proved them wrong, I continue to dream big and proceed to strive forward in becoming something/ someone great one day.

Music Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7SouU3ECpU

Lyrics Link: https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVEo74CwiG4

MY LANDMARKS

ISLAND STORY

The story behind the Island goes a little something like this; it was the year 1990, a man and a woman owed a lot of money to a loan shark. Later, the loan shark asked for his money, when both the man and woman couldn’t pay him back; the loan shark took matters into his own hands to teach other clients a lesson on what happens when they don’t pay him back. So the loan shark with his henchmen took the man and woman on a boat. He then later tied them both and dropped them far off into the sea, the henchmen watched as both the man and woman sank to the bottom of the ocean then drove off. The man was able to escape and rescued the woman, they then swam quickly towards the nearest land they could find. When they arrived on the island; the man and woman realized they had no clue as to where they were, all they knew was that they couldn’t go back home. The man and woman became best of friends; they knew the island wasn’t all that great looking so they began rebuilding and making it feel more like home. Their island in the middle of the ocean became their inspiration of starting a new life; taking a bad situation and turning it into something positive. After a few years of rebuilding; the man fell in love with the woman and they were both happy living on an island together feeling free as one can be. The mood and song go hand in hand because it lets the players feel a little bit down in the beginning but as the level continues with the song; a player will have a great sense of feeling inspired when they see the final view on top of the cliff.

GOAL

The player’s goal is to the feel a sense of accomplishment when they reach the other side of the island. The player needs to stay on the path to help them feel the inspiration for them to understand the emotions of the island.

VISUALIZATION

Landmark 1

The player starts off on top of a mountain/ cliff.

Landmark 1: The player will see rocks and moving further up; the player will see an overview of the land they have to travel across. They will also feel gloominess as the song begins to play as they reach the bottom steps of the mountain while the having a rainy weather (rain sound will be playing as well).

Trail: The player will be lead down the mountain with a trail of stairs going downwards with torches on the sides of the trail.

A player will know that this is the beginning of the island because of the bright circle they will spawn in and the trail of stairs help the player understand which way to go first.

Landmark 2

The player continues through the Plains.

Landmark 2: It is raining, the player can hear the rain drops drop mixed with the wind blowing as they pass by a big grassy green field (plains).

The player will know to go forward because of gray path beneath them that shows the way, there is also a bridge coming up that has torches lit up on the sides of the bridge.

Besides a giant empty grass field; the player will go to the spot that stands out which will be the bridge with torches lit up on the sides.

Landmark 3

The player then continues onto the Bridge/ Pond.

Landmark 3: As the player walks to the glowing bridge that stretches across a pond; they get a sense of accomplishment when the song starts to build up and sound more upbeat. The player will notice fiery torches lit up on the bridge for guidance due to the dark overcast rainy weather.

The player will want to cross the bridge because of how intriguing it looks compared to a giant empty plain.

Once the player reaches the bridge they will then notice how there are more landmarks and areas to discover on the other side of the bridge which makes the player want to cross the bridge even more.

Landmark 4

The player continues through the Grove, trail.

Landmark 4: Once the player has passed through the bridge; they will now go through a series of differents groves from red trees, to bamboos, and pine trees. This is the part where the song makes one feel very enlightened and have a pleasant feeling while walking through beautiful red trees, an Asian bamboo grove, and to finish off the grove trail with thick pine trees. The reason why I decided to end the grove trail with thick pine trees is so that the player can have a big reveal of a mountain at the end of the grove trail.

From there the player will notice giant sharp rocks over a pond, the player will have to cross a bridge to get across the sharp rocks. This will make the player want to walk up to the bridge with torches because everything else is just a plain.

Landmark 5

The player will then walk across the Bridge/ Pond/ Sharp Rocks.

Landmark 5: Once the player has left the multiple grove trails; they will see a bridge hovering over a pond with sharp rocks that are coming from the mountain behind the bridge. The player will walk across the bridge that is lit up with torches and onto a grassy hilltop that leads into the mountain with a staircase leading up to the cliffs. The song is getting to its peak point which makes the bridge trail feel more epic, letting the player feel like their journey is almost done.

The trail up to the mountains look more like an eye catcher since everything else is a plain.

Landmark 6

Afterwards the player will walk up the Mountain.

Landmark 6: After the player gets across the dangerous infested pond filled with sharp rocks; the player will land on a bright green grassy hilltop with yellow flowers that then leads to a mountain stairwell up to the top of the cliff. While the player walks up the mountain staircase; particles will shoot out from the sides of the mountain as the player is coming to the end of the song making them feel victorious.

The particles will make the player feel like a winner for almost completing the level and for almost making it to the end.

Landmark 7

The player finally arrives on top of a Cliff.

Landmark 7: After walking up all the rocky steps of the mountain; the player end their journey on top of a cliff where they can see all across the whole island they have traveled through. Once the player reaches a white spot on top of the cliff; lots of particles will shoot out in victory and the player will view their whole adventure from the spot they stand on. After traveling through the whole island it gives the player some inspiration from the music playing (slow/ gloomy to upbeat/ confidence), to their final view, to even their first thought of the island (gloominess) that turned out to be a happy and inspiring experience.

It feels satisfying to stop on top of the cliff because once the player has gone through their mini adventure; they can look back and reminisce on their journey of how they got there.