GAME DESIGN - NARRATIVE DESIGN - LEVEL DESIGN

NAD's game-making club C.U.B.E. is nearing the end of its second year developing a game, with myself as game designer, narrative designer and level designer. This 3D exploration game is set in a "whimsical nightmare" world and features a protagonist, last surviving member of his species, who must surf through the desert in order to retrieve energy capsules to save his robot community.

What I did in this project:

• Designed the game mechanics (movements) and systems around predefined game pillars.

• Designed the game narrative and lore, and set story themes to fit the gameplay and art direction.

• Currently designing a vast level encouraging the use of the core mechanics, and including several secrets.

• Worked with a bigger team comprising artists and programmers, and ensured better communication between departments.

The game will be released in August 2024.

Pitch (long form)

To what point is it worth fighting to preserve and repair something which, in the end, cannot be? What sacrifices are we ready to make when it comes to saving loved ones and a home? These questions are central to the experience of the C.U.B.E. 2023-2024 project, a 3D open-world exploration game in third person on PC.

In a "whimsical nightmare" world, the player embodies MC, last known survivor of the Organics, an intelligent species living on this planet. Taken in by protector-robots, creations of the Organics whose goal is to make the species survive and perpetuate, MC is raised by Father, who leads the village where the robots settled. This village is nestled in the disjointed carcass of one of the colossal robots that the Organics have built in order to spread vegetation and slow down the desert's expansion, which threatens all life on the planet. When the colossal robot's heart ceases to function, the protector-robots lose their power source and shut down. MC must therefore venture into the forbidden desert to go recover three energy capsules in other broken limbs of the colossal robot—the head, the arm and the leg—with the objective of bringing them back to the heart and reanimate his robot community.

MC moves by walking, and can jump to reach higher spots. He also has a mechanic allowing him to surf on the terrain and navigate smoothly on the desert dunes while conserving his momentum. As he explores the desert, MC acquires three powerups giving him more control over the surf mechanic. The first one, the dive, allows him to plunge towards the ground when in midair. If he lands on a descending slope, he gains a significant amount of speed, whereas an ascending slope will slow his movement. The second powerup, the glide, allows him to float for some time in the air, to reorient his trajectory or travel a certain distance more easily. The third, the grappling hook, allows MC to latch onto anchor points in the environment to change direction more easily, or to pull himself towards this anchor and get propelled beyond it.

MC discovers these new abilities on murals in the ruins of extinct Organic communities partly buried in the desert sand. When exploring these ruines using his platforming abilities, he can discover information on these cultures and learn on his own species, which he never really knew, having lived almost his whole life with robots. His growing freedom of movement reflects his passage to a belonging that is more Organic than robotic. For throughout his quest to reanimate his community and to repair his relationship with his robot-father, MC explores his place in the world. An existential question remains unanswered and drives this quest for identity : is he the sole surviving member of his species?

When MC reaches one of the three colossal robot's limbs, he climbs the massive structure using once more his platforming abilities. Every time he removes an energy capsule, the limb is deactivated and all life surrounding it dies, the desert taking back over this zone. Back in the village with the last capsule, MC is confronted with an impossible dilemma, leading to two different endings : reactivate the heart to save his father and his community, to the detriment of the environment surrounding the village; or refuse to use the capsules, and rather going to place them back in the colossal robot's limbs to make the environment endure, but remain alone in this dying world.

Gameplay Loops and OCR

Synopsis

In a "whimsical nightmare" world, an intelligent species, the Organics, is confronted to the degradation of the environment and the progressive death of their planet. To slow down the desert's expansion, which threatens all life, they build colossal robots, whose function is to spread vegetation and feed the lifecycle. This measure is however insufficient, and their plan fails. The Organics end up extinct, leaving for sole known surviving member the young MC, who is taken in by the guardian-robots, another creation of the Organics whose goal is to make the species survive and perpetuate. MC is hurt, but is saved by the protector-robots, who shed their own limbs to graft them to his body. He is raised by Father, who leads the village in which the robots settled. This village is nestled in the disjointed carcass of a colossal robot, whose limbs are still functional, each feeding its own little biome, oasis of life in the desert. The ancient infrastructures and energy sources not existing anymore, the village robots find their energy source in the colossal robot's heart, to which they regularly go to recharge themselves. The energy being absorbed by the robots, the village's surroundings are devoid of any vegetation, save for the massive skeletons of giant trees having grown from the colossal robot's ribcage.

MC learns through the protector-robots the history of his species and of their dying world. Access to the village's outside is forbidden to him, as a security measure: the survival of the last of the Organics is capital. The protector-robots themselves can venture on the outside. Some are assigned to searching for food and water for MC, and resources for the village maintenance; others patrol the area in search of other potential surviving Organics, other protector-robots, or anything else that could ensure the species' survival. MC feels more and more prisoner of this village, and a desire grows in him to explore the outside world and discover more on his own species and its origin.

When the heart of the village exhausts its last energy reserves and ceases functioning, the village's robots slowly start to shut down. Before shutting down himself, Father tells MC he is sorry for not having been able to save him. MC replies that he will go find other energy capsules to power the heart and reanimate the whole village.

MC thus leaves the village and explores the desert, going towards the colossal robot's three major limbs, still functional and emerging from the sand, in the hope of finding new energy capsules. He uses a piece of the colossal robot's shell to surf smoothly on the dunes. On his way, he discovers the ruins of extinct Organic communities. In these ruins, he learns more on his own species' culture, which he never really knew, having lived almost all his life with robots. He acquires more physical abilities following his observation of murals depicting the capabilities of the Organics. His growing freedom of movement reflects his passage to a belonging that is more Organic than robotic.

MC finds in the desert the veins of the colossal robot that emerge from the sand. When reactivating these veins, energy converges to the robot's major limbs, which MC can then access. He enters each of these massive structures, climbs it and recovers an energy capsule. Every time a capsule is removed, the limb is deactivated and all life surrounding it dies, the desert taking back over this zone.

Back in the village, MC is confronted with an impossible dilemma : reactivate the heart to save his father and his community, to the detriment of the environment surrounding the village; or refuse to use the capsule, and going to place them back in each of the colossal robot's limb to make the environment endure, but remain alone in this dying world.

Village Ending : MC inserts the last energy capsule in the heart and reactivates it. The village robots wake up and MC is reunited with his community. Around the village, no life subsists in the desert.

Environment Ending : MC removes the energy capsules from the heart. He sits in the village, alone and melancholic. Suddenly, an Organic hand rests on his shoulder. MC lifts his head and looks at the newcomer.

All concept arts were realized by other members of the team.