Sayonara, My little Dream
2023.02
Role：
Designer
Team Leader
Skills：
Mechanic Design
Level Design
Narrative Design
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Sayonara, My Little Dream
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Overview
"Sayonara, My Little Dream" is an entry for the Global Game Jam 2023. The inspiration for its creation stems from the Global Game Jam 2023 theme 'Roots'. Sayonara, My Little Dream is a 2D platformer game. The player will role-play as a singer who has lost her voice and wants to escape her nightmare. At the end of the dream, she finally realized that "Accepting your own flaws is the root of the meaning of life". She chose to face everything.
Game Trailer
Gameplay clip
Design Concept
Our thought is to build a 2D platformer game inspired by Celeste, and we plan to add some special mechanic to make the game special. After discussing and combing with our planned storyline we decide to add our heroine's shadow to chase our heroine, also after we take the reference of the famous platformer Celeste, the heroine has the actions of the dash and climb.
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To make our game more suitable for the sorrow atmosphere we want to build, we added a filter to the camera and make the scene with a limited circle view to show the inside world of the heroine and increase the intensity of chasing:
This kind of atmosphere can not only increase the game's difficulty but also allow players to immerse themselves and feel the protagonist's inner struggles. Our design here also received positive feedback from peer reviews of other contestants during the same period.
In the third level, I chose to introduce a new special mechanic, transforming the protagonist's relationship with the shadow from a chase to cooperation, representing our understanding of the theme "Reconciliation with the root of fear." The inspiration came from a champion named "Ekko" and his ultimate ability in the game "League of Legends." The shadow's movement remains the same as before, but when the player uses the skill, they can return to the shadow's position, allowing them to bypass certain terrains in the level. Here, the game's difficulty is increased once again, requiring players to carefully remember the game's rhythm to pass the final level.
Level Design
In terms of level design, we designed three levels based on analyzing player behavior, following the design philosophy of "Tutorial Level," "Mechanic One Level," and "Mechanic Two Level." When designing the first level, even though it's a tutorial, we made certain adjustments in the engine, extending the track and adding terrains that require jumping. This allows players to practice more and become familiar with each button, developing muscle memory. The second level primarily features a chase sequence, where players need to dodge within confined terrains. In the third level, players can use the new mechanic to traverse the level and utilize the shadow-swapping mechanic to get past certain terrains.
We also set up a corresponding table, recording all possible terrains and functions, making it easier for our programmer to read and implement the respective level features.
Narrative Design
When designing the background, we wanted to align closely with the theme "Roots". In the end, we chose to let the player embody a singer who has lost their voice, and in their own nightmares, comes to accept this flaw. At the beginning of the game, we included some dialogues to let players understand the game's backstory, and to grasp why we designed the game and how it relates to the theme. Finally, we added a conversation at the end to provide players with a sense of achievement and the feeling of reconciliation with themselves. The overall design of the background and dialogue seamlessly ties in with the theme and immerses the player in the experience.