Project Description
My role: Technical Designer (game design and scripting)
Team size: 9 people
Project duration: 6 weeks (concept and design) plus 8 weeks (production)
The initial project was to create a game around a character controller inspired from a known fictional character comprised of a single level during which a change of pace happened.
In our case, the character was Jack Sparrow and we decided we wanted to highlight Sparrow's avoidance of direct fights as well as his cunning and mischievious behavior.
For this very reason, Fin Léonard is a stealth game in which we avoid direct confrontation and use tools to our advantage, in which we play as Léonard, a cunning and sly fox who steals something precious from dubermann thugs.
My Roles
• Design
Analysing the reference character and designing mechanics and systems around it.
• Scripting
Scripting the player character
Once development started, I took the role of programmer, and worked on the character controller itself, as well as interactive components for the player to use. I mainly worked on the character controller and the various options to move around as well as environmental objects to interact with.
Designing the game
The first step in designing a character controller reminiscent of an existing character is to analyze that character. The main traits we wanted to convey were Sparrow's slyness, his peculiar demeanor as well has the way he avoids direct combat with his opponents.
We found that making our playable character Léonard a sly fox was a neat way to communicate his character. We then decided on the following gameplay elements :
• The complete lack of direct attacks available to the player. We felt this first step was very important as we wanted to focus on the other aspects of Sparrow, both to communicate better who Léonard was, and also as a measure to reduce scope. Implementing any kind of combat mechanics would have took a lot of development effort that was required elsewhere.
The Flour Bag used to get past a guard's vision.
The fish barrel used to follow a guard in their tracks without being smelled.
• Guards that can see, hear and smell, and that are strong enough to give bad ending to the player should they catch them. The guards have a good sight in front of them, and can smell the player all around, and even through obstacles, in a shorter range. Smelling the player takes a brief moment; this is a way to reduce frustration and to give more nuance to the AI behavior. The smelling sense has been inspired by the initial character skethes from our art team, who went with animalistic characters. Dogs with strong smell were an instant connection after seeing the sketches. Their hearing lets them detect and go investigate loud noises that they rarely hear.
• Mantling, climbable fishing nets and tight ropes are gameplay elements we introduced to give the player more freedom while traverse the level. These were also a way to ensure the player didn't feel like a prey and instead had the tools to escape the grasp of the guards should they notice the player. The level designers were given these as tools to make the level more interesting and give the player the feeling that they can get away from guards with their fox agility.
• Flour bags to use as smoke bombs. These each have a single use and are purposely placed assets that the player must use to avoid detection from guards. Activating one throws it, and it creates a temporary smoke cloud when it reaches the ground that blocks visual detection from the guards.
• Smelly fish barrels to hide the player's smell from the guards — which are humanoid dubbermann dogs. Guards have a few feet of smelling range, but coating yourself in fish means you can sneak behind and follow a guard in their tracks from very close, albeit for a short moment. We think adding this smell mechanic as well as the fish barrel creates tense and exciting moments for the player.
• Throwable glass bottles, a simple classic that serves to bring the attention of nearby guards away for a short moment. Guards follow the loud noise and go investigate it temporarily, creating an opportunity to sneak through a guard's usual danger zone.
The fishing-inspired interactive objects fit with the setting of the game: a fishing port and its warehouse, both occupied by goons.
The tightrope used for traversal in high-ground.
Scripting the game
I worked on several notable mechanics and systems in Fin Léonard, notably the following :
• Tight ropes that follow a spline for versatility. The player snaps onto them for traversal.
• Flour bags that get thrown in a specified direction and cause a temporary smoke cloud to obscure the guards' vision.
• Help on the AI and its different detection systems.
• A checkpoint and save system.
• Simpler but just as important features like an interaction interface and a "door and lever" system for our level designers to use, that can both open and close doors but also move specified objects to alter the level during certain game sequences.
The spotlights that alert nearby guards with a loud alarm.
The thrown bottle used to take the attention of guards away.
