Cameron Thomson-Game Designer
The Grim Depths
The Grim Depths is a 2D platformer that takes place in Thallasolia, a fictional ancient and undersea kingdom. The player controls a small, silent, and nameless diver while exploring the undersea world. The diver wields a gun used in combat against the game’s enemies.
Introduction
The Grim Depths was a university first year team project. The team name we decided on was Overlords. We decided to make a 2D platformer with an underwater theme. My initial role in the team was the level designer but i aslo went on to do some environment work
MY Contribution
In this game project i was the lead level designer. I created both of the levels, starting as sketches on paper and then moving them into engine. When making the levels i knew that they would be underwater themed which meant i had to design the levels so that their architecture would make sense and look like it could be an underwater ruin/ruins. After designing the levels on paper i had to move them into engine. For the first level i used coloured cubes to make the level so that we had something to test mechanics on. This was due to the fact that the team only had one artist so by the time all of the assets had been made i had already finished the first level using cubes. Having to go back a build the level again but with the assets lots some time but wasn't a major setback. When it came to the second level i had the assets ready to go so i could skip the block out stage and went directly into making the level with the assets.
As well as designing and building the levels i also placed all of the environment assets in engine. This was a slow process as it took lots of small assets to fill out the levels and make them look polished. I used both assets in the main game space and in the foreground to get across the feeling of being deep underwater.
Development issues
When it came to issues with the project, they were usually overcome very quickly. There were also little to no issues with team cohesion, all decisions related to game and its overall direction were always put to the team and then voted on. The main issue i faced was one of a technical nature. As the team only had one artist who much preferred working in 3D it was decided early in development that we would use 3D assets in a 2D plain. This meant that they needed to have 3D box colliders. This caused issues for me because it meant that the colliders of the assets would often not match the shape of the asset itself. This meant i had to spend a large portion of my time manually editing individual colliders so that the the levels worked and the player didn't get stuck. However this did help me increase my skills at manipulating colliders and working 3D assets into a 2D plain.
