Hello guys!
In today's devlog, we'll cover the topic of inspiration!
➡️In puzzle games, about 60-80% of all work is creating levels. In addition, an important aspect is to properly arrange the difficulty curve and create a tutorial that is not annoying.
➡️Many games are based on very specific mechanics, to which new mechanics are added. Once I had the pleasure of working on the game "inbento", the basic principle of which was to arrange the blocks of food in a specific pattern. The game starts with covering other pieces of food with food, and then evolves with new mechanics such as swapping food places.
➡️The second type of puzzle game is one that changes the mechanics of the game every level or several levels. For example, in the game "Quantum Conundrum", we start with the puzzles related to the change of weight. We get the ability to make things very light. So we can lift a safe that is normally too heavy. In the next stages, we get the ability to slow down time, for example, to pass through a propeller that is usually rotating too fast. The games with changing mechanics also include "Split".
➡️At best, the mechanics and the appearance of the level match, but most of the time it doesn't matter. The puzzles themselves are selected on the basis of the need for more open spaces or small corridors. Riddles usually take one of two forms. The first one is a puzzle to be completed in a given place. The player has a very specific task, it can be to play a specific sequence of "buttons", just like that or at a specific time (because, for example, platforms collapse). The second type is search puzzles, most often they take the shape of small labyrinths in which the elements to complete the puzzle have yet to be found.
➡️The basis for creating games is collecting inspiration. As Split is inspired by a brutalist architectural style and electronics, i.e. all types of cables and PCBs. The individual levels have cards in the project management system where we paste appropriate photos and links. We try to make the levels diverse in terms of geometry and colors. Some levels are a complex of narrow corridors, while others consist of large open areas with enormous structures connected by ducts. https://www.pinterest.at/vxd555/split-brutalizm-si-fi/
➡️For example, one of the levels is based on the theme of hanging cities. The whole thing looks like we are traversing bizarre constructions. We move on the sidewalks attached to the building, and we are protected from the abyss by a railing. We have created a separate table for this level https://www.pinterest.at/vxd555/wisz%C4%85ce-miasto/
➡️In addition to pinterest boards, we browsed reddit, twitter, instagram, artstation and websites presenting various cities, specific objects or even tourist trips.
https://www.reddit.com/r/brutalism
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Brutalist
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/brutalism
https://www.artstation.com/search?q=brutalist
➡️One of the visual elements we have transferred are long columns that intersect at an angle. It is not the whole idea of a level, but a single visual element that can then be placed on several levels. https://www.pinterest.at/pin/749638300473558900/
➡️The appearance of the levels can also be borrowed from other games. For example, the layout of rooms in a fragment of one of the levels was moved from the game "Timelie" for the needs of "Split". The room where the Pirx protagonist of "Split" is located is the middle room in the photo from "Timelie". You can tell by the door layout, and when you enter the respective rooms, you will be able to recognize the corresponding walls.
Where do you get inspiration for your projects from?
We would also like to invite everyone to our Discord where we will be happy to answer all your questions about the current work - DISCORD