Mariana
Overview
Mariana is a 3D Horror Exploration game following Lloyd, a technician working for the Morthos company. Sent to the Nadir research facility to determine the cause of their sudden loss of communications. With their ship crashing upon arrival, Lloyd must explore the facility, using their trusty harpoon gun to solve puzzles and defend themselves from the newly insane lab members. They must piece together what happened at the facility, but more importantly, they must find a way to escape with their life intact.
Tools Used
Unity, Maya, FMod
Level Design
Initial level design goals for the tutorial zone required us to introduce the facility and biology department. Through a reception, laboratory, and several looping hallways, the player would learn how to use their harpoon gun for puzzles and combat and how to find hidden keys and audio logs. Training and testing these skills would come during the following three levels.
With re-scoping, much of this area was able to be reused. Through some small changes to level flow, we could teach, train, and test harpoon gun usage for puzzles and combat, while condensing the pace at which events occurred.
My Role
For Mariana, I had to take on several roles over the course of the project, including Level Designer, 3D Modeller, and Narrative Designer.
During the first phase of the project, I was half of the narrative team, laying out the core concept of the game, building the setting and characters, and determining the core information the player would be provided. I also was assigned the level design for the tutorial area of the game.
My role was shifted to handling general asset 3D modelling and being the sole Level Designer when the scope of the project changed in phase 2.
Takeaways
Adaptability was the name of the game on this project. While I was greatly enjoying my role focused on narrative design at the project start, as the project progressed and the contributions of the team as a whole were evaluated, we determined my efforts would be best spent focusing on level design and 3D modelling, to fill deficits in those areas.
Mariana was also my first project working with such a large group size. Learning to effectively communicate progress on tasks, especially those that required the input of multiple people, was essential to ensuring work was completed promptly and within deadlines.
