Aeron, a new biome
YEAR
ROLE
2024
Gameplay designer, Narrative designer, Level designer
GENRE
ENGINE
Adventure puzzle
Unreal Engine
DESCRIPTION
Aeron, a new biome is a solarpunk third-person adventure game. The whole gameplay is based on a special tool: the EcoTuner, which allows players to manipulate mechaplants (boost and regression) in order to deceive enemies and solve environmental puzzles.
Gameplay design
EcoTuner
The EcoTuner is the fundamental mechanics around which the entire gameplay revolves. It's a tool players can equip to shoot regressive and boosting beams on mechaplants. This feature allows players to solve puzzles, move in the environment and flee from enemies.
EcoTuner limits
As first, I established specifical limits for what can be done or not using the ecotuner. The decision making was based on keeping the game balanced, avoiding bugs and make it easy for players to understand how and when the EcoTuner should be used.
EcoTunable items
Second step was to establish the general utility of mechaplants states. In order to have easy communications with players, size and biological characteristics were useful. Regressed state is the inital status of plants (seeds et similia), standard state is the most common when thinking about it and boosted state is the overgrown or dry state.
Enemies
Enemies are necessary for the adventure/stealth part of the game. Aeron has no combat system. Players can only defeat enemies by sneaking behind and deactivating them. Players lose as they get hit.
Differentiation
To accomplish the needing of a varied and meaningful gameplay, three different types of enemies were created - plus a boss. We set two core points to diversificate the enemy system: attack range and movement capability.
Easy to understand
Therefore, I listed specifical aesthetic characteristics each enemy needed to have models strictly related to the features. E.g. the slower one had to be stocky, the flying one had to be small and related to the nature, etc.
Detection/Alert System
Enemies have a detection system based on senses. Moreover, there are different alert level useful to reach a more strategic gameplay level.
Sight & Hearing
To have more control over the detection system and make it more balanced and functional, we separated the sight and hearing systems. They communicate through a common point: the alert system.
Alert system
Therefore, I listed specifical aesthetic characteristics each enemy needed to have models strictly related to the features. E.g. the slower one had to be stocky, the flying one had to be small and related to the nature, etc.
Level Design
Core objects
The core gameplay objects have fixed sizes that determine, as a result, all the rules of level
Re-usability
Many objects were designed, during the drafts period, as the same "Unreal cube" in order to be reusable in each map with an easy re-skin
Uniqueness
Each map has its special theme and aesthetic which define specifical types of gameplay
Tutorial Area
Flow
Building the tutorial level has been an interesting challenge because it's the point where players, in addition to learning the controls, decide whether to keep playing or quit the game.
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So I followed 2 rules:
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Give enough time to players to metabolise what they just have learnt​
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Give to players a balanced increasing challenge which is satisfying to overcome
From draft to map
Final Boss Area
From draft to map
The last challenge
Building the final boss maps I had to face the challenge of creating a meaningful ending for the game. Moreover, it needed to be the most difficult experience of the game, So I followed 3 rules:
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All the core mechanics had to be necessary to overcome the challenge. So I built a map which needs to be fully traversed using the EcoTuner features.
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Give an increasing challenge to players. So I set the boss in two phases and made the crucial spot progressively more difficult to be reached
Narrative Design
Narrative Layers
The narrative system revolves around three distinct layers, each with its specific purpose.
2
Old recordings
Players can collect recordings of Clarice, a woman who visited the planet in the past. These recordings are like voice notes, and I wrote them following three rules:
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They must be numbered to allow players to reconstruct the correct order.
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They must be deeply emotional to convey the feelings of the adventure.
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They must expand the lore and provide more explanations about the endgame.
1
Dead robots
Dead robots can be found on each map. Players can interact with them to make them repeat a sentence Each text in this narrative layer follows three rules:
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It must be short and cryptic
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It must consist of fragmented sentences
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It must provide information about the environment and a past war
3
Official communications
Players can find official documents sent to the old settlement on the planet by SolarLife, the company that began building on the planet. I wrote them following three rules:
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They must be technical and provide information about the civilization's procedures
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They must offer details about systems on other planets and explain what SolarLife is
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They must bridge the story between Clarice's adventure and the robots' war
Environmental Storytelling
Scattered hints
Players can find hints about the past and lore by closely examining the environment.
This is the result of collaboration between the Design and Concept Art teams.
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Additionally, some assets are used to foreshadow what players will encounter in the upcoming map.
Enemies models
Enemy models are designed with the world-building in mind. Each robot was originally an ally to humans during the civilization process, built for a specific function.
After the infection, their original roles evolved into thematic elements that influence their attack behaviors.
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Players can explore more detailed information about this transition in the encyclopedia, which updates its chapters each time they encounter a specific robot or item for the first time.