A 3rd person adventure game about a girl called Alvilda trapped in a maze in the bowels of the Earth. Alvilda has been blinded by a spell; players use sound to lead her through the maze of passages back to daylight. Underpinning the game design and interactions is a story based on elements in Nordic folklore.
Interacting with Alvilda
Players do not control Alvilda directly instead they move a cursor within the world, the cursor is the player’s representation in the game. The player can interact with sound objects to generate noise, Alvilda will then become curious and investigate.
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In the video "Alvilda's Basic Movement" you see two different sound objects
When Alvilda hears the sound from a cymbal she will enter a curious state, then move towards the sound object if she hears a second sound wave.
When Alvilda hears sound from a horn she will move directly towards it.
A key part of the gameplay is figuring out how to interact and manipulate the world to create sound and direct where Alvilda needs to go.
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The game is envisioned to be a low polygon style, almost looking like a diorama that the player wants to touch and interact with.
Development
I collaborated with a Danish developer in Copenhagen to create a prototype of Alvilda's Return. We received a little funding from the Danish Film Institute. The prototype was created in Unity.
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In the team I was the Game Designer, I created a pitch document for funding purposes. Next, I created flowcharts to illustrate movement mechanics and how I thought soundwaves would work in the game. I gave this information the programmer who got to work creating it. I would playtest and feedback to him what elements were working and what needed updating.
I worked with a 3D Artist and Concept Artist.
As sound is so key to the game I worked closely with a Sound Designer, both to discuss sound as a concept, and how that could be utilised for puzzles, but also to create a sound and soundscapes for the prototype.
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The prototype has been through several iterations, the first version was an isometric game for touch screens.
The nearby image shows a mock up of how the final game was envisaged to look.
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There was a short development time for the prototype, some gameplay elements were started but not completed.
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Watching people play the initial prototype I could see new puzzles needed to be created and the puzzles that were working needed to be improved.
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Expanding the prototype for Alvilda's Return
After finishing with the Danish team, I took the prototype and worked on it in my free time. I worked on my own as the Designer and Programmer.
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I reassessed what was needed for an expanded prototype, one of the key issues was the game currently had a fixed isometric camera this prevented me from building larger levels without making objects in the level appear smaller and therefore trickier to interact with.
With help from tutorials on the internet I was able to create a camera system where the camera could run on a rail between multiple nodes.
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I moved away from the touch screen idea for the game and implemented controller support, I designed and created new interactions and puzzles for this expanded prototype.
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I go into more detail on individual elements in the section below:
Cursor with player feedback
As part of the Game Design, I wanted the player to be an outside force guiding Alvilda.
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I wanted to have a minimal UI but also give the player feedback on which objects they can interact with, and which buttons they would need to press on the controller.
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I am developing using an Xbox controller so Green represents an 'A' button press, Blue an 'X' button press or hold.
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In the finished game the cursor would be followed by a particle trail, to give the cursor the feeling of a magical character.
Train Carts
I wanted a way to move Alvilda over larger distances.
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A train cart is an object the player can drag along a rail. The train cart contains a horn to call Alvilda.
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When Alvilda is on the cart she goes into an inactive state (shown by her turning red) and she cannot hear sounds.
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The player can click on her to take her out of this state, and then if she hears a sound she will move away from the cart.
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Levers & Gates
An important part of the game is having objects that only Alvilda can interact with.
The player cannot directly trigger a lever. They need Alvilda to move close and pull the lever.
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In this example, the lever opens a locked gate.
A sound puzzle
This video shows an example sound puzzle.
This puzzle utilises properties of sound waves, in Alvilda's Return soundwaves have different properties. How far a sound wave travels and how attracted to a sound wave Alvilda is are two separate values.
If Alvilda hears sound from the horns, she will walk towards them and fall into the pits.
The cymbal object in this puzzle creates a sound wave that travels far, but Alvilda only has a slight attraction towards it.
The player can drag the wall back and forth to block off the horns and trigger multiple soundwaves from the cymbal to inch Alvilda toward safety.
Alvilda enemy puzzle
The video lays out in detail an encounter with an enemy, the player needs to move Alvilda at the right time and stay aware of her surroundings.
Puzzle and Game Design
My aim is to create puzzles where the player interacts with Alvilda and moves their cursor independently. The two elements work together like there are two players co-operating.
Through this co-operation, ideally, I would want the player to find an emotional connection with Alvilda due to her perceived vulnerability.
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I wrote the background story for Alvilda's Return; the narrative provides context for the game and mystery elements the player will want to find answers to.
The Overall Objective
Taking a step back and looking at Alvilda's Return as a whole, the player is trying to get Alvilda from the bottom of the game world through the various levels up to the world above.
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The image on the left illustrates the different level themes Alvilda will face.
From the deep dark bowels of the earth, the ancient civilisation, the gem mine and the underground mushroom forest.
This is a key image created by a concept artist based on my description of the level themes.
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