Kevin Kincaid
Game Designer & 3D Artist
SnowTracks
January 2022 -
March 2022
Single Player | Sidescroller | Platformer
Modeling & coding done by Kevin Kincaid
SnowTracks is a 3D side-scroller where the player travels through a frozen environment in order to return home. The player navigates through the levels by jumping and strategically throwing their backpack to activate switches. Players must hurry through the four levels as they will slowly freeze when not near heat sources.
SnowTracks was developed at SCAD as part of a level design course. The focus was to design encounters around specific mechanics and then combine encounters into complete levels. Set dressing was not part of the assignment. The project uses minimal outside assets, I created the models in Maya, designed the materials in Adobe Substance, and created the particle effects in Niagara. Sound FX are attributed to freesound.org.
SnowTracks Finished Design
Development Process
The main game mechanic of SnowTrack is the ability of the character to throw their backpack. Once it lands, the backpack functions as a platform for climbing higher. Instead of health, the player has a temperature bar that depletes when they are not near any heat sources. After developing this premise, I started designing potential interactive elements, with the finalized set shown here.
After developing the interactive assets, I considered how to assign them to levels. I loosely grouped them into three categories of interaction: ice spikes, pressure plates, and lanterns.
The sheets to the left represent my encounter planning. Each sheet focuses on a different interactive item. The simplest encounter starts at the top left and gets more complicated as you read across and down.
I completed this process while I was blueprinting and debugging the interactive assets. Although I tried to use these as a guide, some encounters were modified to better fit how in-game physics worked.
Level Assembly
After finishing the encounter design, I began assembling the individual encounters into complete levels. Each of the first three levels introduced a new set of mechanics. Level 1 introduced throwing the backpack and ice spikes. Level 2 introduced throwing the backpack onto pressure plates. And Level 3 introduced times that turning the lamps on or off would be advantageous. The level design documents for the first three stages are below.
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For the fourth level, I was required to create a boss fight. This presented a problem as my character does not have offensive capabilities. Instead of attacking the boss directly, the player’s goal is to navigate to five lampposts and illuminate them. Each time they turn a new lamppost on, the boss takes damage and its attacks become faster and more difficult to avoid. This level requires the player to use all previously introduced mechanics while avoiding the boss's projectiles.
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