Inline: Out of Time
Available on Steam
Roles: Level Design Designer, User Interface Designer, Quality Assurance
Results: Taught players how to apply their skills of the game through my design of a level for the game I helped: INLINE: Out of Time.
Team Size: 12 people
Development Period: Sept. 6th, 2022 - Aug. 28th, 2023
Tools: Tiled
Project Goals
The game aims to be…
Accessible to many skill levels
Fast-paced
Rewarding
And almost most of all, feel like you’re speed-running the game!
Brief Background
I was added to the team because of my experience in UI and UX design. So during much of development, I was making user interface wire-frames for the game. However, I still closely worked with Skylar Isaacs–the Lead–with the level design choices throughout the development period and even more so when I was tasked to make a Level 1 for the game!
Planning
The level’s design should achieve…
A feeling of speed
A consistent flow
Feel satisfying
And a very important one…
Utilize and reinforce core mechanics taught in the tutorial
Even if it was a Level 1, it should still offer enough emergent strategies to warrant repeat playthroughs to cut down on their time.
Room 1: First Draft
Using Tiled–a tile-based level creation program–I immediately began drafting some basic ideas that would achieve the goals I listed above.
The first room began with simple stair-like inclines for the player to jump up. A very simple way to begin platforming with even some optional rails to speed up the forward movement!
Then you get to a section that requires you to jump onto elevated platforms to reach higher points for the package recipients while also using wall jumping!
The package recipients are positioned in a way where it will lead the player from the bottom of the area to the very top to the last recipient. Once they delivered to that last one, there was a big down-ramp into the room exit for a satisfying room clear.
Room 2: First Draft
The second room has grind rails galore. Getting across that utilizing them is crucial in this area. In addition to this, the recipients are placed in specific spots in the way of the player that requires them to jump off the grind rails to reach them the fastest.
This is where remembering the layout comes into play at this level the most.
When on rails, you cannot stop which means you have to take a few well-timed jumps while you’re grinding on the rails if you’re trying to improve your time, and knowing what’s coming up next is important for that.
Room 3: First Draft
The third room ends the level with a skill collage!
Using grind rails over gaps makes them the best way to cross them.
The rails lead straight into a wall for the player to jump off and lead into a reversal onto another grind rail higher up!
This allows the player to get to another recipient and ride that higher grind rail (contextualized as a telephone line) to the end, jump onto another telephone line, and then jump to the final recipient right at the end for a thrilling finish that makes you feel like a bodaciously fresh delivery person!
Playtest Problems
After some playtests, it was obvious some things didn’t click with users so much or just didn’t seem to follow the goals I aimed for.
For example…
The grind rails in the first room were placed in awkward spots and didn’t feel good to use. Messing up player flow!
The wall jumping in the first room was sluggish! It took too long to scale up the wall. It messed with the player’s sense of speed.
In room two, there was a route that no user ever used since it was slower.
In room three, there was a recipient you had to throw a package to while grinding which proved too difficult for most users at this point.
Some pits proved too difficult to escape from.
Rooms Revised
After many personal playtests, I revised…
Placements of the grind rails to match exactly where the expected path of the player goes.
Made the wall jumping section narrower which allowed the player to jump from wall to wall more frequently.
Removed the unused route in room two and made it more dependent on the rails to get to the recipient.
In room three, I decided to make the recipient that required throwing to them much more optional and created an alternate path that didn’t require throwing the default way instead.
After smaller revisions to make the level slightly better to play, level one for the game was all done and serves as a good introduction to the game’s core mechanics!