Engine Used: Unity

Team Size: 5 Game designers / 4 sound Designers

Project Development Time: 3 Months

Role: Level Designer / Lighting Artist

Njorbs is an online multiplayer, physics based arcade racing game where players control a njorb, a robotic pill-bug that can climb on surfaces with their crawler form and gain momentum at downhills in their ball form. Njorbs can jump in order to avoid obstacles and pits and use their grapple hook in order to make power slides in sharp turns.

Served as a level designer & lighting artists in team of 5.

Designed levels and tutorials and provided whixebox levels.

Balanced catch-up mechanics

Designed & Built level ingredients

Constructed Lighting

Oversaw playtest sessions

Helped design gameplay mechanics

Maintained game design document

Level Design

Challenges

Due to unpredictability of physics interactions, shapes tested multiple times before going to the environmental art side.

During testing metric rules made for level design and updated during production when a change happened in physics system or character movement.

“Njorbs” designed as a endless runner, where track modulary generated and gets destroyed from behind. When the feature discarded from the project, all layouts changed and rules updated for the new state of the project.

Layouts

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Legend

Hairpin Turns

Hairpin turns allow skilled players to preserve their momentum by grappling through the turn.

Players that don’t grapple can preserve some of their momentum by rolling against the curved wall, but will be slower than the players that grapple.

Hairpin turns can be bind together in order to give more intense experiance.

90 degree turns

90 degree sharp turns assisted via grapple points serve both as easier grapple turns, as well as an intense moment in the race that is not hard to navigate.

Uphill & Downhill Sections

Downhill sections serve as opportunities for players to build up a lot of momentum. These sections are easy to navigate but still serve as an intense moment due to the high velocity the player can achieve.

To compensate for the downwards movement of the downhill sections, there are also climbing sections. These sections serve as a control point for level design that slows down players.

Grapple Turns

Curved walls added to grapple points in order to assist the players whom failed to grapple. Secondary path is sub-optimal but failure doesn’t resulted with a dead stop.

Project Lifetime

Version 1

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Isopotamia - Iteration 1

Isopotamia designed as the city of the njorbs. Track is incorporated with a building that race takes place in as well. Main idea for the track to give unique look and feeling for every beat.

Starting Turn

Starting turn designed as a harsh hairpin which is the hardest one in the level. Design of this section hugely inspired by Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

The idea behind was to give a huge challenge at the beginning in order to make other section more smoother.

Climb

To go downhill with the ball mode, players need to gain elevation. Climb section of the track designed as the entrance to the building, which gives the unique elevation aspect and a nice view to the building.

Grapple Turns

Building filled with three grapple turns nearly shaped as the same. This sections designed to show grapple mechanic. Players either can grapple and take an optimal turn or fail to grapple and let curved walls assist them in a sub-optimal manner.

Helix

Helix designed as a fun downhill section which does not requires minimal skill to overcome but serves as a unique fun moment.

Ending

Ending designed as the most high skill section of the map. Players either can get two consecutive grapple turns or jump to the second grapple turn and just take that one.

This section was the only section includes an optional path.

Version 2

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Isopotamia - Iteration 2

Due to small size of the previous map, Isopotamia lacked to showcase some mechanics implemented the game, also in playtest sessions map found to be to hard to play for a first time player.

Starting Section

Starting section re-designed to teach players climbing mechanic via boostpads. Sharp hairpin turn redesigned as more obvious and easier challenge.

A shortcut implemented to the section for players want to improve their skills in upcoming laps.

Climb Section

Climb section redesigned for the new shape of the map. Design focus on this section was giving more scenery during the climb.

Building

Building interior redesigned and shaped more like a track, two consecutive hairpin turns with grapple hooks, designed as the intense moment of the race.

Helix redesigned as a shorter and wider section, in order to give players more control during the section.

Tube Entrance - Ending

Ending Section redesigned as a more climactic moment. Rather then ending race on track, players enter and fly off from a tube. Two consecutive grapples, harder than one in the building puts this section as the most high level one.

Tube Exit - Ending

Players lunch from tube and land on track.

Final

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Starting Line

Only one speed boost attached to a wall in order to teach climbing mechanics in the level.

Player start race facing towards the main landmark, which will act as an anchor point for players during their race.

First Grapple

First grapple point design around to be really forgiving. Fences keeps players in track and bounces them back to the optimal path on any failed grapple, while curved walls assists players in ball mode whom did not take the grapple.

First Challange

Right after first grapple players can jump in order to get a boost from a boostpad. Then they face a hazard orb which will slow them down on collision and they face a grapple point like the first one.

This section puts down basics of high level play such as, getting additional boostspads, dodging hazard orbs.

First Gap

First gap uses the same rules from optional boostpad from previous sector, jump to get boost.

But this time there is a telegraphed gap between to pieces of track and players need to jump in order to continue.

This section forces players to jump, whom will more likely take the additional boostpad from the previous section during next lap.

Alleyway Split Path

This section designed around to be only area in the track that aims to separate players.

Players can go straight forward in to the construction site or climb up and take the roof of construction site.

Path to climb up marked with additional boostpads on the walls same as the “Starting Line” section.

Construction Site - Main Path

Main path of the construction site offers additional split.

Idea behind this design is give the immersion of decision making to the players and force players not tailing each other for short amount of time.

Construction Site - Optional Path

Rooftop of the construction site offers two different paths, players can join others via rolling down or continue from sides to take additional boosts and jump to the climbing sector.

This section offers huge rewards to the high skill play since both options offers a higher entry speed to climbing sector which comes next.

Climb

Where there is a drop there is a climb.

Climb had to problem being the unfair and boring part of the track.

A better angle that gives more gradual climb eliminates every unfair events caused by the camera.

Boostpad stationed at the middle of the climb makes section more faster, eliminating the boring aspect, while section still serves as the speed resetting section, which serves as a catch-up sector.

Downhill Sector

Downhill sector serves as a speed build up section.

This section also serves as the entrance to the building to make the buildup for upcoming section.

Tunnel - Without Lights

Tunnel section designed as a section can be navigated easily in high speeds with both forms.

Boost pads on the wall serves as point of interest which marks the optimal path.

Tunnel - With Lights

Tunnel has given a better visual taste with lighting. Since players will be fast in this section, due to the previous downhill section, little point lights formed in order to give another layer of feedback of speed within the level.

Dual Grapples

Dual Grapple section protected it’s original form from previous version.

Section still serves as the section greatly rewards the high skill level play which is managing to take two consecutive grapple points perfectly.

Players failed to do that are still assisted via the curved walls around the section.

Helix

Same lighting practice in tunnel is put in to the helix as well. Helix serves as a downhill section that involves interesting geometry.

Series of point lights guide players, while the main landmark states that player is close to the finishing line.

Pool Section - Repeating Boostpads

Pool section re-designed to be a wider hairpin turn. Grappling gives full assistance to players.

Four less effective boostpads planted to the section in order to give maximum feedback. Speed boost however directly given by grapple point itself for sake of not breaking the illusion.

End Tube Exit

Tube exit re-designed as a lip rather than a short climb to increase speed output lunch.