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KNEEDLE KNIGHT

ROLE

Level Designer, QA Tester, Sound Team

DESCRIPTION

Kneedle Knight is a 3D to 2D third-person puzzle platformer where the player plays as Sir Lukoss the Small, a knight-turned-mouse who can merge in and out of fabric using a magic needle to solve puzzles and defeat the minions of the Witch of Fabric so that he may defeat her and regain his human form. Kneedle Knight was our team’s capstone project, and I was part of it from its pitch to its launch. The following section will focus on my work in Kneedle Knight creating Level 2 – Tea Room, setting up the sound library for the programmers, QA testing throughout development, and a mention of work on a prototype for a boss fight that, while didn’t make it into the final game, gave unique learning experiences and chances of growth.

DEVELOPMENT TIME

Jun 2023 - Dec 2023

TEAM SIZE

22 People (at our largest, 6 Level Designers)

GAME ENGINE

Unreal Engine 5.2

GENRE

Puzzle Platform

PLATFORM

PC | Steam

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • LEVEL 2 TEA ROOM

  • SOUND TEAM & QA TESTING

  • BOSS FIGHT ARENA PROTOTYPE

LEVEL 2 TEA ROOM

  • Was responsible for designing the layout, flow, and puzzles in the initial stages of development

  • In charge of building the first half of Level 2 throughout development

    • Including the platforms, walls, enemies, checkpoints, spinning spike trays, and moving platforms

  • Created the intro sequencer to show points of interest in the level using Unreal Engine’s level sequencer

  • Implemented the fairy orb trigger boxes and was responsible for making the spline paths for the fairy to move on

SOUND TEAM & QA TESTING

  • Was part of a 2-person team to find sound files to use for various sound effects in the game

    • Found the sound files appropriate to the descriptions provided by the game designer

    • Which aided in the assembly and establishment of the sound system in the game early

  • Did quality assurance of each level, menu flow, and checkpoint triggers, and helped note any game-breaking bugs

BOSS FIGHT ARENA PROTOTYPE

  • Was part of a 2-person team to design and build a test level for the initial idea of a final boss with the Witch of Fabric

  • Took the initial vague idea from the game designer and helped pitched a new idea to turn it into an arena that was easier to conceptualize while satisfying what he wanted out of the fight

  • Helped build a prototype of the level, with me making the layout of the level and playing temporary blueprints to communicate the idea and testing the functionality of the fight

WHAT WENT WELL:

  • Working together in pairs per level and designing the levels from start to finish as a group

  • Communicating between neighboring levels and sharing with the artists about what assets were needed for each level

  • Using Jira to keep track of tasks throughout each milestone and track bugs

  • Using Mirro to create visual references that level designers and artists could refer to

  • Cutting out the initial boss battle and switching focus to 3 solid levels to not overwork our team

  • Using wiki to reference how to use tools made by programmers and make sure each level was to spec

  • Overcame communication barriers with leads when it came to conveying blockers involving systems and features that were outside of what could be done by level designers

EVEN BETTER IF:

  • Additional features to the game that were added late in development were better communicated by the leads to level designers as to why they were being added in

    • To avoid the feeling of feature creep

  • If we had more in-person communication between level designers and programmers

    • Which was an obstacle, having to split the team into two rooms

  • QA: Even better if the accessibility settings were tested earlier in development for further polish

WHAT I LEARNED:

  • ​How to think about making puzzles using multiple surfaces and the space in between

  • How to use Unreal 5.2 and the quirks that followed

  • How to pitch game ideas to stakeholders and experience what the idea generation process is like

    • As well as learn how to pitch new ideas to team leads

  • How to work with the same group of people on the same project over multiple semesters

  • How to quickly come up with ideas and rapidly block them out in Unreal using BSP

  • What goes into considering putting a boss battle into a game, and when it’s a good idea to cut something that can’t be done with the workforce and time allotted

    • As well as how to set up a basic boss battle arena structure

GALLERY

GAMEPLAY VIDEO

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