The intrinsic goal of the level is to advance the progress and story of the game, presenting new challenges, story plots and items for the player to use later on, such as new enemy evolutions or additional tools.

The extrinsic goal of the level is to make the player feel curiosity when entering the new temple, placing different landmarks away from the critical path that encourage the player to want to know what is in them, making them feel that exploration is rewarded at all times and that they are not wasting their time by straying from the critical path.

Since it is a game focused on exploration, the player should feel rewarded not only with items, but with unique benefits that will help them overcome future combat encounters with greater ease.

After having used a magical teleportation platform, the relic thief appears in the lowest area of the temple with a path in front of her. If she chooses to follow it without deviating, she will face various enemies until she reaches the top of the temple, fighting the High Shield Priest and the relic protectors. After that, she gets the relic and leaves the temple by using her Bracelet of Return*.

If she decides to deviate from the main path, through the different ruins and caves, she can find additional challenges that are rewarded with items, blessings, and additional information to face the high priest at the top of the temple.

*The Bracelet of Return is the first relic that the player obtains in the game, it lets them return to their home base whenever they are  inside a temple. It activates when the player “dies” (taking her to the last checkpoint) or when she collects a new relic (taking her to her base).

The goal of the gameplay is to create a secure environment when the player is exploring. That upon reaching a landmark or when following the critical path, they will encounter challenges in the form of enemies that are rewarded with items or additional information to fight against the high sentinel.

The difficulty rises in relation to how far the player progresses through the level, with the pinnacle being the main building at the top of the temple. Enemies are progressively introduced and if you take the optional paths it makes the final battle against the enemy that is the pinnacle easier in difficulty. Thanks to this, the player feels rewarded for having previously explored the surroundings, causing them to think they have made the right decision.

By exploring the level and receiving a reward, they will be more likely to look around in subsequent levels in order to get the optional relics and reduce the challenge of the final enemies in each level. Players that want a harder game, can just go directly to the final enemies without taking these boosts.  

• The time needed to develop the level is limited, and we cannot expand it as much as we would like to on the basis of the example we have.

• The art style is not entirely faithful to what we were looking for, but it’s pretty close to the final goal.

• The size of the map makes its duration relatively short if the player follows the critical path, and can punish them if they don’t explore their surroundings.

We had some troubles trying to make the cave of mirrors because of the limitations of the terrain tool from Unity.

Prescott, M. (2022, 18 may). The Coming of Sorg. Trilemma Adventures. http://blog.trilemma.com/2014/06/the-coming-of-sorg.html

Fertile Soil Production. (2020, 27 august). Modular Asset Staging Tool by Keith at Fertile Soil Productions. Itch.Io. https://fertile-soil-productions.itch.io/mast