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Semester 2 Submission

Project Outline

This project is an exploration into player feedback and player reward in game mechanics. I have explored this by creating mechanics in Unreal Engine, imagining how they might be used in a game, and how a player might feel when using them. This exploration progressed into player reward in puzzle scenarios, which links into my current area of research. I looked into how visuals can create a language that the player will learn to understand while playing the game, and will guide them through problem solving in the game. 


Project Context

My semester 1 project was a core puzzle game, meaning the game was centred on a central puzzle mechanic and expanded from that point. I wanted to explore a mechanic that was more of a peripheral puzzle that exists as side quests to the main gameplay. Many popular game series have main gameplay mechanics with puzzles along the way, such as Batman Arkham, Resident Evil, and Tomb Raider. As these types of games are extremely popular and (as far as anyone can tell) will continue to be so, I thought it would be a good focus for my project and contain many skills that would be valuable in the games industry. 


Key Areas of Research

My main research area was into the structure of games that have puzzle solving as a secondary gameplay aspect. I researched multiple aspects of games such as Dishonored, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. These are all games I chose to take inspiration from due to their environmental puzzle designs, but my research of the games mainly focused on the aspects in the main gameplay. For example, I looked into the first person hand animations in Dishonored and Indiana Jones to see how they conveyed possible actions and other important information to the player without the need for a text or icon prompt. The Star Wars Jedi games were also useful for interaction prompt, as it makes it very clear to the player exactly which objects in the environment can be interacted with and which are parts of a puzzle. 


Intended Outcomes of Project

The creation of puzzle mechanics that exist alongside a main game presented a unique challenge, as I had to create a world in which these puzzles could exist alongside a main game. This allowed me to learn some skills in level design and use them to create an environment to test the mechanics I had designed. The goal of this project was to learn as many skills as were necessary to gain a comprehensive knowledge of the use of puzzles in video games, so branching out into areas beyond simply the creation of mechanics such as level design allowed me to broaden my knowledge of the area.


Relevant Blog Posts

Design Inspiration: 

https://lewiswraygamesdesign.blogspot.com/2025/03/design-inspiration-semester-2.html


Design Documentation: 

https://lewiswraygamesdesign.blogspot.com/2025/01/semester-2-project-progress.html


Investigations into level design: 

https://lewiswraygamesdesign.blogspot.com/2025/02/principles-for-good-level-design.html

https://lewiswraygamesdesign.blogspot.com/2025/03/level-design-research.html


Background of the game theme:

https://lewiswraygamesdesign.blogspot.com/2025/04/new-game-theme.html


Project Reflection:

https://lewiswraygamesdesign.blogspot.com/2025/04/semester-2-project-reflection.html


Project Demonstration







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