The Hunter

In this project I used the environment to tell a story and naturally make the player progress through the natural flow of the level design.

• Environmental storytelling: Used the environment to naturally support and advance the narrative. Placed key elements strategically to guide players without overt instructions, allowing the world itself to convey parts of the story.

• Meaningful dialogue integration: Used dialogue not just for exposition, but to trigger events and progress gameplay. Ensured conversations felt purposeful and directly connected to player actions and outcomes.

In this section, the player is immediately met with towering walls and strange mushroom like creatures wandering the area. My goal was to encourage exploration rather than having the player move straight through. 

• Encouraging exploration through design: Introduced towering walls and roaming mushroom like creatures to create intrigue and subtly discourage players from simply moving straight through the area. This setup prompted players to explore and engage with the environment more thoughtfully.

• Environmental guidance and discovery: Placed a window strategically to reveal a key objective a button behind a large enemy giving players a visual goal and reinforcing the importance of observation. This encouraged players to plan and act based on what they uncovered through exploration.

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For the tree climb, I wanted it to feel special not just a simple path to reach the bunny and stop it from finishing the race. I wanted the player to earn this ending by tackling a challenging section that involved climbing a massive tree filled with enemies.

• Designing meaningful narrative challenges: Crafted the tree climb as a high-stakes moment tied directly to the story's climax stopping the bunny from finishing the race. The goal was to make this section feel earned, not just another path, by embedding it within a challenging and memorable climb.

• Balancing difficulty and player motivation: Designed the ascent with enemies and branching tree stems to create tension and complexity, carefully tuning the challenge through playtesting to avoid frustration while maintaining excitement and narrative urgency.