Overview
Engine: Unity w/ Probuilder
UI Art: Clip Studio Paint
Dev Time: 1 Month (5/2020 – 6/2020)
Book Hunt was a game originally made for my Systems and Mechanics class during my junior year of college. With this class specifically focusing on smaller games to show off the mechanics, this game is pretty quick to play. This game was for our role play section of the game, where we were supposed to give the player choices and be able to allow the player to be themselves in the game. For that I chose being in a library and allowing the player to choose a book! After receiving feedback, and liking the game so much, I went back in the summer to create a better level and better player feedback.
Demo Reel
Documentation
During this class, we were tasked to do research and documentation to back up our design choices. For my research, I looked into child development and the benefits of children exploring topics of their own interest in schools. Please click here to read more!
First Pass: Systems and Mechanics
Since this was for a systems and mechanics class, I focused mainly on getting the mechanics working first and getting the basics working. I worked on different books and custom dialogue depending on the book chosen using scriptable objects in Unity. I also used a basic interface showing the locations of books like it was an exercise for class to get kids to find and read books that interest them. I then made the level look like a little library where there are signs with number locations to help the player better find the books on the paper. I did not focus too hard on UI this round, because I only wanted to get the systems working.
Second Iteration: UI/UX and Level Pass
After the semester ended, I wanted to continue work on this game by making it look nicer and added more to the level, especially after receiving critique from my peers and professor. I added more shelves and spread the books out more to make it feel more like a library, where there are much more books than what I made originally. I also made the librarian look more “humanoid” rather than a capsule. I also added lighting in the ceiling and made books glow when the player got close to the books they’re supposed to read. When the player is reading, the camera locks and they cannot move while they are reading. Lastly, I made UI look a lot nicer than it did originally, chose a new font, and made the book list toggleable.
