Game Designer
Life is Ruff
ROLE
Solo Developer
DESCRIPTION
After a fight with her mother, Marina sets off to visit her dad. On the way to his log cabin, she must solve puzzles and avoid her greatest fear: crows. It’s a good thing she’s got her best fur pal Max by her side!
You can see a full gameplay video to the left.
Duration
January 2018 to April 2018
Engine
Unity
PLATFORM
PC
Narrative Design
The game starts with Marina having an argument with her mother. She leaves her home and ventures into the woods; Max follows her out of concern. Marina is on her way to her father’s house (her parents are divorced), but the quickest way to get there on foot is to travel through the woods past an abandoned military base and other places. These areas will prompt Marina to share stories about her childhood dealing with her parents divorcing and how her canine companion helped her through it. Once the player gets about 3/4th of the way there, Marina and Max will become separated, leaving the player with only Marina to play as. Marina is left with an overwhelming feeling of loneliness. The player will wander to her dad’s house alone and afraid, unable to completely solve puzzles until she and Max are reunited. When the player reaches their goal of getting to the father’s house, Marina has realised the importance of family and decides to call her mother.
Characters
Marina
Marina is an adventurous yet introverted girl. She’s about 15-16 years old, and prefers to stay indoors, but she can handle outdoor activities and was a lot more athletic as a child. She is horribly afraid of crows, which is one of the reasons she preferred to stay indoors as she got older. Her parents were both in the military, so Marina had to move a lot growing up. She had friends come and go, but her closest friend has been her dog Max for the past 7 years. Her parents divorced about 5 years ago, and ever since she has been primarily living with her mom, although her dad doesn’t live too far away. She prefers her dad because he is more laid-back than her mom. She is very artistic, and she likes to keep a notebook about her day with doodles in it.
Max
Max is a 7-year-old dog who is very protective of Marina. He was adopted into the family because Marina started getting lonely after moving from place to place. Ever since he was young, he noticed that Marina was sad and felt the need to cheer her up. He’s been attached to her ever since. He is a well-trained dog and listens to Marina’s commands without second thought. He is extremely loyal, but this sometimes leads to him going overboard, like chasing after crows that worry Marina.
Mother
While the mom is not a playable or even a visible character, her character greatly shapes Marina and Max. Ever since her divorce, she has been very strict on Marina in hopes that she doesn’t become as laid-back as her father. She used to be more fun in Marina’s childhood, but becoming a single mother has led her to think more about providing for her family and leaves her with less time for leisure. While Max likes Marina the best, he also enjoys cuddling up next to the mother and spends time with her while Marina is at school.
Father
Marina’s father is also not playable, but his character also affects the other characters in the game. Marina’s father has never been one to be tied down. He enjoyed the constant travelling the military life granted him, but he grew restless once he and his family settled down in one place around the time they adopted Max. After the divorce, he moved into a log cabin in the woods and spends his time travelling and playing the guitar.
Narrative Beats
Intro / Frisbee
The game starts with the two protagonists entering the woods to Marina’s father’s house. This establishes Marina and Max’s trusting behaviour towards each other, as Max has to chase off crows while Marina is stricken with fear. Along the way, they come across a lone frisbee where Marina and Max play fetch while Marina reflects on her time with Max.
Lake
The fastest way to the cabin is through an abandoned military facility. The two must find a way inside. Just outside of it is a lake. Here, Marina reflects about her parent’s divorce and how it’s affected both of her parents as well as herself.
Inside Abandoned Military Base
Inside the base gives the two a greater sense of dread. It feels more abandoned and lonely than the rest of the trip so far. To Marina and Max’s dismay, there are crows inside the base. Max grows more aggressive towards these crows than the previous ones.
Max runs away
Back on the road to the cabin, Marina and Max come across another flock of crows, but this time, after chasing them away, Max starts chasing them through the trees, separating him and Marina. Marina is left to push forward alone, worried about where Max has gone.
Marina faces her fears / Bridge
While walking alone, Marina comes across more crows. Without Max to protect her, she is left to face them on her own. She manages to conquer her fears and scare them away. Afterwards, she reaches a bridge with Max on the other side of it. The two are reunited at last.
Cabin
The two make their way to the cabin, bond stronger than ever. Marina realises that her home life may not be perfect, but they do care, and she’ll always have Max to help her through tough times, like on their adventures that day.
Level Design
The building of the levels was done primarily with Unity’s terrain tool. It allowed me to form the topography of the forest and make quick elevation changes to help with the mood of the story (having the player walk downhill in sombre moments, walking up for anticipation, etc.). Painting trees with this tool helped to block off areas, and painting on the brown path helped guide the players forward. I tried to follow a level design rule recommended to me from my professor: have something interesting for the player about every 5 seconds. This doesn’t necessarily have to be something to notice or interact with, but making sure there are turns in the path or adding vertically can be things to keep players engaged while they are traversing the world. I learnt a lot about level design while working on this project, and what I’ve learnt about level scaling, verticality, etc. are things that I will carry with me throughout my next games.
