The Sporadic Puzzles

Mid-Point Review

Presented by Raphael Colucci

Covered Today

• Project Problem

​

• Development so far
• Preproduction Research
• Concept Design & Experimentation
• In-engine Prototype Implementation

​

• What’s Next

Project Problem

Can a puzzle minigame system for AAA be fun for everyone?

Expected Deliverables:

• A puzzle minigame system for AAA, matching industry size and scope.
• Accompanied by a game design document.
• And supported by a thorough research paper.

October

November

December

January

February

What Have I done so far?

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

So what happened here !?

Research

• This is a research first project.
• Instead of using research to justify an existing idea…
• …I wanted the idea to come from the research.

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Research

• This is a research-first project.
• Instead of using research to justify an existing idea…
• …I wanted the idea to come from the research.

• The project was planned in the first place to give me enough time and space to do so.

​

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

• It can be divided into 5 parts:
• Defining puzzles;

​

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

• It can be divided into 5 parts:
• Defining puzzles;

​

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

• It can be divided into 5 parts:
• Defining puzzles;

​

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

• It can be divided into 5 parts:
• Defining puzzles;

​

• Determining the purpose of minigames inside of a bigger project;

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

• It can be divided into 5 parts:
• Defining puzzles;

​

• Determining the purpose of minigames inside of a bigger project;

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

• It can be divided into 5 parts:
• Defining puzzles;

​

• Determining the purpose of minigames inside of a bigger project;

• Exploring of puzzle types;

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

• It can be divided into 5 parts:
• Defining puzzles;

​

• Determining the purpose of minigames inside of a bigger project;

• Exploring of puzzle types;

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

• It can be divided into 5 parts:
• Defining puzzles;

​

• Determining the purpose of minigames inside of a bigger project;

• Exploring of puzzle types;

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

• It can be divided into 5 parts:
• Defining puzzles;

​

• Determining the purpose of minigames inside of a bigger project;

• Exploring of puzzle types;

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

• It can be divided into 5 parts:
• Defining puzzles;

​

• Determining the purpose of minigames inside of a bigger project;

• Exploring of puzzle types;

• Determining what makes a good dedicated puzzle and a minigame puzzle;

• Finding where these intersect to set the project parameters.

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

• It can be divided into 5 parts:
• Defining puzzles;

​

• Determining the purpose of minigames inside of a bigger project;

• Exploring of puzzle types;

• Determining what makes a good dedicated puzzle and a minigame puzzle;

• Finding where these intersect to set the project parameters.

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

• It can be divided into 5 parts:
• Defining puzzles;

​

• Determining the purpose of minigames inside of a bigger project;

• Exploring of puzzle types;

• Determining what makes a good dedicated puzzle and a minigame puzzle;

• Finding where these intersect to set the project parameters.

Research

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• The result of the initial research phase is a 9000+ words paper.

• It can be divided into 5 parts:
• Defining puzzles;

​

• Determining the purpose of minigames inside of a bigger project;

• Exploring of puzzle types;

• Determining what makes a good dedicated puzzle and a minigame puzzle;

• Finding where these intersect to set the project parameters.

Research

Setting Up The Project Parameters

​

• To wrap up this phase, I created a one-sheet memo.

​

• It recoups all the parameters that I believe should be in the project to be successful.

​

• Through development, any design decision or compromise must put against these conditions.

​

• … If it doesn’t fit, it must go.

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

Concept Design

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Unreal Project Start

Initial Research

20th

• After the initial research, two different concepts were designed.

​

I had not planned to do 2, but I planned enough time for this phase that I was able to do so!

Concept Design

• After the initial research, two different concepts were designed.

​

I had not planned to do 2, but I planned enough time for this phase that I was able to do so!

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Concept Design

LightPath Concept

​

• Puzzle Genre: Logic Maze
• Some mechanics inspired by a Japanese puzzle system called Akari
• Main mechanic is placing light bulbs on the grid, to create a continuous light.

​

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Concept Design

LightPath Concept: Process

​

• Designed a puzzle to match the concept and mechanics…

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

• Explored some expansion possibilities.

• Self-critiqued the result…

• … and solved the puzzle with expected player behaviour.

• … and iterated on the concept to solve all the issues I could find.

Concept Design

LightPath Concept Evaluation

​

• After this process, I considered the concept to be functional and have some potential.
• The problem was… I was not really in love with.

​

• So, I went back to the drawing board to see if I could find anything stronger.

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Concept Design

NEXUS Concept

​

• Puzzle Genre: Logic Maze

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Concept Design

NEXUS Concept

​

• Puzzle Genre: Logic Maze

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

• Circular design where you are looking to guide laser beams towards the centre.

Concept Design

NEXUS Concept

​

• Puzzle Genre: Logic Maze

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

• Circular design where you are looking to guide laser beams towards the centre.

• Features two core interactions:
• Rotating the rings to change the puzzle configuration;

Concept Design

NEXUS Concept

​

• Puzzle Genre: Logic Maze

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

• Circular design where you are looking to guide laser beams towards the centre.

• Features two core interactions:
• Rotating the rings to change the puzzle configuration;

• Dropping objects from outside the puzzle to affect the laser beams.

Concept Design

NEXUS Concept: Process

​

• Designed a puzzle to match the concept and mechanics…

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

• … and solved the puzzle with expected player behaviour.

Concept Design

NEXUS Concept: Process

​

• Designed a puzzle to match the concept and mechanics…

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

• Iterated on spotted issues

• … and solved the puzzle with expected player behaviour.

Concept Design

NEXUS Concept: Process

​

• Designed a puzzle to match the concept and mechanics…

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

• Iterated on spotted issues

• Developed new elements and mechanics

• … and solved the puzzle with expected player behaviour.

Concept Design

NEXUS Concept: Process

​

• Designed a puzzle to match the concept and mechanics…

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

• Iterated on spotted issues

• Developed new elements and mechanics

• … and solved the puzzle with expected player behaviour.

• … and designed a new puzzle to test them out

Concept Design

LightPath Vs NEXUS Concept Evaluation

​

• Both concepts were evaluated and compared on several metrics:
• Interactions
• Difficulty
• Length
• Scalability
• Minimum Complexity
• Originality

​

• NEXUS came victorious!

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Concept Design

NEXUS vs Project Parameters

​

• NEXUS was also compared to the project parameters determined at the end of the initial research.
• The concept fitted (or did not prevent) any of the set parameters…
• … so NEXUS was validated for development.

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Concept Design

NEXUS Theming and in-world Integration

​

• NEXUS features a circular design,
• The player rotates part of the puzzle and inserts elements.
• When they succeed, they gain extra materials.

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Concept Design

NEXUS Theming and in-world Integration

​

• NEXUS features a circular design,
• The player rotates part of the puzzle and inserts elements.
• When they succeed, they gain extra materials.

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

• These gameplay elements clearly indicated that NEXUS needed to be themed around a safe box.

Concept Design

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Concept Design

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Implementation

• The goal for the prototype was to have the first puzzle I designed to test the mechanics working in-engine, in time for the midpoint review.

​

• At the same time, a workflow had to be established for the following puzzles.

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Implementation

• The goal for the prototype was to have the first puzzle I designed to test the mechanics working in-engine, in time for the midpoint review.

​

• At the same time, a workflow had to be established for the following puzzles.

Implementation

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Implementation

Implementation

• It was apparent that the solution was using splines:
• Every path a block or laser takes would be a spline.
• Every position where an event could happen (i.e. stopping or turning) would be a spline point.

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Implementation

Implementation

• It was apparent that the solution was using splines:
• Every path a block or laser takes would be a spline.
• Every position where an event could happen (i.e. stopping or turning) would be a spline point.

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Implementation

Implementation

• Each spline point is referenced with a code.

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Implementation

Implementation

• Each spline point is referenced with a code.

• All these points are also referenced in a data table.
• Each puzzle will have its own table, to set the starting state of the puzzle.
• The first 4 columns are set and don’t change.
• The 4^th column manages block behaviour.
• The 5^th column manages laser behaviour.

​

• On BeginPlay, the data is fed into a struct array.
• This allows the data to be changed at runtime (i.e., a block stopping on a spline point will set its property to “block” and the previous one to “stop”).

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Implementation

Implementation

• Each spline point is referenced with a code.

• All these points are also referenced in a data table.
• Each puzzle will have its own table, to set the starting state of the puzzle.
• The first 4 columns are set and don’t change.
• The 4^th column manages block behaviour.
• The 5^th column manages laser behaviour.

​

• On BeginPlay, the data is fed into a struct array.
• This allows the data to be changed at runtime (i.e., a block stopping on a spline point will set its property to “block” and the previous one to “stop”).

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Implementation

Implementation

Prototype Current Features

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Implementation

Implementation

Prototype Current Features

• Rings and objects automatically align with possible target splines.

​

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Implementation

Implementation

Prototype Current Features

• Rings and objects automatically align with possible target splines.

​

• Objects travel through the puzzle, respond to then modify puzzle configuration..

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Implementation

Implementation

Prototype Current Features

• Rings and objects automatically align with possible target splines.

​

• Objects travel through the puzzle, respond to then modify puzzle configuration..

• Lasers find their way inside the puzzle and respond to configuration changes.

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

Implementation

Implementation

Prototype Current Features

• Rings and objects automatically align with possible target splines.

​

• Objects travel through the puzzle, respond to then modify puzzle configuration..

• Lasers find their way inside the puzzle and respond to configuration changes.

• Puzzle specific main and side objectives.

• Complete gameplay loop, from safe interaction to puzzle complete.

• Rudimentary UI for objectives and success/failure feedback.

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

What’s Next?

Implementation

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

What’s Next?

Implementation

4th

UI/UX + Puzzles

• UI research/design/implementation
• Controls research/design/implementation
• Onboarding
• Puzzles
• More Puzzles
• And more Puzzles…

October

November

December

January

February

1st

25th

Start

End

5th

Today

4th

Initial Research

20th

Concept

What’s Next?

Implementation

4th

UI/UX + Puzzles

• UI research/design/implementation
• Controls research/design/implementation
• Onboarding
• Puzzles
• More Puzzles
• And more Puzzles…

• 3 planned playtesting sessions
• Data analysis
• Design changes
• Implementation
• Probably more puzzles

Playtesting, Iteration + Puzzles

Curious for more?

Documentation & progress is added after each milestone on my portfolio

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raph-makes-games.com

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphael-colucci/