Last winter, I took part in the Ubisoft Game Lab 2024! With my amazing team, we created Bubble Buds, a first-person Co-op puzzle game where you discover the strange and colorful world of a little kid's dream.
I was Level Designer and Level Artist in this project. It was a very fun experience, and a challenge! We were nominated for 5 awards including " Best Prototype ", " Best Game Design " and " Best User Experience ". I'm super proud of what we created and learned through this competition.
LEVEL DESIGN
LEVEL 1 DESIGN INTENTIONS
- The first level's main goal was to gradually teach the players the main puzzle mechanics of our game. We started with little gifs on the wall, to show how to make a bubble, move it, and place a key on the door.
- Once this was learned in the first room, the player could go to the next one, where he needed two keys and learned the different sizes of bubbles he could make to move big boxes and get to higher places.
- The dream starts in the kid's room, so I placed different room-related items on the ceiling and walls to clearly show a strange environment. There's also huge crayons, since the kid likes to draw. It's important that the level art reflects the narrative.
- The first thing the player sees when entering the room is the way out, with the empty sockets, so he knows right away what he needs to find in order to open the door.
- The rest of the level takes place in the courtyard of the kid's school. That's when the two players could see each-other for the first time, and learn how to cooperate by giving each-other the keys they need throught the bubble wall.
- It brings a change in the flow, since the players were alone until then, and teaches them how they can cooperate.
- The last part teaches the players they can exchange keys to use them one at the time.
- Once all the basics are learned, and the players are more familiar with the mechanics, they go on to the next level through a portal-hole, where bigger challenges are waiting.
- The environment of the last room also shows the transition to the next level through colors and related props (desks, clocks, darker trees, school books...).
LEVEL 2 DESIGN INTENTIONS
In the second level, we wanted to create more challenge so the player would have to think more, and use his cooperation skills with his teammate. They are never in the same room, but they can see each-other through transparent walls most of the time.
- First, we introduced the fans, which can blow the bubbles towards or away from the players goal.
- I used the props in the different rooms to highlight and indicate important things or places, like the crayons placed in a line towards the fan, or the clocks in different sizes to bring the player's attention towards another fan.
- We also introduced the Tipous, our cute little AIs who love to mess with the players by moving keys, and by disabling certain mechanisms.
- They brought a change in the flow, making the whole level a little more chaotic as the player had to deal with them at the same time as doing the puzzles.
- We started with only one Tipou, and then gradually placed more in the next rooms to make it more challenging.
- We also introduced cloud platforms, to bring more verticality to the level, making it more interesting and challenging for the player as he had to look up as well to solve the puzzles.
- All the rooms are made so the two players have to help each-other and communicate.
As for the level art, we wanted to create a more spooky environment since the kids venture into the school, where the bad teacher is waiting for their assignment. So the walls are filled with clocks, crayons, desks, and other props, used as environmental story telling, but also as indicators of where to look. At the end, the players arrive in the same room and they can enter the portal together!
Project made by :
Adel Garneau-Ricart, Level Designer & Level Artist
Ariane Laferrière-Martineau, Puzzle, Level & UX Designer
François Marie-Morin, Sound & Narrative Designer
Laurie Larochelle, Artiste généraliste & d'environnement
Maïka Laliberté-Bazinet, Artiste généraliste & de textures
Marc-Alexandre Parent, Programmeur gameplay & A.I
Mélissa Prudhomme, Artiste généraliste & VFX
Tristan Lapointe, Team Lead, Programmeur gameplay & Technical Designer
Supervisors :
Sébastien Savard, Professeur en design de jeux vidéo à l'UQAT
Olivier Gendreau, Professeur en génie informatique et logiciel à la Polytechnique
Mentors :
Guillaume Damian, Analyste de jeu chez Ubisoft
Martin Briand, Programmeur UI chez Ubisoft
Produit dans le cadre du Concours Interuniversitaire Ubisoft Game Lab 2024