Kity Builder
Kity Builder is a game made for the ZJam (Zaragoza Jam) with Unity 3D. Newgrounds Best Original Game of April 2021. We are now working on an improved version for Steam!
Synopsis
Are you ready to go to a dreamlike island? Kity needs your help to build a big city! They lost the blueprints and needs to find them to start making all the new city buildings. Explore the island and customize the city as you wish!
How was made?
This game was made for WebGL, developed with Unity 3D. The 3D models were made with Blender and the 2D sprites with Aseprite. The team consisted of 4 people: Sambero, irx99 y Groovel Studio.
Idea
The initial idea comes from the Game Jam theme: “City”. After a team meeting and brainstorming, we were clear about two things: We wanted «city» to be the main element of the game and not just a place or a scenery, and we wanted to be able to mix 2D pixel art style with 3D models as well.
Game Analysis
Mechanics
- Walk
- Jump
- Collect
- Build
Dynamics
- Create beautiful cities
- Create buildings to use as platforms to reach higher places.
- Explore the map for blueprints.
Pleasures
- Sensory pleasure: because their aesthetics and relaxing music.
- Fantasy/immersion: With their theme, aesthetics and mechanics, they encourage immersion in the game and the enjoyment of being on an idyllic island.
- Exploration.
- Customise and create.
- Collect.
Elements to be taken into account for a successful game
In order for the game to achieve its intended pleasures, we had to take two fundamental elements into account in its development:
- It was necessary to build an interesting and pleasurable world and environment, with different hidden places and differentiated areas so that the player would feel like exploring the island and feel rewarded by doing so. How is this achieved? By creating a large island with different elements, such as different types of trees, rocks, or deformations in the geography.
- For the pleasure of customisation , it was necessary to have a wide variety of buildable elements. The Game Jam was only 48 hours long, so we prioritised the elements that were most important, in our opinion, in a city: houses, hospitals, town halls... and those that could be more visually significant: the lighthouse, the observatory...
Level Design
How do we get players interested in getting all the collectibles? Precisely with what we already mentioned: with a good level design.
We understand a good level design as one that encourages exploration and at the same time is a challenge when it comes to getting the collectibles. Different areas have been created with different elements, such as green trees, red trees, beach or rocks, so that the player can find his way around. At the same time, difficult to access but visually attractive places have been created to attract the player’s attention.
In the hard to reach places different blueprints of «special» buildings have been placed, so that the effort to reach them is equivalent to the rewarding of reaching them.
Player objectives
The player’s goal is to build a dream city. It is a subjective objective and gives players the freedom to create the city of their choice. This is done expressly because the intention of the game is to be a relaxing and enjoyable game of city building in a calm and serene environment.
Audience
This game is specially designed for three different types of players: explorers, achivers and creators.
- Explorers and Achivers will enjoy the game as they explore the entire map to find the various blueprints and hidden corners of the map.
- Creators will enjoy the game for the customisation it allows with a wide variety of different building elements, in different colours and with different functions.
References
Things to improve
- Initially, the camera was controlled via the keyboard. In the update, the camera control was improved so that it could be operated with the mouse, which was an important change.
- A visual tutorial was also incorporated, as it was previously written.
- More buildable assets should be incorporated, to further increase the creative possibilities.
- Incorporation of challenges and narrative, as well as some NPCs or characters to bring the city to life.
- Visually, it can be a bit saturating.