Tale of Shadows

Level / Game / Narrative Designer

Pitch

Tale of Shadows is a 2D Pixel Art Platformer set in a post apocalyptic steampunk universe. You play as Eliza, a scavanger looking for materials in the ruins of an abandonned city. Slowly she will find herself on the path to discover the source of the "corruption", dangerous shadow creatures that caused the apocalypse and that wander the world.

This game features 4 different levels, environmental storytelling and multiple interesting game mechanics linked to steam power.

Platform: PC

Controls: Gamepad / Keyboard

Platformer

Players: 1 (Solo)

Engine: Unity

Dev Start: February 2020

Dev End: June 2020 (4 Months)

Summer Dev Start: August 2020

Summer Dev End: September 2020

(1 Month)

Accomplishments

First experience making levels and implementing them in game.
First time working on narration for a game.
Familiarized myself with Unity and C#.
Learned how the animator worked and used it often.
Made one of the best games in my class that year.
Learned to work in remote (as the pandemic was ongoing).

Learn More

This was my first ever game project. It was developed by a team of 4 people. I worked on this project as Level Designer (making the different platformer levels) Game Designer (designing the character mechanics) and Narrative Designer (writing and implementing the dialogue, environmental storytelling and creating the universe). I also programmed a few systems.

This project continued development after the school term ended for about a month with 2 other designers joining in to help.

About The Game

Explore - Think - Jump - Move

The aim of this game is to complete each level (go from the start to end). On your path, there will be obstacles such as locked doors that need opening, enemies blocking your path or timed challenges that require speed.

Use your steam jump to get high up in the air and use shoot steam downwards to slowly glide down. While you get across the different levels, explore around and indulge yourself in the story by interacting with elements that will slowly tell you a tale of the end of the world. A tale of shadows.

Interface Charge bras_scaled_12x_pngcrushed.png

A Platformer

One of the main elements in a platformer is the level. As such, I have spent a lot of time designing the levels in Tale of Shadows. Below is an overview of the first 2 levels in game in the paper version. Everything is scaled with a grid representing the size of the character to calculate the jump distance.

4 Levels

Each level has a distinct theme representing the character's journey in the world. Starting in a an abandonned factory, then in a city, followed by a snowy forest and finally a ruined scientific facility.