Game Development / Final Compilation
Daphne Lai Yu Cheng / 0366380
DST 61104 / Game Development / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylors' University
- Lectures
- Instructions
- Final Compilation (Weekly Progress)
- Week 1
- Week 2
- Week 3
- Week 4
- Week 6-8
- Week 9-11
- Week 12-15
- Submission
- Feedback
- Reflection
LECTURES
Week 1 (20/4/2026):
INSTRUCTIONS
Final Compilation (Weekly Progress)
Week 1
We decided to work in a group of 6 people, the group members are:
- Chang Wing (0367807) - leader
- Daphne Lai Yu Cheng (0366380)
- Emily Ong Su Yu (0365304)
- Ye Ying Ying (0364398)
- Racheal Tan Tze Rou (0381005)
- Wong Mei Yee (0367398)
After the briefing, Mr. Ronald suggest that we could try out the tutorials for beginners in PlayCanvas:
Figure 1.1 PlayCanvas Tutorial.
Notes:
- Mr Ronald shared different games for inspiration and reference.
- We decided each of us will give one idea next week.
In Week 2, every team member needed to share their ideas for the game we would make.
We discussed our ideas and finalised our decision, choosing Wing's idea: a 2.5D emotional platformer where players control four mutated survivors wandering through a post-apocalyptic world, driven by the hope of finding any means of survival left. The game introduces a unique core mechanic centred on the four characters travelling together as one, before shifting into individual control when encountering platform puzzles. This creates a contrast between togetherness and separation, balancing calm, reflective moments of exploration with more focused challenges that keep the experience engaging and dynamic.
We shared this new direction with Mr. Ronald, and he gave us the green light to proceed. He also provided some valuable feedback and advice.
Ideas:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vgyHOfWQXEKG6_z50h2tWFIeGxLHZA8LP3buph8FZ2U/edit?usp=sharingWeek 3
This week’s class was cancelled, but our group still had our own discussion during the class session.
ILLUSTRATION
Our group leader listed out the tasks that needed to be completed, and each member chose a task to work on. Ying Ying, Racheal, and Angel decided to work together on the illustration section. By the end of the week, each of us needed to create at least one scene design.
Ying Ying chose to work on the rainforest scene, and below is her scene design.
Figure 2.1 Rainforest scene, Reference.
Week 4
During Week 4, Mr. Ronald taught us about Blender tutorial.
Figure 3.1 Blender Tutorial.
We then showed our references and sketches to Mr Ronald, and he said it was good to proceed with this idea.
Figure 3.2 Sketches of Characters by Wing.
Figure 3.3 Character Design by Emily.
The main idea is to use the reacher to reach things and interact with the environment, such as grabbing objects, pulling levers, or activating hidden mechanisms to solve puzzles and progress through the level.
Figure 3.4 Character Reacher Design by Wing.
Besides that, the characters can stack on each other to solve puzzles in the game.
Figure 3.5 Game Level Design by Wing.
Figure 3.6 Game Scene Sketch by Wing.
Week 5
After that we had a meeting for task delegating, which who work on which part of the game development.
- Task Distribution
- Wing – Storyline and Game Development
- Daphne – Character Design and Game Development
- Emily – Game Development
- Ying Ying – Illustration
- Racheal – Illustration
- Wong Mei Yee – Illustration
Every member then shared their work and asked questions to help each other during the process.
Week 6-8
ILLUSTRATION
This week, the illustration team continued working on the rainforest scene. Since the three of us were each working on the same area but at different times of day, all the scenes needed to feel connected and share a similar environment. Mei Yee started by creating the full night scene as a reference. Racheal and I then adjusted the colors and details based on that reference. My part was the evening scene, so I changed the blue tones from the night scene to orange and red, then refined some details.
Figure 4.1 Rainforest scene, Adobe Illustrator by Ying Ying, Mei Yee and Racheal.
GAME DEVELOPMENT - Reacher
Emily tried out the reacher and asked Mr. Ronald to help us on how to make it randomised.
Figure 4.2 Draft in PlayCanvas by Emily.
GAME DEVELOPMENT - Homescreen, Area01 and UI
Emily start buidling the game start with home screen and rainforest. Emily added effects like fireflies and also worked on the UI. The firefly effect helped bring the rainforest scene to life, adding a soft glowing ambience that made the environment feel more atmospheric and immersive. Alongside this, Emily refined the UI elements to ensure they were clear and consistent with the game's overall visual style.
Figure 4.3 Initial Progress in PlayCanvas by Emily.
Figure 4.4 Firefly entity in PlayCanvas by Emily.
Figure 4.5 UI Settings in PlayCanvas by Emily and Wing.
GAME DEVELOPMENT - Character Design and Animated Sprite
Daphne worked on the animated sprites for the four characters, creating the walk, idle, and other movement animations needed to bring each survivor to life within the game.
Figure 5.1 Aiden animated by Daphne.
Figure 5.2 Elio animated by Daphne.
Figure 5.3 Milo animated by Daphne.
Figure 5.4 Nico animated by Daphne.
Daphne then imported them all into PlayCanvas and created the animated sprites within the engine.
Figure 5.5 Animated Sprite by Daphne.
GAME DEVELOPMENT - Puzzle01
Wing worked on designing the game's first puzzle, where players must find and activate a set of hidden lights scattered across the level. Each light solved removes a corresponding indicator from a locked door, and once all the lights have been activated, the door's blocker is removed, allowing the player to progress further into the level.
Figure 5.6 Game Puzzle01 Sketch by Wing.
Figure 5.7 Game Puzzle01 in Adobe Illustrator drew by Illustration Team.
Week 9-11
ILLUSTRATION
After finishing the rainforest area, the team moved on to the next area, the meadow. Just like before, this area also had three different time-of-day versions. Since Angel handled the main reference work in the previous section, this time I took the lead on the meadow area.
Figure 5.8 Meadow scene, Adobe Illustrator by Ying Ying, Mei Yee and Racheal.
GAME DEVELOPMENT - Reacher
Emily worked on the reacher mechanic, which allows players to extend a tentacle-like limb to reach and interact with objects in the environment. The reacher was built using a segmented system that curves and animates smoothly as it extends and retracts, with the mouse controlling the direction and distance of the reach. Emily also refined how the reacher tracks the mouse position across the game world, ensuring the direction stayed accurate and consistent even as the player moved between different areas of the level.
Figure 5.9 Reacher Script.
Figure 5.10 Reacher Design by Emily.
GAME DEVELOPMENT - Collider
Wing asked Mr. Ronald about how to build colliders, and Mr. Ronald taught him to use Blender to create custom collision shapes that matched the irregular terrain of the level in Playcanvas.
Figure 5.11 Collider in Blender by Wing.
GAME DEVELOPMENT - Puzzle01
Emily created the puzzle system where players must find and activate a set of hidden lights scattered across the level to unlock a locked door. Each light solved removes a corresponding red indicator icon from the door, giving the player clear visual feedback on their progress, and once all the lights have been activated, the door's blocker is removed, allowing the player to continue further into the level.
- Multiple hidden lights placed across the level that the player must find and activate.
- Door indicator icons that disappear one by one as each corresponding light is solved.
- A central puzzle manager script that tracks the progress of all lights and only unlocks the door once every light has been activated.
- The puzzle integrates with the reacher mechanic, allowing players to activate lights by reaching out and touching them.
- Console logging was added during development to track and debug each light's solved state.
Figure 5.12 Puzzle01 developed in Playcanvas by Emily.
GAME DEVELOPMENT - Puzzle02
Wing also worked on designing the second puzzle, where players must step onto a marked platform to trigger a nearby door to slide open. The movement was designed to feel smooth and deliberate rather than instant, giving the door a satisfying, mechanical quality as it opens to allow the player to progress into the next area.
Figure 5.13 Game Puzzle02 Sketch by Wing.
Figure 5.14 Game Puzzle02 in Adobe Illustrator drew by Illustration Team.
Week 12-15
ILLUSTRATION
By this stage, our illustration team had completed all of the environmental artwork required for the game. After reviewing and making final adjustments to the assets, we handed them over to the development team so they could begin integrating everything into PlayCanvas. Since our illustration work was finished, the remaining development time was mainly dedicated to the PlayCanvas implementation. The developers focused on building the game mechanics, implementing interactions, and integrating all of the visual assets into the game.
GAME DEVELOPMENT - Puzzle02
Emily coded the step-door mechanic, where players must step onto a marked platform to trigger a nearby door to slide open. The movement was built using a reusable component that any object can call to smoothly move toward a target position, rather than being hard-coded to a single door. Linear interpolation was used to create smooth, frame-rate independent movement, with a snap threshold added to ensure the door stops precisely at its open position instead of drifting or jittering.
- A step trigger that detects when the player walks onto the pressure plate.
- A reusable "move to position" script that can be applied to doors, platforms, or other moving objects.
- Smooth, speed-based movement using linear interpolation, rather than a fixed-duration animation.
- A snap threshold to prevent jittering and ensure the door stops exactly at its intended position.
- Rigidbody synchronisation to keep the physical collider in sync with the door's visual movement.
Figure 6.1 Puzzle02 developed in Playcanvas by Emily.
GAME DEVELOPMENT - Raining
Figure 6.2 Rain entity at AbandonedCity in Playcanvas by Emily.
GAME DEVELOPMENT - Boat
Daphne drew and developed the boat part that carries players across the river in the game, designing both the visual artwork and the animation for how it moves through the water to transport the characters to the other side.
Figure 6.3 Boat drew by Daphne.
GAME DEVELOPMENT - Dialogues
In Week 15, Wing added dialogues that can be triggered throughout the game, allowing characters to speak or display messages at key moments as the player progresses through the level.
Figure 6.4 Dialogues in Playcanvas by Wing.
As the submission deadline approached, so Ying Ying, Racheal and Mei Yee also assisted with the PlayCanvas development by handling some of the simpler implementation work, which is transferring the dialogue into the game.
Figure 6.5 Dialogues in Playcanvas by Ying Ying, Racheal and Mei Yee.
Figure 6.6 Final look in Playcanvas.
Week 16
SUBMISSION
Final GDD (Game Development Document)
Google Drive Link: Click here!
Editor Link: Click here!
Game Link: Click here!
COMPONENT B GAME ASSET MANIFEST
Figure 3.1 Component B Game Asset Manifest.
COMPONENT C GAME ASSET MANIFEST
Figure 3.2 Component C Prototyping Document.
COMPONENT D GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT
Figure 3.3 Component D Game Design Document.
Week 2 (27/4/2026)
- Interesting mechanic
- Can have pause and reset options
- Recommended gameplay length: around 15 minutes. Gameplay shouldn’t be too long; avoid expecting players to stand and play for 1 hour
- Strong dark art direction
- Sound design is effective and enhances atmosphere
- Game mechanics are enjoyable and promising
- Consider using PlayCanvas (easier to work with)
- Use a 3D engine even for a 2D-style game
- 2D requires many layers; can be complex
- Hybrid 2D + 3D approach could work well
- 3D engine allows for better lighting effects
- The Dam Children book is a good visual/reference inspiration
Week 4 (11/5/2026)
Mr. Ron mentioned that our illustration styles were too inconsistent. He advised us to discuss together and agree on a consistent design language, art style direction, shading and lighting approach, as well as a suitable color palette. He also mentioned that AI usage is allowed, but we'd better not directly copy and paste everything without modification or improvement.
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