Spaced Out! is an arcade platformer with procedurally generated levels, inspired mechanically by mini golf, and developed from the ground up for the iPad and Android tablets. Being an avid mobile gamer, I could more easily figure out some aspects of the design (eg. the touch-friendly UX flow), but making a game for a larger tablet screen as opposed to that of a mobile phone was still a learning experience.

 

Most mini-golf games take place on a 2D plane. However, given the malfunctioning space station setting in our game, I pushed for and succeeded in convincing the team to translate that gameplay to a 3D space. That extra dimension added more challenges than expected (for instance, the team and I went through multiple design iterations of the movement controls), but in hindsight, the very unique result was worth it.

 

A large part of the appeal of mini-golf is navigating courses that feel crafted to challenge the player. The main difficulty I faced as a level designer was preserving that feeling in the game's procedurally generated levels. I managed to do this by designing level segments with self-contained obstacles that could be combined in several sequences and orientations to make the overall level layouts feel unique for each playthrough.

 

As the game designer, I also designed and implemented all the game's hazards, obstacles, and other items to be placed within the levels. My goal was to make their effects on Dave to be as varied as possible; some hazards kill him instantly, some do so gradually, some change his speed, some push or pull him in multiple directions, and so on. These too were placed procedurally in the levels, so I designed the levels with their potential effects in mind.

 

I wasn't in charge of the narrative design on this project, but I frequently helped and collaborated with the teammate who was. In this way, I was able to enhance the aesthetics of the gameplay (eg. the elasticity of the collisions with the space station's walls) and levels to contribute to the chaotic, silly atmosphere that the game's narrative called for.