Crystal Seasons
The final project on Game Design, Crystal Seasons is a 3D adventure style collectathon game based on the four seasons. It contains two whole levels to explore, full of different characters, mechanics and enemies.
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Creation
Crystal Seasons was an idea that came to exist based on older games such as Banjo-Kazzoie and Donkey Kong 64.
Before pitching the project I studied about the collectathon style and why it had virtually been gone for some time.
Much of the older games's target audience had been wishing for a revival of the genre for quite some time.
The concept wasn't far since a year later, many big companies decided to also invest in it, with around four big games being made around it.
Wanting to capture the same nostalgic feeling as before, we made the main character and cast based on animals with a cute look and funny comments around the game. As any collectathon, there are 10 big collectibles and 100 minor ones through each level.
While designing the game, we realized that in order for the game to work well, we should have one base concept that would follow along each level, familiarizing the player with the game.
The seasons were a good concept, because we could work extensively upon each one in each level, creating a lenghty experience that would feel familiar to the public.
The Story
In the story, we have the main villain, the Owl Wizard that wants to use the colour of the seasons to embelish his flying castle. In the process, any object that is caught inside the spell is drained of all its life.
In order to do that, the Wizard sends Crystal towers into the world that channels the seasons to him using the Leaf's power.
However, the Leaf doesn't like being drained of its own power and complains about it, being then thrown away by the Wizard in place of a "quieter" one.
The Leaf lands on the protagonist and revives her in order to get its full power back.
The player then traverses the worlds and encounters the towers, each containing the power of one season. Upon touching them, the season is freed and the world is cast upon that specific season.
The only way to get to the Wizard's flying castle is to collect enough Golden Leafs across each level.
Main Character
When deciding on the main character, we decided that a fox would represent the character very well.
Annie, is a smart and curious explorer, much like a fox, that happens to be scavenging the area during the incident. It also allowed us to design a cute and relatable character that the audiecne could relate through the game.
Annie is saved by Leafy and agrees to help it get its power back, for the sake of the world and also for a fun adventure.
Annie has as her main weapon an umbrella she carries around that has many purposes. With it, Annie can hover on the air and reach places a jump wouldn't normally be able to get to, as well as hit enemies and other objects with it much like a sword.
Seasons
Each level contains 4 season towers, each one with a specifi season that alters the entire world accordingly.
Spring: the time when water is mostly in use and when plants are beggining to sprout. It's during this season that some plants can be watered in orther for them to grow bigger in a later season.
Summer: the season where the sun is the strongest and watered plants can grow bigger. The ones the player has taken care of can help her now in many different ways. It is also the season with less wind, so using the umbrella will to float will have less of an effect.
Fall: the season where leafs gather on the ground and the wind is the strongest. Animals start looking for food for the winter and it is a season of much change. The player can find plenty of characters to help and is also able to use the umbrella to its full potential thanks to the extra wind.
Winter: the season where things freeze, there is less motion and also a lot more festivities. The player can find a lot of christmas related objects around this time and also explore places where ice has created new passages.
Leaf Powers
Much like the seasons, Leafy also comes with its own set of powers and habilities, each one also being inspired on the seasons. These powers can be used through the game to uncover new places and secrets.
Shower(Spring): A power where water is thrown as a shower. It can be used to water plants that are in need of help during spring and revitalizing them.
Mirror(Summer): A power that can reflect light sources. It is used as a weapon against certain enemies, as well as reflecting light when needed.
Gust(Fall): A power that creates a gust of wind. It can be used to push heavy or hard to reach objects through the level.
Snowball(Winter); A power that can throw snowballs and create ice in surfaces that can be frozen. Useful for creating a path in water or to fight bosses.
Collectibles
As any collectathon, Crystal Seasons has a lot of collectibles scattered through the levels. Apart from mission related collectibles, there are 3 types of collectibles in the game.
Golden Leaf: The main collectible in the game, they represent Leafy's power and allow the player to proceed to next levels.
Golden Berries: The secondary collectible in the game, there are 100 of these in each level. They are used in specific doors across the game to grant passage to other areas.
Cloud Crystals: There are 7 of these on each level. With all of them, the character is granted another Golden Leaf at the trade cloud.
