Controls

Controller mapping for my game can be found below. These are the default gameplay controls that the player uses to explore and interact within the game.

Mechanics

Core Mechanics-

• Swap form
• Jump/Crouch
• Dash/Sprint
• Attention

Swapping forms allows the player to alternate between Cloak and Sprite. Cloak is a slow-moving character that mimics natural movement, enabling it to run, crouch, and blend in with crowds. In contrast, Sprite moves fluidly, as if made of liquid, leaping and splashing into the surrounding shadows to regroup wherever it hides.

As a Sprite, players can jump into any available shadow to navigate around a room and collect other Sprites, leaving Cloak alone. Sprites can enter shadows either through Cloak’s front or through Cloak’s own shadow.

Jumping and crouching are dependent on the character’s form. The character Cloak crouches, while Sprite is able to jump. This design choice allows Cloak to navigate the overworld more naturally, blending into the environment since you don’t often see people jumping around in the streets. Additionally, this gives Cloak a unique method of transportation compared to Sprite.

Jumping is a core mechanic for Sprite, enabling it to move from shadow to shadow without touching the light. 

Dashing and sprinting also vary between the two forms. Cloak can sprint, which allows for faster traversal of the overworld, helping to alleviate any frustration players might feel regarding the game’s speed. On the other hand, Sprite can dash, an essential skill that can be performed either mid-air or from within a shadow. This ability enables Sprite to cover greater distances and explore the world more effectively.

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Attention Meter

The Attentions Meter indicates when an NPC has noticed the player’s “unusual” presence. It starts with a submissive ‘?’ above the NPC’s head and, as the meter fills, it progresses to a ‘!’ which can ultimately lead to a game over for the player.

But what actually causes the NPCs to see the player as suspicious? This is caused by a variety of factors caused by the player:

1. Entering Sprite in direct View of an NPC
2. Spending too long as Sprite in view of an NPC
3. Walking into an NPC too many times as Cloak
4. Going into ‘suspicious’ areas as Cloak

All of the listed reasons will start to trigger the progress of the Attention Meter. Similarly, Suspicious areas will be clearly maked for Cloak so that the player can avoid them if they want to or deliberitly enter them to find what secrets are trying to be kept out of the publics eye!

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Difficulty

Difficulty will be set like most puzzle platformers. This is because the difficulty is determined by the pre-set puzzles, rather than an enemy healthbar or stats. The most that can be done is potentially adding a ‘Hint’ feature, but that really shouldn’t be neccassary with the layout of most puzzles.

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Player Death

The Players death can be caused by 3 core factors:

1. Straying too far from Cloak as Sprite
2. Being caught via attention meter
3. Failing a puzzle/landing in the light as Sprite

All 3 of these cause a ‘black screen’ to fade onto screen, which then restarts the player at the nearest autosave trigger.

Autosave triggers

Autosaving will be a key component of the game. These triggers will be invisible to players but will determine how a player restarts a puzzle if they fail or are caught. Autosaves will be activated when Cloak and Sprite swap, as well as when certain checkpoints are reached outside of puzzles. These measures are in place to prevent issues that could arise from a corrupted autosave, allowing players to reload further into their playtime if needed.

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Quick Travel

Whilst the game will progress quite fluidly, the quick travel system is in place for players to 100% the game entirely, finding all the secrets that have been littered around for them to find. The quick travel system works by having Sprite leave a small puddle in certain level hub locations, which both Cloak and Sprite can directly transport to.