FenestraA game by Lost Pigeon Studios

Overview

• The player controls a man who travels between two worlds each time he dies. The man must solve puzzles to progress through levels and come to terms with his troubled past.

• Fenestra is targeted at gamers high school age and above, particularly fans of puzzle games or indie games.

Game MechanicsKey Verbs:

Die Walk Jump Push Climb

Game Mechanics

The goal of each level is to pass through the door at the end. To do this, the player must complete challenges that fall into a few large categories:

• Bypass obstacles

• Activate buttons

• Unlock doors

Game Mechanics

• Progress through the game is motivated by story

• Elements of the narrative are revealed in specific locations throughout the game

• The player only receives bits and pieces of the story, and must continue through the game to understand more

Game Mechanics

• Progress through the game is motivated by story

• Elements of the narrative are revealed in specific locations throughout the game

• The player only receives bits and pieces of the story, and must continue through the game to understand more

Sorry, but the princess is in another castle...

Game Aesthetics• Game takes place in a “present”

world and a “past” world

• Worlds have contrasting moods and color palettes

• Character’s appearance changes with world

• “Present” world is based on modern urban settings, while “past” world is more rustic and antique

Game Music

• Compose a pair of tracks for each level

• Each track in a pair corresponds to either the present or past world

• Paired tracks are nearly identical rhythmically

• Tracks of each pair differ in feel from each other via changes in timbre and key

• When world switches, music switches to the track corresponding to the new world in the exact same play position

Gameplay Demo

Level Editor

• Add and delete Entities with arbitrary art assets

• Change Entity properties dynamically

• Add scripts to Entities

• Set triggers for Entities

• Save and load serialized levels

Level Editor Demo

Design Challenges

• Integrating the event-based behavior of the level editor with the update-based behavior of the game engine

• Picking and dragging of Entities in the editor

• Recreating physics objects with updated properties

• Serialization

Designing for Beta Release

Gradual addition of puzzle elements:

1. Objects that transcend both worlds

2. Movable death traps

3. Objects that re-spawn

4. Objects that only move in one world

As elements are added, puzzles can become more complex and far more difficult.

Questions