Our first Miro board, archived for posterity.
Sections of our initial ideation process from Miro and Google Docs
Asset inspiration gathered by members of the team - For the art direction, we decided to focus on a low poly futuristic appearance. Since the train traveled through dimensions, appearances for each train cart would vary, however, we still wanted a consistent low poly look.
First whitebox for Level 1 - Our original design included a lot more space for the player to maneuver around the scene. This was prior to knowing all of the puzzles we wanted to include in the level. The level design team settled on including a puzzle with the storage shelves where the player has to move an object through luggage in order to collect it. After this first design, we realized we needed to utilize more of the space of the train.
Individual revised whitebox for Level 1 - Our level design team decided to have each member design their version of what they wanted the level to look like as well as puzzles they thought should be included in the level. This whitebox focused on the using objects floating around the scene as pieces of a puzzle. Since this train cart represented a "No Gravity" dimension, our team redirected our focus to how we could take advantage of the lack of gravity in the environment.
Individual revised whitebox for Level 1 - For this design, one of our level design members focused on using the passenger chairs as its own puzzle. It features chairs on only one side of the train where the chairs would be on the ceiling because of the "No Gravity" dimension and the player would have to lock them back in place. After we went over these two designs for the level, our team decided to combine both ideas by including the chair puzzle and have the chairs float around the scene to hep visualize the "No Gravity" dimension.
Ideation for Level 2 - Our team's original concept was to have two additional levels, one being a lava level where the player has freeze objects in order to move across the train cart. The other level concept was for the player to be tiny in a train cart and have to manipulate gravity in order to complete the level. Because of the time constraints, we chose to combine the two concepts by creating a kitchen train cart where the floor is lava, and the player is tiny. Above is some of the notes and drawings we had for player interactions and goals. The level design team focused on the idea of the player having to cook up a recipe in order to leave the train cart. The player would unlock two gravity powers for their pen in the first level - freezing objects and launching objects - which would then be utilized in the second level.
Gravity Pen - This Gravity Altering Pen is the main tool used to navigate the train carts in Sonder. It offers four different ways to interact with objects that are unlocked through gameplay: dragging, pushing/pulling, freezing, launching.
Journal - The Passenger's trusty Journal helps them document the strange occurrences aboard the Trans-Dimensional Express. Notes left by previous passengers, documents detailing the train itself, and the Passenger's own entries make the journal a rich tapestry of information that's invaluable to solving the mystery of Sonder.
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For puzzle one of Level 1, we wanted to try and include an idea we'd had since the beginning as a way to both utilize the space we had and include something that's ever-present on trains - luggage carriers. The player's goal is to guide a pair of pages for the journal through the floating luggage without them get sucked through the vent at the end and sent straight back to the beginning.
For puzzle 2 of the first level, we wanted the player to be interacting more with the environment, and to us that meant a broken fixture with a beam of light that needed refracting. By using one of the glass bottle nearby, the player can bend the light to hit the sensor that unlocks one of the pen's unique powers - something they'd need for the next level and beyond.
The main puzzle of Level 1 consists of the passenger seats, all initially floating around the cabin haphazardly. The player's goal is to set them back in the right spaces so the train can continue its journey. We wanted to show off the gravity pen's main ability here - i.e. the ability to move things around with the click of a button in a zero-gravity space.
This is the chair puzzle once it is completed. All of the chairs set into a pattern that the player will recognize through repetition. Mats underneath the chairs also light up to the corresponding color once the chair is set up correctly.
For the main Level 2 puzzle, we wanted to have the player measure out the ingredients required for a recipe found in a book near the entrance. The player would need to sort through various produce from around the kitchen and select the right number of Tomatoes, Beets, and Carrots to throw into the pot by the exit. Once the right number of vegetables is reached, the scales' indicator lights would turn green and the player would then need to throw all present produce into the pot to produce the steam required to open the exit.
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