Putting the Fun Between the Boogying: Level Flow

In Process Map of the Level

Although grooving and boogying is the main mechanic of our game, we are also putting a lot of work into making the spaces between the dance battles just as fun. Before you can confront each character, you must first prove to them you’re worth battling, which is where a good level flow is needed. Since this is where we expect the player to experience the story, take in the environment, and interact with the world, we needed to make sure these goals don’t work against each other. We also understand that some players may want to get to the dancing as soon as possible. As a team, we’ve been working to balance all these elements to create an experience that is enjoyable for any player while keeping its fun and charm.

One of the most notable decisions we made for level flow is our fixed teleport locations. We’ve built our level and created areas of interest with this type of movement in mind, so every teleport location has a purpose, such as approaching NPCs, bridging areas, or interacting with objects. This system will help the player move through objectives smoothly and cut down on unnecessary time lost between objectives. We’ve also implemented the feature of seeing your current objective through a notepad on your character. With a push of a button, you can grab a notepad that tells you your current objective and even a waypoint visible in the world.

Narrative is very important to our game and has been reworked many times during our design process due to worries of it breaking flow. Since our players will be in a VR headset, ready to boogie and groove, some of them might not want to listen to the narrative for very long at all. We’ve made changes to dialogue to address this, but we decided to also add a dialogue skip button to help in extreme cases. This feature will be very useful to returning players or people who just want to dance, but still want to experience the main level. The notepad was also created in part so that players who aren’t fully following dialogue can still find their objectives. For other players that enjoy following narratives and story, there are many background characters with interesting mini narratives to listen to and pursue around the level. If someone wants to take their time and explore every area, they will be able to find side characters with fun dialogue willing to talk to you.

The explorable level of Boogie Beyond has been designed to engage the player and provide an entertaining experience that compliments the strenuous dancing of the game. While a good compliment, the level provides players who appreciate exploring an enjoyable experience within a lively environment in VR. The level flow has been one of our main priorities and will continue to be improved throughout development.

VR Character Holding a Glass and Giving a Thumbs Up