a Tragically unfinished Level

 In the process of making this blog, tragedy struck. Over the weekend I returned home to Winstonsalem to see my parents and have access to my big gaming PC. while I was over there, I worked on my level. I worked for about an hour. adding the final touches to the game. I filled a room with fans and a platforming challenge that honestly could have used a little work, I constructed a tower that would act as the final stop for the level and allow the player to look over the whole level... but alas, alack, something went wrong. GitHub failed and all the progress I made is stuck on the computer back home. so my level is incomplete. however, I can share with you what I have and hopefully what's there will be, if not excellent, at least passable. 

while approaching the front of the castle, the player can not see the rest of the level, which hides behind the castle wall. all that I would have let the player see would have been the big tower where the level ended. ideally, In a full level, the castle level would be bigger and have some foliage to hide its winding nonsensical corridors. 

this room, which introduces floating platforms, is pretty dark. intentionally so. the darkness of the room is supposed to lead to mystery and dread. if there was proper lighting, the bottom would be pitch black and a kill plane would be present, sending the player to the last checkpoint if they fell. however, the exit would be fully lit with light pouring in, giving an obvious place for the player to go. in some of the halls in the castle, there would also be windows that would let the light shine through. 

this is what we in the business call, making do with what you have. since I am not a 3D modeler, and the assignment was specifically designed so that we could only use the grey geometry, I improvised. the device in front of the player mannequin is supposed to be a fan that lifts the player upon powerful air currents. the air is represented by the white platform, which raises up when the player gets close. the final platforming challenge was supposed to be a mix of fans and moving platforms, but in the great Git kerfuffle, it was sadly lost. 

this here is what would have been the final view from atop the big tower at the end. it would be put on top of the final platforming challenge room and allow you to see the whole castle. in all of its boxy grey glory. 

in conclusion, the idea is solid. a simple but effective platforming level that probably won't blow any gamer's socks off. but is Effective for a first-time effort at designing a platforming level.