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PizzaKai

Roles: Level Designer, Animation Programmer

Genre: Action Platformer

Development Time: 4 Months 

Teams Size: 9

Engine: Unity

Pizzakai is a 2D Platformer/Metroidvania game in which you play as a recently deceased man by the name of Peppy who has been reincarnated as a freshly baked pizza mobster.

Presented in November 2023 at Youmacon based in Detroit.

Responsibilities

  • Worked on by a team of 9 people from September 2023 until December 2023

  • Created 2D layouts for various levels using Adobe XD

  • Blocked out and implemented unique level layouts in Unity based on each level's added mechanic

  • Communicated efficiently with team to complete various boss, enemy, weapon, and level mechanics​

  • Collaborated with other designers to test and iterate on levels accordingly 

  • Set up Animation State Machines to allow easy implementation of new animations from artists

  • Wireframed and implemented new UI 

  • Balanced enemies, bosses, and weapons to ensure smooth and fun gameplay

Level Design

One of my main responsibilities on Pizzakai was being in charge of the level design for the second main level Burnt Crust and the final boss fight. For Burnt Crust, my main goal was to create verticality to encourage the player to use their newly acquired double jump. I accomplished this by adding different routes throughout the level, each with their own reward for fighting through them.

The level went through several iterations, with the final iteration helping not only familiarize players with newly introduced mechanics, but also allowing them to make meaningful choices that had an effect.

Animation State Machines

While working on Burnt Crust and the final boss, my responsibilities grew to include engineering the Animation State Machines for the various characters of the game. I worked to integrate the art animations to transition seamlessly from state to state, and to be easily called by the backend. I also set up the animations themselves once the required art assets were implemented.

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