Do No Evil

Level Designer | 5-Person Team | 4 Month Cycle

Do No Evil game poster created by the team artist.

Level Designer for an Mobile Game Created in Unity

Do No Evil is a 2D puzzle platformer mobile game in which the player controls a small white robot, or a BubbleBot, using a Clean Beam. The Clean Beam is a stream of bubbles coming from the playable character that is used to propel off solid surfaces. This beam can be used to traverse the city, clean surfaces, and people, and interact with the environment. Do No Evil is set in a cyberpunk-style city where an evil corporation called Do No Evil is polluting the city. Several humans have become trapped in filth. Avoid electrical hazards, move around objects, and propel moving platforms to reach all the trapped citizens. Each level has a tracked percentage of cleanable surfaces, as well as a certain amount of people that need rescuing.

Do No Evil features a diegetic design, so the level select is an interactable environment in the game. The story is incorporated into the advertisements and background art throughout the game experience. There is one person that needs rescuing in level 1, two to be saved in level 2, and three to be cleaned in level 3. When each person is rescued, they provide encouragement and more insight into the story. The game is completed by traversing entirely through all 3 levels and rescuing all 6 citizens.

Do No Evil Trailer

The trailer highlights some key gameplay features!

As Level Designer My Responsibilities Included...

The "BubbleBot" flying with the "BubbleBeam" in the Do No Evil level select.

I wore many hats during the production of Do No Evil, primarily I functioned as a level designer, and as the team lead. I created and iterated on the designs of the level select and level 2 of the game. I also contributed heavily to the game design, story, sound design and completed some art tasks as needed.

Lvl 2. Paper Prototype

“Restaurant” is the second level with a restaurant setting, the colors are dark shades and pink. This level introduces the lock and key mechanic, which functions as the battery and battery pack. In this level, the player is expected to understand their movement ability and can now use it to execute tasks that involve moving batteries onto battery packs.

Lvl 2. Final Iteration

The first part of this level reinforces the wall jump in a hazardous environment, then introduces putting the battery onto the battery pack to clear a hazard. Then this lesson is reinforced in increasingly hazardous situations. There are also 2 NPCs in this level to be cleaned who continue to give life to the story.

Level Select Design

This area is where the player will return to before and after each level. There are 3 buildings which each correspond with the style of the level. There are a few platforms to practice vertical movement, as well as 3 doorways to enter the levels. Cityscape Level Select introduces no new mechanics other than movement and entering doorways. The level select is diegetic as part of the immersive game design. There is no real gameplay in this area. The theme of this area is outdoor cyberpunk city.

Overall Level Design Practices Learned

Through the process of this project, I learned how to apply the concepts of flow, conveyance, and feedback to 2D-level design. Through the process of creating action blocks, I was able to discover how fun it was to "wall climb" with our movement mechanic. I then worked that into my levels.

Each level that I worked on went through several iterations to improve the ease of play, understanding of the mechanics and what objects are, and optimizing puzzles.

Some Art... And Story!

In addition to level design, I helped guide the vision of our game from start to finish. The tilemap image placement, as well as the signs and arrows throughout the game, were all placed by me. Through the placement of the art and the creation of the building with the tile pallet created by the artist, I strived to build a true cyberpunk world.

One of my contributions was the creation of the "hazard" coil and electricity sprite sheets, and sounds. Shown here is the hazard coil set. I also created the flashing neon arrows seen throughout each level.

Related to the game story, I created storyboards, drafted dialog, and planned out each setting type and general progression.

The Team

During the production of Do No Evil I worked on a team of 5 as a level designer, and also took up team lead responsibilities. On this team, we had two software developers, two level designers, and one artist. We worked together, in the same room on this project for 3 hours a day for 2 and a half months. The entire game is created by this team from pre-production to post-production.

"Cybermuffin Studios" Team Photo

Game Screen Shots

Do No Evil Personal Postmortem

What I Learned...

I had 4 key takeaways from this project. I learned how to use Unity, I learned the game design process, the iterative development process, and I learned critical workplace communication skills.

Related to Unity skills, I now know how to use the entirety of the tool to create a full game, from basic geometry to UI and sound.
When it comes to game design, I was able to experience the production pipeline firsthand.
I generated ideas, completed milestone-related paperwork, and designed, built, and iterated levels in Unity based on playtester feedback.
I also experienced sprint planning, scrum board management, and mastered scrum mastering.

A large portion of the challenge of this project was working together as a team from many disciplines for the first time to create one product.

Throughout working on this game I became better at my professional communication, especially when it came to disagreements, and I got much better at mediating between teammates and coming to fair solutions to suit all.