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Laser Maze

LaserMaze.JPG

DESIGN GOALS

  • Deliver a complete puzzle game with multiple mechanics

  • Implement good puzzle design theories into levels

  • Practice UE development ability and blueprint using

  • Acquire basic 3dsMax modeling ablity

GAME DESCRIPTION

Stuck in a sterile environment, the player must harness the power of light beams to escape from imprisonment. Since all the devices are controlled by laser, the player has to pushes beam redirectors to the correct places, transfer light beams into receivers, and then unlock doors.

DEVELOP INFO

Team Size:

Engine:

Genre:

Start Date:

Shipped Date:

Time Spent:

Solo Project

Unreal 4.25.3

Puzzle Game

12/01/2020

01/31/2021

40 - 50 Hours

Link

click to get

the lasted demo

GAME TRAILER

GAMEPLAY DESIGN

Core Loops

core loop.JPG

Core Loop

SECONDARY.JPG

Secondary Loop

Primary Mechanics

shooter.JPG

Name:

  • Laser Shooter

Feature:

  • ​Shoot a laser beam for its center

receiver.JPG

Name:

  • Laser Receiver

Feature:

  • Receiver a laser to activate the device

  • Eg. door ​opening, stair appearing, lift going up/down

reflector.JPG

Name:

  • Movable Laser Reflector

Feature:

  • ​Receive laser and emit it in a specific direction

  • Allow players to push and rotate 

reflector2.JPG

Name:

  • Lift Laser Reflector

Feature:

  • ​Receive laser and emit it in a specific direction

  • Its height shrinks when it's activated

  • Allow players to rotate when it's activated

BLUEPRINT DESIGN

Example 1: Cast Laser

Design Goals:

  • To generate laser beams at the correct positions

Design Method:

  • Call LineTraceByChannel function to simulate the laser.

  • Raycast starts from the laser shooter, continues when hits any kind of reflectors, and ends when hits walls, obstacles, and receivers.

  • Call SpawnActor function to draw cylinder shape with laser beam materials.

Problem Solved:

  • To avoid an endless loop when two reflectors direct lasers to each other, a boolean tag is added to the reflector blueprint. It's tagged as true when a reflector has received a laser, and lasers won't keep shooting if meets such a reflector.

  • Laser beam actors are stored in the shooter blueprint when they are spawned. They will be cleaned every new cast. 

Codes:

LEVEL DESIGN

Methodology

​Level 1-1 to Level 1-4

  • The movable laser reflector is the core mechanic in Level 1-1 to Level 1-4.

  • Puzzle difficulty increases by reducing the number of laser shooters and reflectors.

  • The players are trained to reuse laser reflectors in the correct order to accomplish the final goal.

​Level 2-1 to Level 2-3​

  • The lift laser reflector is a new mechanic added after Level 2-1.

  • Puzzle difficulty increases by adding the number of static reflectors.

  • The players are trained to solve puzzles by changing static reflectors states and learning from failures.

level_progression.JPG

Level Skill Progression Chart

Level Breakdown

LEVEL 1-1

Design Goals:

  • Introduce the movable laser reflector

New Gameplay:

  • Laser Shooter and Laser Receiver

  • Movable Laser Reflector

  • Doors controlled by the receivers

level1-1.JPG

Design Method:

  • In the first room, the player must push the reflector at least once to unlock a door.

  • In the second room, the player must rotate the reflector at least once to unlock a door.

Walkthrough Video:

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