Project: Tom the dragon
In this project, I took on the dual responsibilities of Product Owner and Level Designer to bring my original pitch to life: a frantic vertical platformer about an escaping dragon. My primary design challenge was to create a compelling sense of urgency, balancing a constantly rising lava threat with challenging-but-fair platforming that always guided the player upwards.
"I want to give a big shoutout to our PO Johan Rosenhed. In my opinion Johan has been our MVP of this project. Especially in the last 2 weeks. All of you have put down hard work and delivered great things. But Johan did such a good job as PO, especially considering this is his first game project."
"The role of PO is not an easy one, but Johan did a great job and I really appreciate that, I don't think this project could have been anything like it without him."
– Håvard Wullum, Producer
Read more about the level design process
Alpha Stage: Blockout & Core Gameplay
Progress images:
- The initial focus was on the environment's design. I created a complete blockout of the level using simple geometry to establish the fundamental layout, scale, and player flow. This allowed for early testing of sightlines and composition before any art assets were produced..
- With the blockout in place, I moved on to technical validation and testing the core gameplay loop. This involved verifying that all critical paths were playable and that the environment supported the intended mechanics, such as cover-based combat and platforming sections. The goal was to ensure the design was functionally sound.
- Finally, I gathered foundational feedback from my peers. These early sessions were not about polish, but about validating the core concept. The positive feedback on the level's flow and premise confirmed that our design was on the right track, giving us a solid and validated foundation to build upon for the Beta phase.
Beta Stage: Refinement & Playtesting
Progress images:
- The beta phase began with structured playtesting sessions focused on clarity and pacing...
- Analysis of the feedback revealed a major bottleneck...
- Through several iterative loops, the level's pacing and difficulty curve were significantly improved...
- Created my own smoke vfx, so that the player can really feel the lava is getting closer.
Gold Stage: Final Polish & Bug Fixing
Results & Details:
- I conducted several "polishing passes", I helped in the c# code to get the main menu working as inteded and also the ingame timer to work.
- Actively participated in bug hunts.
- Ensured that the gameplay experience was stable.
Post-Mortem: Reflections & Key Learnings
Key Takeaway:
"My biggest lesson from this project was the importance of creative problem-solving under pressure."
What Went Well:
- Our team communication, using Jira and daily standups, was excellent and kept everyone aligned.
- I'm proud of the custom VFX I created, as they significantly enhanced the game's atmosphere on a tight schedule.
What Could Be Improved:
- In hindsight, we should have allocated more time for audio implementation in the planning phase. This led to a stressful final week for sound integration.
- I learned that I need to be better at asking for help from artists earlier, instead of trying to solve visual problems on my own for too long.