Journey of the Red Heart
Q1 2022
University Year 3 - Final Year Project
Journey of the Red Heart is an ambitious game project that I designed as my final year project in Staffs. My goal was to create a singleplayer adventure game with RPG elements.
Concept
“A red panda warrior has set out on a journey to reclaim the spiritual valley of Shangú from the invading Yěmāo Raccoon tribe who threaten to do whatever it takes to claim the natural powers imbued in the land at the expense of the environment and its peoples.”
The setting for this game world is in the wilderness of a fantastical forest within the dense remotes of southwest China. It revolved around the idea of a natural power gained from being attuned with yourself & your surroundings in nature, called Lù Quán. This was of course inspired by the ancient art of Qi which originates in Chinese culture.
Introduction to the Game Design Document of JotRH
The secondary theme is environmentalism, as the story behind the game involves a tribe of raccoon warriors who believe that they can gain these powers through force, taking over the forests in droves and causing great damage to them. Red Pandas are solely native to China, whereas Raccoons are not, and in this story are quite literally invasive.
Gameplay & world summary for JotRH
Level Design
I intended for the playable environments to be spread across temperate deciduous/coniferous biomes, mixing areas of dense foliage with rivers, scraggly rockfaces and rural constructs/farms.
Character Design
I believe anthropomorphic animals are an excellent medium for character designs as they provide an infinite degree of visually appealing, colourful and cartoonish possibilities. They have been utilised extensively throughout every form of media, from Micky Mouse in 1928, to more modern gaming characters such as Ratchet, Banjo and Pikachu.
The red panda was picked for this project as they are one of my favourite animals and I noticed a lack of these character designs in games. They are naturally distinctly coloured and playful animals with stout proportions and fluffy coats.
This character concept provided a diegetic incorporation of a major mechanic of the game, being the ability to climb, as red pandas are arboreal creatures.
Climbing allows for an entirely new layer of level design and exploration. I was able to control this by only allowing the character to climb particular surfaces such as tree trunks and tangled roots on cliffsides.
Character Asset Development
