One-Sheet 01: The Maze

 Payton Grady 

Alley Maze

Background: 

            This labyrinth was inspired by several real-world photographs of alleys and adjusted to fit the 

scope,scale, and gameplay style of a maze.

To portray the scenery of an alley, I started off by adding a platform that the player stands on before walking down a staircase. This was important because alleys typically involve a tightly-confined space between two walls, occasionally with stairs. These stairs would be the arrival to the maze, and also the arrival out of the maze. The goal here was to present what the world would look like before descending into an alley that is lower to the ground, using the form of the surface and the void within the alleys. Without being an underground section of a larger world, this would not be an alley; rather, it would simply be a maze. While stylizing the experience of being inside an alley, I tried to keep the walls within a reasonable alley height. I tried to make these long enough to feel more like hallways than simple walls.
         Maze/Labyrinth

According to the text, labyrinths and mazes are often used interchangeably, yet they have substantial differences. Totten states that "labyrinths are unicursal- consisting of a single winding path" and that "Labyrinths also demonstrate that even in linear gamespaces, both literal and gameplay, twists, turns, and challenges can add interest to an otherwise straightforward pathway" (Totten 156). I incorporated these statements into my game by keeping one defined beginning and ending, yet adding different challenges for the player along the way. Such challenges include doors that resemble walls, trash cans blocking the way, and recycle bins that have to be shot down in order to proceed. Totten also states that as opposed to labyrinths, mazes "are said to be multicursal, having more than one defined path" (Totten 156). This is where the lines start to blur for the map. Despite being a labyrinth in the sense that there is one beginning and end, there are multiple paths that can be taken, many of which are right and many of which are wrong. Combined with a text box to tell players they won, these factors create a win-loss state. 

Spacing

Throughout this maze, narrow spaces are commonly used to signify that the player has either reached a dead end, but some can also mean that the player has to perform an action to proceed through the alley. Next, intimate space is said to be "neither confining nor overly large" and I incorporated this throughout the entrance and the two districts inside the maze (Totten 163). In these sections of the map, players are in a spot in which they can move around freely, explore, and shoot through obstacles in order to find the right way out. Prospect space was also incorporated into the districts pointed out in the diagram, where the player reaches a spot in which the labyrinthine design of the alley takes different paths and becomes a maze.

Level Design Goals

While creating this maze, my main goal was to give a strong depth perception, as if the player was walking through a downtown alley. One way I did this was by exaggerating the width of the alley. In addition to expanding the maze, I included giant borders that were not part of the gameplay. These were designed to have buildings and towers, creating the illusion that there is a massive, sprawling city just within reach if the player escapes the alley. This constant atmospheric view of the city was intended to be the genius loci, the spirit of the place. At the end of the maze, the player reaches a clearer view of this city, which was designed to be the J.C. spot. I wanted to incorporate some sort of obstacles, so I figured out a minor, yet realistic obstacle: color-coded trash cans and recycle bins. Trash cans serve this purpose and cannot be moved; however, recycle bins can. While they look identical, the different colors signal to the player that there is a difference to figure out.