SUPER SAFE SPELUNKING
ROLES/CONTRIBUTIONS
ART LEAD, 3D ARTIST, MARKETING
- Art style and direction
- Art asset optimisation
- 3D modelling process documents
- 3D Asset Creation
- Lighting
- Shaders
TEAM MEMBERS
- Jamie Renfrey: Producer, Designer
- Junxi (Stephen) Liu: Design Lead
- Rhiann Steenstrup: Designer, Music, SFX, Marketing
- Brandon Tong: Programming Lead
- Liv Lawson: Programmer
- Ada Ogieglo: Marketing Lead, UI Artist
- Finn Savill Kestel: 2D Artist, 2D Animator
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Super "Safe" Spelunking is a 2.5D top down Isometric SHMUP with roguelite elements, set within the depths of a procedurally generated cave system. You, the player, have just signed a contract with 'Super Safe Mining', a satirical take on a company falsely promising the safety of its employees and a very high pay check. With your company issued 'Multi-Tool' equipped, you will be eliminating corrupt, overworks, and 'driven to insanity' employees as you work your way through the caves, upgrading your tool and becoming more powerful in every room just hoping that you might find a way out of this company.
This game was produced under the mentorship and guidance of MAXART.
TRAILER
GAMEPLAY SHOTS
THE PROCESS
STYLE GUIDE
Admittedly, while a style guide was created, it wasn’t followed completely. This was likely due to inexperience, but the colour palette and many other things that were created, eventually ended up being changed to suit a different look. This isn’t because of people simply doing what they wanted, but because the style guide just didn’t have good colour palettes and size dimensions to begin with.
If I was to start this project knowing what I know now, there would be a lot of changes to the style guide, including more detailed requirements for 2D/3D assets (triangle counts, sprite sizes and formats, naming conventions), as well as a better colour palette that works for the type of game we’re making.
PROCESSES
I made a process document for creating all of the rooms in the game. This helped me create tiles that maintained a consistent low poly style along the walls and kept the archways the same dimensions so two tiles can be joined at an archway and not look weird. I also created a process document and smart materials for texturing the tiles in Substance Painter, allowing me to go from nothing to a complete and consistent tile texture in less than 10 minutes.
Types of processes like this allowed me to pump out lots of assets quickly, as well as remind myself how to create these assets again should I have to make more later on when I forget how to do them.
3D MODELS
My knowledge in 3D modelling mostly stems from film/television and 3d printing workflows, where triangle count isn’t as much of an issue. This meant learning how to optimise my meshes was a vital learning point for me throughout this project. Since we were going with a low poly art style to help match the character style, this was a good chance to help the game out in terms of optimisation, as triangle counts are a big thing to worry about.
For me this wasn’t too hard to figure out, likely due to me knowing a lot of shortcuts in Blender from previous work, thus letting me focus more on learning topology rather than fighting the software.
By the end I was creating the room tiles with no more than 4k triangles, a miniscule number compared to what most modern hardware can achieve. This allowed more of the hardware budget to be put into game logic and VFX.
TEXTURING + COLOUR
Texturing and especially colour theory has always been a struggle for me, however towards the end of this project I was able to understand most of the concepts and put out a much more digestible game to look at. The biggest help for me was an artist from MAXART, Azam, who pointed out things that could be improved upon and why they looked off, not just giving me solutions but also reasons why they’re wrong in the first place. He also suggested James Gurney’s ‘Color and Light’ book as a good resource for learning colour theory. Using this newfound knowledge from the book I was able to understand and solve problems with why the environment was too confusing to look at and I was able to make important parts of the game stand out more than others. I’m still no expert when it comes to colour theory, but this project has aided me in coming one step closer to the colour theory master I want to be.
LIGHTING
The way I was intending to light the environment was with baked lighting and using the lanterns and work lights scattered throughout the levels. Unfortunately due to the nature of the procedurally generated levels, I had to switch to real time lighting. With how real time lighting works in Unity I had to scrap using the lanterns and work lights, instead opting for less light sources overhead the tiles to avoid shadow artefacts etc. Doing this meant there was light in the environment, sure, but the lighting wasn't as atmospheric as I hoped it would be.
Getting to play around with the different brightness's and colours of the lights to balance the environment and keep the players eyes where the action happens was fun for me though, and so I’m keen to jump into this area in more detail in my future projects.
SHADERS
Before this project my knowledge of shaders was very limited. This has changed drastically, as I’ve become accustomed to the use of shader graphs and using it to make fun effects in game. I was able to use them to enhance the game visually in multiple areas, such as a way to see through walls when they’re between the camera and player, letting the player know when they can’t get through a doorway via a bright wall appearing. I was even able to make the art style of the environment match the players more via a black outline over the edges of the models, similar to how the 2D characters were drawn. It was interesting to play around with shaders in areas where you wouldn’t expect to see them, such as the trap explosion radius’s. The radius is drawn without any imported textures, just a colour input and the shader graph does the spinning circle, border etc.
VFX
VFX is something I had no prior knowledge of. This was a very fun one for me as I’m a very big believer in rewards that feel and sound amazing, and VFX are a great way to help achieve that. I drew a lot of inspiration from games like Vampire Survivors when designing the effects. One thing that game does really well is lots dopaminergic things on screen, and I wanted to emulate that feeling. The main way I achieved this was through the crates in the game, having the VFX when they break be as big as possible. The gold and health you collect is also something that I wanted to feel rewarding for the player. Originally the gold was just a blue orb we called a ‘resource orb’ which didn’t stick well with players and so keeping with a more standard ‘gold’ currency seemed like the best option. Along with the colour change, giving them a different shape, a particle glow, trails, and a small animation all added to a really satisfying object that moves towards the player, giving them a much more engaging bit of feedback.
ANIMATION
Most of the animations in this game were done in 2D by Finn, however I found myself often having to do some small animations for the 3D environment. These animations helped breath life into the area, even when there wasn't enemies on screen.
I haven't had any experience animating in Unity before this, and I've found that Unity's animation tools are really robust for a game engine, and I found it extremely intuitive compared to something such as Maya's animation tools.
I did find myself running into issues with the tool when it came to moving and rotating the animated object, as some of the animations used world transforms instead of local transforms. This was simply user error, and I was able to fix them by parenting the object correctly.
MARKETING
This was something I’ve had zero experience with, however Ada, the UI designer, had already been well acquainted with this and learning off of them has been extremely helpful for me. From how often to post videos, to what types of videos should be posted and when, Ada has helped not just me but everyone on the marketing team. I've also been able to analyse what works best with audiences, such as gameplay working well on YouTube, and following trends being more popular on Instagram and TikTok. We did end up falling short of expectations in terms of follower counts to what we wanted, due to how late we started our social media presence, however it was an excellent chance to show just how necessary it is to get started early with social media. I was also able to learn what was needed for press kits, steam pages, and things to avoid when making videos.
POST MORTEM
INTRODUCTION
Throughout the production cycle of Super “Safe” Spelunking, I oversaw the art direction, while also helping out with marketing content. Super “Safe” Spelunking is a 2.5D top down Isometric SHMUP with roguelite elements, set within the depths of a procedurally generated cave system. You, the player, have just signed a contract with ‘Super Safe Mining’, a satirical take on a company ensuring the safety of its employees and a very high paycheck, however you will soon find out that neither are true. With your company issued ‘Multi-Tool’ equipped, you will be eliminating corrupt, overworked, and ‘driven to insanity’ employees as you work your way through the cave systems, upgrading your tool and becoming more powerful in every room just hoping that you might find a way out of this company. This game was produced under the mentorship and guidance of MAXART to allow this game to blossom into what it is today. There were many different things learnt, especially being the first production cycle with a mid-sized team of 8 and my first time having a lead role.
SUMMARY OF CONTRIBUTIONS
My most important roles within the project involved creating an art style guide for the team, creating and texturing 3D models, utilising Unity’s shader graph to create needed materials, creating VFX to enhance feedback, and promoting the game via several marketing videos.
LEARNINGS
The diverse range of disciplines to work on allowed me to thrive in terms of learning new things and becoming an overall better game developer. Something that Jamie, the producer for Super “Safe” Spelunking, wanted to see from all of us was our contributions to consist of 80% existing knowledge, and 20% new knowledge. This was the opposite way around for me, being 20% existing and 80% new knowledge. I was only able to achieve this ratio as I haven’t been too knowledgeable to begin with, and I was striving to be much more advanced at what I do by the end of the project. This meant a lot of time and energy sunk into learning new concepts, diving into new techniques, breaking down my existing workflows and building them back up with better ones.
ART LEAD ROLE
While learning all of these aspects of game development, something that I was also in charge of was the art team as a whole. This was my first time being in such a position and I had to deal with a bit of imposter syndrome at first, but as time went on I became more accustomed to the position. Our producer, having been very experienced in management, was incredibly helpful in teaching me about the leadership role and what’s expected of you. I was able to keep a good energy with the art team and helped out when I could with their work, often learning a thing or two about UI or 2D animation. Despite all of this help from the producer, however, I still feel as if I could have done better. There were times when there wasn’t much contact between me and the rest of the art team, and I didn’t make much of an effort to reach out and assign tasks and would do them myself instead of utilising the team. I did learn from those mistakes, and towards the end of the cycle, I was keeping a bit more in touch with the team and assigning tasks better, however I still have a lot to go when it comes to managing a team and I’m keen to get better at it.
OUTCOMES
This project has meant a couple things to me, most importantly to learn, but also to create something that I can show off as a polished portfolio piece for the purpose of being hired. With this in mind I spent countless time honing my small amount of existing knowledge, while expanding my interests in art and marketing as far as I can in the short amount of time given. This led to me knowing infinitely more about the game development cycle and I can much more confidently create something similar in a fraction of the time. I’m now much more experienced in modelling, texturing, VFX, shaders, marketing, and lighting. Not just that, but I now have the prior knowledge of what goes into creating assets for games like this, so I’m able to plan much further ahead and know the risks and what’s required before diving in.
THE TEAM DYNAMIC
Although I feel I’ve improved immensely throughout the project, it wouldn’t have been able to improve as much without the dedication and hard work of the other team members to support me.
The producer, Jamie, has been a massive supporting character for both me and the entire team. While he claims to not bring much to the table, we wouldn’t be in Steam Next Fest without him, we wouldn’t have as productive of meetings without him, we wouldn’t have someone pushing us upward and bringing the best out in us without him. There’s so many things that this project has achieved that, without his help, wouldn’t have been possible. He’s always been easy to talk to, and can be stern when he needs to be, which I admire as it’s very hard to pull off both of those traits. I couldn’t have asked for a more organised and passionate producer.
For the art team we had Finn, our 2D artist, another outstanding character for me. Not only has he gone above and beyond for this project, but he’s juggled this project with a full time job, which would have killed me. He's very enthusiastic and brings a smile everywhere he goes, and was able to breathe so much life into all of the characters for the game. Not only that but he was a solid person to lean on for marketing content when I was too wrapped up in other tasks.
Rhiann was also vital for the art team. Being the only sound designer and also a member of the playtesting, design, and marketing roles would’ve been incredibly stressful. Despite this, Rhiann was able to keep pumping out sound effects when required. She’s also incredibly passionate about sound, and was very keen to teach me about anything sound related when I asked. Without her, the game wouldn’t feel anywhere near as good as it does now.
Last but not least from the art team, Ada. Ada was our UI artist and also happened to be my marketing lead. She was a very strange one, being someone that isn’t interested in working for the game industry but doing the UI and marketing for a game always struck me as odd. Nonetheless, Ada was extremely hard working, and even though she didn’t have as much interest in games, always gave the work she did 110%. Her knowledge in Adobe After Effects has helped elevate the UI to new heights, and I was always able to lean on her to help with marketing content when I was running short on time.
While the art team was incredible and I enjoyed working with each and every one of them, we wouldn’t have been able to work as efficiently and show off our talent if we didn’t have the designers and programmers to lift us up. Without the programming and design of the game, we just have art assets. Being able to use our art within this game has been a privilege to say the least.
SUMMARY
The past 7 months have been incredibly useful for me. Super “Safe” Spelunking has become a really fun and engaging game, and gave not just me but everyone on the team an incredible polished and published product for our portfolios. After reflecting upon the production cycle, it is clear that I’ve become a much more advanced game developer compared to the start, but it has also left me with more questions about how things are done. Questions on how to optimise better, questions on lighting with realtime, questions about the most engaging way to market, questions about different art styles. I’m hungry for knowledge and I still have a long way to go to get to where I want to be, but this project has gotten me a big step of the way there.