Tombs of Takarut: Developer Diary
For this project, we were provided with an existing template game featuring a simple maze-like environment, where players collect key cards and evade an AI enemy that pursues them, all while a rising water level threatens their progress. Our objective was to build upon this foundation by developing a unique mechanical design and expand upon the core concept.
Building on the original template, I aimed to enhance the maze theme and introduce new functionality for the doors. My concept evolved into a fast-paced, dungeon-style gauntlet experience, paying homage to classic adventure titles like the Tomb Raider series and the Indiana Jones film franchise. The design emphasises speed and skill, challenging players to navigate through the environment efficiently, while facing a variety of traps and pitfalls that increase in difficulty as the game progresses.
Grey-boxing Time Lapse
“This process took approximately 10 hours to complete, during which I carefully positioned the walls, floors, and pitfalls according to the map layout shown below.
One challenge I encountered involved the 45° corners, which represented the twists and turns of the gauntlet. Due to restrictions on the assets available for this project, I did not have longer wall sections to accommodate these corner pieces.
To resolve this, I utilised an existing wall segment and shortened its length to effectively address the issue.”
Chamber Entrance Mechanic
“I designed each chamber entrance to be identical and allowed the player a glimpse beyond each door, by using a simple sphere collider on the pressure plate.
Once the player passes through the door and hits the second collision box, this seals them inside that chamber and they must reach the end before the timer is up.”
Gauntlet Chamber Map
“The gauntlet layout was initially plotted on graph paper during conceptualisation, which I later digitised in Photoshop. I worked at a scale of 1px to ensure the dimensions were accurate when it came to constructing the gauntlet. The process took approximately 3 hours.
The purple X signifies the start, and the green X the end. Light grey represents the easy path, dark grey the medium path, and black the hardest path. I decided to alternate the order in which these difficulties appear at the chamber intersections, so players don't necessarily predict the difficulty.”