The Grate Cheesemancer
Summary
The Grate Cheesemancer is a third-person puzzle game developed in Unreal Engine 4.
Set in a Victorian-influenced stylized world, you play as Alexander the Grated, a cheesemancer apprentice of the wedgzard Landaff the Gray, learning to control the magical essence of cheese. However, Alex will soon find out that their seemingly peaceful world is endangered by a mysterious plague.
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Team Project
Role: Game Designer
Software: Unreal Engine 4
Development Time: 5 Months
Contribution to the Project
Story
We arranged meetings with the main contributors to the story, and I assisted in providing ways to tailor the gameplay to fit the story and vice versa, while also helping in brainstorming sessions that ultimately shaped parts of the story.
Level Design
I did most of the level design and blockout of the level (video time stamps - 0:20-6:12 and 6:44-7:51). I created the player interactions with the world, including the mushroom-collecting quest, climbing vines, using the cheese-rope spell, the rotating bridge, the moving island puzzle, the drop bridge, and the locked gate.
Mechanics
I was the main contributor in changing the play style of the game from a walking simulator to a third person puzzle game. The mechanics I worked on include the ones concerning the freedom of the player's movement and the way the player interacts with the world (e.g. climbing, jumping, picking up items, puzzles, and spells).
Assets Created/Worked On
​Main Menu Camera and Animation
I created a big part of the title screen, including the main menu camera and animation that we used in a previous version of the game. More specifically, I found a location within the level to place the camera and deleted any unnecessary geometry. I then scripted and animated the camera, and finished by adding post-processing.
Game Font
I created the font that we used on the first alpha of the game on the credits scene, dialogue system, and any in-game UI in general.
Mushroom Counter
At the first level, the player is asked to pick up mushrooms. I created a Blueprint script that shows the player the mushroom counter floating over his head when picking up mushrooms.
Cheese Rope Spell
I created the blueprint that spawns the cheese rope when activated which also allows the player to jump on when near and glide through.
Cheese Cube Spell & Moving Island Puzzle
I created the blueprints for the moving island puzzle. When the player activates the cheese fountain, a cheese cube is spawned, which the player can pick up and place on the trigger plate that emerges the moving island.
Level Colliders
I created the colliders for all the Blueprint objects (prefabs) that were used around the scene, as well as all the scene colliders blocking the player from straying from the playing area or falling off the map.
Cave Floor Breakable Mesh and Blueprint
I created the breakable floor asset that causes the player to fall into the cave.
NPC Dialogue Blueprint
I created the dialogue blueprint used on the Master NPC that gives the quest and provides the player with tutorial instructions throughout the level.