Disconnect
Technical and System designer
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Project info
Development time: 8 weeks Developed during: February - April 2018 Team size: 4 game designers Engine: Unreal Engine Released on: Itch.io 
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I was a technical designer for Disconnect, a puzzle adventure game made by 4 game designers. Since this was a game designer only project, the game's aesthetics are only functional.
Our project brief stated we had to create a action/adventure puzzle game proof of concept and we decided to make proper puzzling the focus. We came up with a wire mechanic where you have to connect wires into the right sockets, and added supportive mechanics to that. This resulted in a satisfying puzzle game where complexity gradually increases.
Our project brief stated we had to create a action/adventure puzzle game proof of concept and we decided to make proper puzzling the focus. We came up with a wire mechanic where you have to connect wires into the right sockets, and added supportive mechanics to that. This resulted in a satisfying puzzle game where complexity gradually increases.
My contribution
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Tech showcase: closed caption system
At the beginning of the project we were quite ambitious and wanted to make the game as accessible as possible. This included making a closed caption system with 3 options, no captions, dialogue, and closed captions. |
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Tool showcase: wall wire system
To show players how sockets are connected we needed a visual indication. The system needed to: - Clearly show which sockets are connected to which - Change colours when powered - Be easy to use for the level designers - Allow for weird shapes/a lot of possibilities - Have variant with straight cables and one with hanging cables |
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Tech showcase: Bitmasks for weapon (un)locking
In the earlier stages of the project we were experimenting with combat, including weapon switching and unlocking. I used Bitmasks to allow or disallow switching and using certain weapons. To the right is in image that shows a simple function I created you can call to see if a certain weapon is unlocked |
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The puzzle I designed. The wires on the wall are created with the system I made
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Puzzle design
A puzzle right after the big elevator section. It combines all previous mechanics as a final puzzle to test the player's skill before introducing the next mechanic. I started by sketching out this puzzle and getting the key mechanics we wanted the player to understand in first. I then rapidly iterated on it to create variants that were solvable and fit our constraints. Afterward, I implemented and playtested the puzzle. |
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System design showcase: checkpoints
We wanted to intertwine our main mechanic with as many systems as possible. The main menu for example is made up of buttons hanging from wires. So for the checkpoint system I knew I wanted something as well integrated as that. So instead of a pause menu with a save button I made a system that uses our main mechanic to save: connecting wires.
To ensure players do not accidentally walk past the save points they are multipurpose: they also open doors that block the player's path.
With this checkpoint system I also created a saving system. The system holds up to 3 different slots and saves information like which level and puzzle the player was located at last. |
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Overview shot of the elevator entrance
