Undertale is 2D role-playing game that is from a top-down perspective, and does not feature any 3D models by any means. It is all 2D and features all colours and shading, except from when in communication and in battle, though special attacks can be seen in colour when in a boss battle, or to indicate a special move such as slowing down or speeding up. This is all done in Pixel art, alongside the rest of the game, as it features all in pixel-art. This is a key design point, and one that holds true even with the assets, having all the characters and landscapes also pixel-art. It’s a design choice that really works well for the game, and something I find to be a main selling point for it. The rest of the graphics are creative and feature a distinct different design for every character you come across, featuring different kinds of animals and monsters, all varying in species. This is something that will remain, and feature in my level, keeping the design and the graphics to make it fit in and keep the look of the world and characters.
One other Key Feature of the game is the interactivity with the NPC’s that are included in the game, communicating and learning more through them is a great device for more world-building and immersion. The characters have all been worked on and have tens of lines of dialogue, telling their story and who they are, something that is very informative and helps with the story’s progression. It’s a feature I want to keep, as it’s a feature that helps the story go along and the game, having the player learn more to do more, and finish more.
Following on from the features of the game, this includes the controls and interactivity with-in gameplay, which involves “W.A.S.D” and “Arrow Keys” for movement and “E” for interactivity. This is a normal control scheme for games on the PC platform, as such games like Minecraft and Roblox follow the same control scheme. It’s used in order to move the character, both when exploring and when in combat, as the player has to control the characters “Soul” through different obstacles and threats.
For my level, the sound design will be entirely re-used from the soundtrack of the Original game, Undertale. Undertale released all the songs without any copyright infringement, being free for commercial use and for content users to use. This Soundtrack holds all the boss themes, ambiance, sounds and songs released in the original game, and I believe that changing the music in my level would go noticed, and cause the immersion and complexity to be broken, revealing it to be new and different. The character will be going into the past, so the sounds should remain as they are in game, as to not change the future and the story that is with-in the game. The music will be implemented as it is in the original game, and will be placed in the level when applicable. The music is a very big factor for Undertale, and it has to be featured in the right places or will not work narrativly either, as music helps drive the player and holds story features, such as certain characters having their own themes and telling stories through the sounds.
Talking about Narrative, it is something that drives the game play completely, having the story be told through Character Dialogue and information found from interactivity through the world. I would like to keep the Narrative through out my own level, as it keeps the story flowing and keeps the player informed about their surroundings, characters and world. The Narrative informant will be apparent in the characters inner thoughts, a device I will use in order to relay information from the previous installation so that new-comers will be fully aware of the characters and story prior to this moment.
MORGAN'S BLOG 