Welcome to Behind the Doors, where we write about all things Doors!
We are saying goodbye to our near and dear cyberpunk levels, in order to make space for the new chapter in this blog - say hello to the Tropical Island levels!
For this category, we wanted it to feel very welcoming. We expressed vibrant colors, numerous animals and the backgrounds were made to emphasize the door, not clash with it. Today we are covering Pirate Bay - a well-known level to all the Demo players and streamers.
Our choice
We chose Pirate Bay to represent our game for a few reasons - firstly, we are really proud of it. Just like any other self-respecting studio, we have a few favorites from our arsenal of various creations and we are proud to say that Pirate Bay is one of them. Secondly, this was the only level from the Tropical Islands, which was a bit darker in both looks and feels. Since it was a pirate island full of not-so-hidden treasures, we also expressed moodiness through the starless night sky. One could even imagine you, the player, were trying to rob the pirates while they were sleeping or off on their misadventures. And lastly, we just think it’s a fun level to play. :)
The Artistic Process
In the picture below are visible a number of colored items - a bunch of weird donuts, a green stick, a pink stick and some skulls on the wall. You might think they are part of a big gameplay mechanic or a crazy, wild idea we had during the conception phase, but there is a little catch here.
Our artists have developed a way to help the brainstorming process by incorporating random items and trinkets into the doors, which may or may not be liked by the designers, thus giving them reasons to agree or disagree with the prototypes presented. Explained simply, artists put as many nonsensical objects into concepts, because it helps with idea generation and creativity.
The Anchor
Expanding on the previous Doors chapters, we really wanted to impress with good progression of the door - how many cinematic cutscenes to include and how the door evolves throughout the level was essential. The hole under the anchor was decided to be kind of like a fishing spot for items or those arcade hook games, which (un)surprisingly never caught a single plushie.
As it can be seen, the anchor served the purpose of being added inside a cutscene with the help of a trusty table getting shattered to pieces. The seahorse head was added later to resemble old time ship figure heads such as mermaids and dragons.
The Platform
When the background was added, we had to reimagine the platforms of the whole category, because its previous design was already submerged in water. So we simply removed the water and bottom platform, so we can leave the two legs standing naturally on the shallow coast and make the debris from the table get submerged as the table gets destroyed. The seamless additions such as the waves slightly crashing on the stone bank and the fire light reflecting off of the gold coins were definitely making the level much more atmospheric than its mobile counterpart.
The Treasure
Any Demo player would already know how the level ends.. and hey, if YOU haven't played Pirate Bay, what are you waiting for? The ending of this level has always been a fun one to watch for us. Being fans of plot twists and unexpected outcomes, blowing up the pirate treasure definitely felt out of the box while we were prototyping. Despite the fact, we believe the real treasure of this level simply flew away.. ːsteamhappyː
Thank You for reading this week’s Behind the Doors. Don’t forget to join our Discord to get notified about all our future posts and announcements, as well as chatting with the team and community!
If you enjoyed our demo and want to see more from Doors, check in with your favorite puzzle streamers, because plenty of them are already playing an exclusive 15-level version!
