Heaven Trials

“Heaven Trials” is a first-person game that revolves around the idea of the afterlife and the journey into heaven. You are a human who has died and is starting their journey toward the paradise of heaven. As you proceed towards the gate entrance, you find that in order to actually make it into this paradise, you must first come face to face with the sins you committed in their past: Sloth, Greed, and Wrath. In order to open those gates, however, you have to collect items related to each sin. The main objective of each level is to escape through the gate located within the map and reach paradise before the sins can drag you down to suffer eternal punishment. Can you make it?

Controls

Mouse - Camera

W - Run Forward

A - Left Turn

S - Move Backwards

D - Right Turn

Space Bar - Jump

Mouse - Look Around 

“What went right?”

What went right with our game, Heaven Trials, is how well our team was able to connect all of the game mechanics together. Everything from how each level would be passed to what obstacles would stop the player from achieving that goal all connect and needs one another to create the game as a whole. Without one for the other, the game would become too easy and boring.

“What went wrong/what problems did you face?”

We originally faced problems with how each puzzle piece, figuratively speaking, for our game would connect with each other. How would the player advance? How can we make it a challenge for the player while also giving them that serotonin when they finally complete their objective? Those “puzzle pieces” were troublesome to make a reality, but ultimately, we made it work.

“How did you overcome those problems?”

We managed to overcome these challenges by taking one small step at a time. If the ultimate goal was to make the character walk and for the camera to have a realistic bob to simulate actual human walking visually, we would first start with how we would make the player move. This is a small example, but for our game, we had the task of making level progression a challenge. We made our game so you have to collect a specific amount of collectibles to open entry to the next level. To start, we first made the transition to the next level, then continued building from there.

“What changes were made and why?”

We originally did not plan to have the collection system in our game. We wanted the game to be simple, but after some time thinking, we came up with the idea of adding a condition to our level progression. We had also originally planned to have only 3 enemy bosses but decided that only a few enemies would not be much of a challenge. So we added minions to the game, which, unlike the bosses who automatically make you lose the game, the enemies attack the player's collection system. It makes for an annoying obstacle that the player should avoid, but still give the player a chance to win.

“What did you learn?”

We learned that an easy game is not a fun one. Our game had a basic goal: go through the gates, and win the game. While it was a nice base to build upon, leaving the game as it was would not have been something our team would have been proud of. Now, the final build of our game is an accomplishment we are proud of, and even had fun playing ourselves.