Starless was a 2nd year school task which evolved into a larger project, eventually getting submitted to the Helsinki Bit1 competition. A 10 minute demo was created and the foundations were laid for a complete game.
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Platform PC
Genre 3D Platformer
Engine Unity
Role Level Designer, World Designer
Team Size 5
Responsibility Platforming Puzzles, Worldbuilding, Narrative Design, Mechanics
Project Output Game demo, blockout for an additional level
Development Time 3 months
Completed May 2022
Art: Ronja Metso & Kaspian Sonné
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Key outcomes:
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Level design - working with a physics-based movement system to dynamic and creative platforming.
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Example: all platforming in the demo level
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Worldbuilding - creating an overarching narrative and world for the game to take place in
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Example: ecosystem for the demo level
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3D modeling - modeling environment pieces and blockouts for the level
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Example: rocks​
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Presenting Starless during Demo Day at XAMK
Level Design
I designed the platforming challenges for the Starless Demo. The player's goal in the demo is to collect four Fuel Flowers scattered throughout the level. Each Fuel Flower involves a platforming challenge to acquire, making the level break into 4 distinct platforming segments, completable in any any order the player chooses.
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Play the game here
​My process behind each platforming challenge was to teach the player a new way to use a mechanic. The player has three basic abilities: a swing, a wall jump, and a throw. The tutorial section introduces these skills and the following Fuel Flower challenges expand on them.
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The goal with the movement mechanics was to have a simple base, but allow the player to grow until they could master advanced movement techniques such as momentum transfer. Of course, such advanced techniques were not required to complete the demo and were more for fun in the current version.
World & Story
Starless takes place in the constellation of Orion and follows the adventures of a monkey named Rigel who, along with his companion Bit, must succeed in saving their friends from the clutches of an evil Ifrit.
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One of my roles in the Starless team was writer. I took the Game Director's original concept for the game and expanded upon it, creating ten level concepts and weaving an overarching story to connect them all.
The aim with the game's aesthetics was to be childish and playful, while keeping a deeper level of depth to keep the game from feeling superficial. I kept this in mind while writing the story and characters. The story and drive of Rigel is simple for children to understand, but deeper themes of loss and loneliness are layered on to engage older players.
Art: Ronja Metso & Kaspian Sonné
The level created for the demo is called Saiph. I designed four distinct areas for the level, each with their own appearance and quirks. The goal of the player would be to ascend to the top of the level to defeat the boss and save Rigel's friend.
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One of the goals for the world was immersion; the world had to have reason and logic behind it, as if Rigel was truly stepping into a functioning ecosystem. With this in mind, I created flora and fauna to fill a food chain, with small explanations on how they would live on Saiph. These were then taken by the concept artist and drawn into production art.
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Due to time constraints with the competition, the demo only covers the first area (Sunken Shards), although assets were made for the rest of the areas.
Production Art: Ronja Metso
Level Concept Art: Ronja Metso