Restoration
Roles
Brief Summary
Restoration is a single player walking simulator I designed for a project where I was tasked with creating a level that utilizes environmental storytelling. For the task, I decided to go with a theme of a forest that had been damaged by industrialization and carelessness with the resolution being that there is hope as people work to restore the forest. I worked on this game as a solo project and worked on it for a time span of about a month.
The Gameplay
The level design is intended to have a clear build and release of tension throughout. The level starts near a parking lot and a path that leads around a hillside. You can see the nature in the distance in the from of hills and trees.
After walking around the hillside, the player gets their first rise in tension as they see a large factory, seemingly inactive, in the middle of the forest. The player has now quickly learned that the forest does not all look as pristine as the initial view they saw in the beginning. So far nothing particularly strange has happened. Since the factory is not active, its presence does not seem to disrupt the environment as much as it perhaps did at some point.
As the player continues to walk the path before them, nothing else seems to be unnatural about the forest for a time. A river is seen coming from the hillside and running down alongside the path, eventually crossing over the path before continuing to run alongside it again.
The path curves and beyond the trees, the player sees barrels sitting beside and inside the river. As the player draws near, they can see that the barrels have filled the river with oil and that the rest of the river is not clean like before but filthy. The water crosses over the path again and retreats into a tunnel.
Following this, things start to become a bit more normal. The player following the path walks up a hill to see a campsite with a notable number of tents. This introduces a bit of human presence into the environment despite no people being present with the player. It is both a calm moment and set up for the next scene the player will see.
As the player approaches the next hill, they see a sign showing high risk of fire. This once again raises the tension and anticipation when the player considers the consequences of casually dropping a lit cigarette in an area with a high risk of fire.
Climbing up another incline, the player will be greeted with the most significant image of the level, the dead, burned forest. As they continue walking and go around another hill, they see a town, burned and charred with no people in it. The image is desolate and conveys the carelessness people had, even when the town was at risk.
After walking through the forest, the player sees many trucks and a hill with the top of it sectioned off with caution tape. When getting closer, the player finally sees that the sectioned off area contains the sprouts of new trees and that beyond the hill there are multiple areas where these sprouts are growing and are sectioned off. This gives the player hope and reassurance that the forest will come back and be taken care of since the people have learned from their former carelessness and are choosing to care for the forest so that it recovers. It also acts as the resolution for the player after this walkthrough experience, releasing the tension built and completing the story that has been told in the environment.
Contact Me
If you’re interested in working with me, contact me via email at [email protected].
You can also download my resume here.