Basic Level Blocking

Overview

The two characters (the two square sprites) seen within the game are parts of a prefab called "Character". 

Within this level there are platforms that have watering cans on top.  The characters (the two sprites) must obtain these watering cans and move towards the dead plant to water and revive them.

Implementation

The individual sprites for the platforms, collectibles and plants were created using the graphical app paint.net. 

Tile maps consisting of sprites (made by myself) for the platforms, watering can and plants were created. Scripts for when the characters obtain the watering cans and scripts for when the characters water the plants were created and both scripts were attached to the Character prefab (both the scripts are not yet finished). The tiles for the platforms, watering cans and plants were "painted" into the platforms, watering cans and plants tile maps using the tile palette window. The two dirt platforms were moved several times within the scene using the move tool in the tile palette window to achieve a desired gameplay.

Basic level design consisting of the two characters, platforms, ladders, watering cans and dead plants.  

Feedback Received

From Georgie:

I think the design looks great so far, the simplistic style is very quirky and cute. I'm unsure if it's simply my browser, but A and D keys don't work, and I find that I can't hold down the keys to move (or is that intended)? either way, visually it looks lovely; very reminiscent of retro games! maybe you could add some clouds or birds to the top of the screen, as it's quite an empty block of sky at the moment

I will look into the movement control issues later. I could potentially make the characters move while the A and D keys are hold down. The backstory of the game is that 100 years ago there was nuclear warfare fought between countries that ultimately lead to an apocalypse. Because of this backstory, birds won't be added to the top of the screen, but perhaps radioactive clouds will be added.

From Alejandro:

Yeah, same as Georgie said, some issues with control and I'm not able to go up when on ladder. Are you planning some type of animation like water flowing, or plant coming back to live and green?  A cool opportunity would be to try some sort of puzzle like game that involves coordinating both squares simultaneously so they can unlock obstacles and get to the plant, not sure if this is your plan. Other than that, looks promising. Maybe any thoughts on music? or different mechanics?

I will look into the movement control issues later. The animation for the plant coming back to live and turning green is currently in progress. Yes, the synchronous movement of both characters (sprites) to reach and obtain the watering can and then coordinate to the plant and water them is the main gameplay of this game. Music and sound effects will be created later.

References

Some technical terms included within this post were sourced from the following site:

• Painting on Tilemaps (Unity, Unity - Manual: Painting on Tilemaps (unity3d.com))
• Nuclear fallout (Wikipedia, Nuclear fallout - Wikipedia)