Spyro Inspired Level

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This project was heavily inspired by the original trilogy of Spyro games. I wanted to encapsulate the core themes of these games, and try to replicate some of the core gaming mechanics in my own way, using the Unity Engine. Everything from the level layout, to the colour scheme, to the music and sound effects pays tribute to Spyro.

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The Level Layout

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The layout of the level itself is rather simplistic, with it being a series of interconnected islands that the player must jump across to reach the end. The landscape is made out of spacious grassy sections, with large coloured crystals jutting out from the ground. The islands are connected by a series of stone bridges.

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On the bottom-most island, there is a small hedged area, acting as a pseudo-maze, as well as a small mountain-like object. This piece acts as a way for the player to get onto the single pillar, which has an egg on it that needs to be collected. Every asset was created in MAYA.

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The Game Mechanics

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The main aspect of this level that I wanted to get right, however, was the animation and collection of the gems. This mechanic has always been central to the Spyro games. There are two different types of gems, purple and blue. The gems themselves were simple to design, and were animating using the Unity Animator. A particle effect was added to each gem as well, giving off a burst of coloured sparks to make them more appealing.

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A video of the rotation animation:

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For the collection mechanic, I utilised two C# scripts that destroy the gems when the player collides with them, plays a sound at each successful pickup, and displays the information as text in the upper right corner so the player can keep track of their score.

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A video of the gem collection:

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Another mechanic I included was the ability to respawn. Any time the player falls off the map and comes into contact with the water, they are automatically brought back to the starting point, but still retain the gems they have collected.

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A video of character respawn:

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This project was the first fully functioning level I had ever completed. It was not only an incredibly fun experience, but it was also challenging and taught me many new techniques in areas of game design I had not dabbled in before. I am very pleased with the end result.

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Here is a full run-through of the level:

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