What is birb Runner?

Imagine you’re a birb. With human legs. Wearing pants. Running in a Synthwave World. Birb Runner is a 3D game where you play as a hybrid bird navigating through challenging platforms and obstacles in a world driven by music where your movements are synced with the rhythm.

LIVESTREAMED AT USC GAMES EXPO 2021

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PROJECT OVERVIEW

GAME DETAILS

Genre: Runner, Music
Platform: PC and Mac
Game Engine: Unity
My Roles: Co-designer · 3D Modeler · Level Designer · 2D Artist

LOGISTICS

Project Duration: August 2019 - December 2019
Team Size: 3
- Roahith Rajendiran - Co-designer, Engineer
- Justin Schornstein - Composer

PROCESS

MY CONTRIBUTIONS

❖ Created rapid prototypes to explore ideas and concepts for this project.
❖ Designed and implemented the level by integrating verticality and multiple pathways to encourage players to explore the space.
❖ Designed the character using Procreate, 3D modeled it in Maya, and helped import animations from Mixamo.
❖ Illustrated Opening and Ending Storyboard Sequences using Procreate (total six illustrations).
❖ Updated Dev Blog weekly, co-managed design documents, and kept track of production using Trello and Burndown Chart.
❖ Held weekly playtests and recorded feedback into excel sheet.

Project Macro that outlines the major sections of the game.

Burndown Chart used to track our tasks and progress during Production phase.

Burndown Chart Line Graph showing our task load throughout Production phase.

Dev Blog Banner. Art by Joanna Shen.

Screenshot of Dev Blog document. We updated our Dev Blog weekly along with custom banners for every week.

Trello Board to track tasks during Production phase.

EXPERIENCE GOALS

❖ Have the audience feel awe, wonder, and pure childlike amusement as they step into a fantastical world and play as a bird with human legs (wearing pants).
❖ Have the audience experience periodic and rhythmic states of relaxing exploration and rewarding challenges.

DESIGN GOALS

❖ Create a synthwave-inspired environment where the music is synchronized with animations and level design.
❖ Art Direction: 3D low-poly world with synthwave color schemes.

Level Design

Birb Runner is set on a synthwave-inspired track featuring neon blue and pink lights that glow through the ground and illuminates the vivid midnight purple landscape. Given our timeline and scope, we opted to design a single, expansive level for the game that incorporates various elevation changes, provides a dynamic sense of progression, and evokes a range of emotions.

In the first section of the track, the player starts off running in a tunnel with muffled music playing through the walls. As they exit the tunnel, the music becomes clear and the player sees the track before them. The track begins relatively straightforward, with forks that require players to choose between running left or right. There is no right or wrong path, except one of the paths will give players a chance to collect more seeds to fuel their energy.

As players enter the second section of the track, they encounter a path leading upward toward the sky. They can choose to take this elevated route or stick to the lower path. The high path is more challenging to navigate, but it offers a rewarding experience: players who choose the elevated route enjoy a spectacular view of the expansive landscape and have the opportunity to collect more seeds compared to the lower path.

The third section is designed to mimic the calmness and flow of water, featuring bars of blue light that resemble small flowing creeks with a waterfall at the end of this section. The sudden drop into this section is intended to surprise players, while the widening of the track provides a calming contrast and a brief respite from the earlier intensity of their run.

The fourth and final section is the ultimate challenge, where players use their remaining energy to smash through obstacles and clear a path to the giant seed at the end of the track. If players have gathered enough energy by collecting seeds along the way, they will be able to ascend the steep incline and make the leap onto the giant seed on the platform.

Gameplay

About Birb Runner

Birb Runner is an exciting 3D fantastical game where you play as a birb with human legs wearing pants and running through a synthwave inspired world. The game was developed in Production class (CTIN 532) taught by Richard Lemarchand at USC’s Game Design MFA program, where we partner up with one other person in our class to design a game from ideation through final release within 15 weeks.

❖ A not-endless runner with a wholesome narrative about a birb who embraces his differences.
❖ Synthwave inspired world and dynamic music created just for this game.
❖ Developed from ideation through final release within 15 weeks.