Taylor Kerr Level Designer

TAYLOR KERR / level designer

TEAM PROJECTS

“Love Me” January 2011 – May 2011

Love Me is a fourteen man game made using the Unreal Development kit. The team consisted of a game designer, assistant producer, five level designers, five artists, and two programmers.

The story followed Warren, a young man on a quest to win the affections of his crush, Erica. He traverses through the Friend Zone and overcomes obstacles related to gaining the romantic attention of Erica. Warren’s crossbow weapon, lent to him by Cupid, allows Warren to defeat enemies and transform them into objects crucial for solving puzzles and moving forwards.

My tasks during development were to lead the design of the fourth stage, place and test all enemies and related puzzle elements in each level, find and import sounds, and record and direct the voice acting.

Each stage occurs in the Friend Zone, a physical manifestation of the relationship between Warren and Erica. By defeating the obstacles in the Friend Zone, Warren not only increases his own confidence, but opens Erica's heart to him. Each stage is based off the real-life location Warren is at before Cupid pulls him into the Friend Zone, with the School acting as the opening tutorial stage.

The second stage of the game occurs at an amusement park, and thus has obstacles like bumper cars, ferris wheels, and swinging ships. Each enemy in the game is actually crucial to its completion, as when defeated they transform into objects that help the player clear obstacles or solves puzzles. They are also named after real-life objects or concepts of friendship.

This is the same location from the previous image. Here, the Shoulder-to-Cry-On enemy, or spiked football padding, has changed into a Buddy Box, a movable object that Warren can stand on and use to press switches. In this sequence it gives Warren the height to change the Cellphone Bat into a floating platform, which gives him the additional height needed to make the jump to continue on through the stage.

The third enemy type is the Self-Esteem Monster, which represents Warren's own self-confidence issues. It fires damaging sound waves while insulting Warren simultaneously. Upon defeat, they become springboard objects that propel Warren to new locations.

The final enemy type is introduced in the third stage, the Unsolicited Advice. It is invulnerable from the front, requiring Warren to shoot it from behind. It transforms into a Power Plug for nearby switches when defeated.

The third stage occurs as Warren is sleeping through a movie at a theater, so the Friend Zone becomes an Indiana Jones style adventure through a cave, jungle and temple. As stages progress, they require more precise platforming, and utilize enemies types together for more complex puzzles.

The final stage occurs back at the school, redecorated for a dance event. This was the level I designed the concept and

layout for. The puzzles often extend offscreen, and require complex use of the enemy-transforming mechanics.

After the first stage, the remaining stages each end with a boss. The Teddy Bear boss reverses the roles of a usual Crane Game, with Warren inside the game and the bear controlling the attacking crane.

A shot of the UDK editor utilized to create the game. This shot is near the very beginning of the Dance stage, where the player must utilize an Unsolicited Advice to power some spiked crushers blocking the path forward. However, once activated the player must time his run between the crushers to avoid instant death.