Pikmin Level
Game Description
Pikmin 3 Deluxe is an action-adventure puzzle game for the switch and was developed by Nintendo.
In this game, the player uses the little "Pikmin" to defeat enemies, overcome obstacles, solve puzzles and collect pickups.
One Page Design Definition
The purpose of a one-page design is to explain/show something (f.e. a game mechanic) with just one page.
Document created in
2022
Programm
Procreate
Type
One Page Document / Design
Download Link
My Goal
I enjoyed this game a lot and felt very inspired by it!
I could immediately think of more Pikmin-Types as well as new locations and adventures.
So I challenged myself with making my own Pikmin Level.
My goal was to make a believable level that'd fit into the world, while also including new exciting things and to have fun while creating it!
To achieve this goal I had to do a lot of research and follow a few guidelines that I noticed in other levels.
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The Theme
Looking at the already existing levels, I really felt like a desert-themed one would fit perfectly.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe already has a mini-game map called "The Thirsty Desert" with many desert-themed assets, so it'd be easy to use these to build a real level!
The main environmental trait in this level would be the lack of water and many stony hills as well as cactuses and dry plants lining the path-sides.
(Screenshot from Pikmin 3 - Thirsty Desert Mini Map)
The New Pikmin-Type
An important factor I noticed about new Pikmin-Types is, that the player can always go back to previous levels and use them to open new paths!
So I wanted to make sure that my type would be quite versatile.
The Cactus-Pikmin is supposed to work like velcro, which would allow the player to form ladders and bridges and therefore reach new places.
Another thing I learned was, that almost every type has special abilities, red ones for example deal more damage than others and are fire-resistant.
The special abilities of my Pikmin are that they cling to enemies twice as long as others and can't get eaten alive!
The Map
I tried making my map as accurate as possible, including all the collectible fruits, gates blocking the paths, and placing arrows that show the entrances and exits of individual areas.
To make my level a little more interesting with its "dry" theme, I designed the boss arena to be an oasis, not only to differentiate the area from the rest of the map but also to add some kind of highlight and reward for the player!
But to be honest, it was hard creating this level by just drawing it and not being able to experience it in 3D.
I assume this is the reason why my level is a little more linear than the others, but I believe it would work pretty well as a layout guideline!
The Boss Enemy
While analyzing the different boss enemies, I noted that all have 2-3 different attacks.
Usually, one melee attack, a charge attack, and sometimes another melee or one ranged attack.
Sticking with the desert theme I decided on using an armadillo as my boss.
This also came with the great opportunity to make him roll up into a ball for his charge attack and use his own body like a cannonball!
This attack could also give the player a moment of opportunity, f.e. if we let the armawheelo ram against the arena walls and leave him stunned on his back for a few seconds.
For the melee attacks, I decided that he 1. uses his tail like a whip and 2. stands up on his hinds and then slams his front legs into the ground.
Our new Cactus-Pikmin would come in very handy for this boss since they could cling to his stomach and back way better than others and deal more damage this way!