Heaven
A visual representation of how characters perceive The Future Project.
Infinite Level game discussed: The Future Project
I have a confession to make. Despite repeatedly describing Distant Sibling as the first major world of The Future Project, that's not entirely true. It is true that it's the first world where you find enemies, new items, and in general start doing major progression things, but it's not actually where you start the game. That place is in the simulation called Heaven, a sort of demonstration area of Future Project tech. In universe, developers of the Future Project show off the AI soldier's capabilities inside this simulation in an effort to subtly (or perhaps not so subtly) plant the idea in viewer's minds that this technology will elevate humanity. It's definitely on the nose, but as one comment states, if it means getting further funding then it may as well be done. As for the people involved in The Future Project directly, this simulation has proven to be a good testing ground for trying out abilities, introducing new members of the team to the AI, and practicing AI teaching.
When you first start the game, you'll be placed in a starting room and given a tutorial of the game's controls and mechanics. Like any good tutorial, it starts off simple and gradually shows you more of the base game mechanics as you go. The tutorial will also demonstrate some general concepts of The Future Project, namely the importance of exploration. Heaven will only cover the basics though, with many other game concepts being revealed as you gain new items. For the moment, your only focus should be getting acquainted with the physics and basic controls of AI robot you are controlling. As far as required parts of Heaven, this tutorial will be the only part of Heaven you have to see. Once you're done with the tutorial, you don't have to ever return to the simulation again. That said, it's always fun returning to old areas with new powers, so I wanted to add some additional content to the world to let players try out their abilities in a new context.
The general rules of any simulation is that it will have powers, multiple levels, various upgrades, and a healthy balance of enemies and platforming. Heaven forgoes many of those things, focusing entirely on platforming and upgrades. In place of enemies, I've placed more puzzles for players to get through, most of them being simple brain teasers like finding a hidden object or bypassing a certain obstacle with a power. I thought of the map as more of a place to do things that wouldn't really fit in with any of the other simulations in the game. For instance, there's one part of Heaven that has all these lasers flying around the area. There's only one other world where the idea would fit the theme, so I took it upon myself to explore that idea here as a one-off. Other times I brought in ideas here that weren't fitting in so well in other worlds, or reiterate on challenges that at least exist in other worlds but the mechanics involving them felt underutilized. This is the philosophy I took when making this game's rendition of Heaven.
Even the atmosphere of the world is quite different from all the others. The music is quieter and more atmospheric in nature, while the world itself has a stillness and peace to it. There's no other enemies to be found here, further emphasizing that peacefulness. As an added bonus, the lack of enemies means that players struggling with a challenge don't need to add enemy attacks to the list of stresses. Things are meant to be taken a little slower here. That also works out well if players decide they need to come here to gather up some upgrades before tackling (or perhaps reattempting) an incoming boss battle or other challenge in one of the other simulations. It's all in service to the theme of the world, a place of peace and calm. With a name like “Heaven”, that's perhaps to be expected. It would be rather strange for Heaven to have conflict and danger throughout, at least if we're going off traditional interpretations of Heaven. While many of the simulations were designed around certain items, enemies, or something else entirely, the idea of the Heaven simulation and the content within it is based almost entirely around its theme.
Now, truthfully, there really isn't a lot to say about Heaven beyond all this. I've given you the vast majority of the details of the map. It's a small map, the second smallest in the game behind the ending area. And since there's little in the ways of story beats here, that doesn't leave much else to get into. But I'd rather not make a mini dev blog, so how about we talk about some of the finer details of the world? For starters, you'll quickly notice the large statues depicting the AI soldier doing various actions. Observant players will notice that these happen to be the same poses seen in some of the game's items such as the Strafe ability found early in Distant Sibling. It felt right that a simulation that's somewhat about a group of people gloating about the greatness of the project would have in-universe statues of their very creation. I'm sure there's all kinds of symbolism and story you can extract from those details alone, but I'll leave that to the theory crafters of the world. Practically speaking, these statues also serve as helpful markers for where you're at in the world. Without them, much of the environment would start to blend together a bit, with only the small suns found throughout the world distinguishing certain areas. Given the minimal nature of the world, these landmarks help to make navigation easier for all players.
When it came to making the aesthetic of the world, I had to think for a while about what comes to mind when I think of the concept of Heaven. There's all kinds of interpretations of Heaven varying between people and cultures. I think it's safe to say most people think of some kind of place in the clouds, assuming it's not just clouds entirely. This is perhaps the most common depiction I've seen. Religions have also depicted it as a city of gold, pearl, or indeed both. I had actually thought about incorporating pearl textures into the aesthetic but found it wasn't giving me the results I wanted, so I scrapped it. Instead, I took to incorporating marble into the aesthetic, creating this white and gold look along with the vegetation in the world. I think this was ultimately for the best. The simple white marble can define solid objects like walls and columns or can be used for certain ornamental items like statues. Meanwhile, gold helps highlight items or platforms of importance, making the navigation of the environment easier to understand at a glance. Though brief, I also added in a little nod to the common clouds depiction by having the player surrounded by clouds in the starting room before looking up at the golden gate that leads into the rest of the world.
This dev blog was a little shorter than usual, but in exchange we got to go a bit more in depth with a world than we would normally do. Though it's small and largely straightforward, I still wanted to add some additional depth to the world to flesh out the metroidvania experience. As with all worlds in the game, when you first arrive here you'll only have certain capabilities, but a return trip will let you feel out how far you've come. In addition, I wanted to create a place to allow players opportunities to gain upgrades while also taking a breather from the usual action of The Future Project. As both a space for the game's tutorial and as a bonus area with additional content, I think it serves its purpose very nicely. I had fun putting together the rooms of this world and trying unique things that wouldn't have been possible in other worlds. Hopefully you enjoy its calm atmosphere and brain teasers as well when you play the finished game.
Until next time!
-Lance T.