Game Design
University of Florida
Apr 30, 2022
Eternal Dream is a 3D Role-playing game made in Unity. You are the chosen adventurer, who came into this fantastic world. This is a place full of magic and legends! There are beautiful towns and friendly creatures, but there are also dangerous mists and scary monsters that you need to fight against with.
Eternal Dream takes place in a fantasy world known as 'Dream', featuring an art style that leans towards 3D anime and is non-realistic. Players awaken in this fantasy-styled world, as if they are in an eternal nightmare/dream. They need to defeat unknown monsters and travel to towns as beautiful as those in fairy tales. Players will start their journey, and end up going home or being the hero of this world.
The dreamland is divided into two different parts, a dangerous "dream" environment where bad creature skeletons live; and a beautiful fantasy village environment where good creatures live. As a third person role-playing game, the player will act as an archer, fight against the skeletons in bad "dream" and enjoy peach in the good "dream."
The core idea of this game, "Eternal Dream," stems from my own dreams, as I am a person with a vivid imagination who frequently experiences fantastical dreams. These dreams often involve battling alongside or against a myriad of mythical creatures, leaving me questioning their reality upon awakening. Inspired by this personal experience, I created a game that encapsulates the essence of navigating through a dreamlike world, offering players the choice to either escape the dream or become engrossed within it.
Players awaken in an unknown place, believing themselves to be in a nightmare. Surrounded by a dangerous, dark forest inhabited by skeleton monsters, they embark on a journey to explore this world. By defeating the skeletons, players eventually reach a village where elves and humans live in harmony, and are hailed as heroes for protecting the village from the skeletons.
The primary goal for player experience in "Eternal Dream" is to immerse players in a vivid, dreamlike world that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, challenging them to question what is real and what is not. We aim to provide an experience that is both captivating and thought-provoking, where players feel a deep sense of adventure and exploration as they navigate through the contrasting environments of the dream world.
I was inspired by the two-dimensional game environment style of Genshin Impact and aimed to achieve a similar effect. However, I had no prior knowledge in this area. Through self-study on YouTube, I learned how to use shaders in Unity to achieve this style of rendering. Completing the entire game construction alone was time-consuming. Initially, my plan also included developing the game's storyline, quests, and combat system, but due to time constraints, I focused mainly on environment design and polishing. I am still satisfied with the outcome.
The key takeaways from the "Eternal Dream" project include the importance of a cohesive game world that captivates players' imaginations, and the balance between exploration and combat. This project taught me the significance of environmental storytelling and how it can be used to enhance the narrative and player immersion. The challenges faced during development, particularly in achieving a specific art style and refining gameplay mechanics, have greatly contributed to my growth as a game designer. This experience has improved my skills in environmental design and narrative construction to create a more engaging and enjoyable game. "Eternal Dream" represents not just a journey for the player, but also a significant step in my journey as a game designer, underscoring the importance of vision, adaptability, and the continuous pursuit of improvement.
