Unreleased chapter to King Kong of Skull Island, based on a concept from Joe Devito. It's starts with the players decent into a complete underwater biome that evolved into large growth from the King Kong lore. We wanted to escape the island and show beyond the usual earth and hostel landscape. Here the players path and 3 interaction spots were a lead up into the ocean.\ Designing underwater levels was a breath of fresh air to the art and overall player experience. We added new character encounters and interactions that made underwater travel unique. List of interactions for the land portion were Bug/insect shoot'um up, Save Kong, and Bird attack on Branchiosauruses. Following the cliff dive into the ocean the players interaction then evolved into feed the fish, escape the squid, and defeat the shark.
I designed this level to be a descent from shallow waters with bright corals and white sandy bottoms. Where the friendliest of aquatic species interacted with the player. Progression was shown with color shifts into a dark ocean abyss where larger sea creatures roamed. Player pathing was based on changes in elevation and descending from the epipelagic zone to a bioluminescent hadalpelagic zone. Using references of our oceans and understanding the creatures and their habitats leads to the design of this experience to be memorable and offer more immersion into VR King Kong.
I had the privilege to lead and work alongside a talented team of artists and programmers. In collaboration with art leads, producers, and licenses, we crafted a unique VR experience for the arcade!
Thanks to everyone who contributed.