DEAN TOLEDANO
​GAME DEVELOPER
COSMIC DIVINITY
9 MONTHS
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
COSMIC DIVINITY is a short, linear, micro-planet exploration game full of a diverse set of sandbox mechanics. The player lands on a planet and begins exploring it to unlock its secrets, along the way they are introduced to the game's mechanics, and creative ways they can be utilized.
The core vision of the project was inspired by the game Outer Wilds, and its microplanet investigation gameplay.
MECHANIC SANDBOX
One of the major project goals was to create a small amount of refined mechanics that contribute into systemic gameplay. Every core element must play into every other mechanic, in some way, to create a better feel for tool utilization, creative puzzle solving, and improve the systemic nature of the experience.
K.E.A.N.U
The drone K.E.A.N.U was made for the player to explore the world off the ground. It's small plume engines are used to levitate it horizontaly to the planet's surface below. K.E.A.N.U is equipped with a camera that records what's infront of it, and a body that can be used to push physical objects, buttons, and even open doors.
UV GOGGLES
The UV goggles are the only mechanic that the player needs to aquire, one that they do not start with.
The goggles allow the player to view the world in Ultra Violet, and reveal hidden objects that would be invisible without them.
QUANTUM DOOR
The quantum door is the system that brings the entire game together. The system itself is straightforward enough: In order to open the door, you must click it's corresponding switch, and observe it simultaniusly.
This allowed us to create interesting dynamics that utilized this core idea, and play around with both the drone, UV goggles, and main movement and interaction mechanics in the game.
GAME INTRO SHOWCASE
VILLAGE QUARTERS
The first area of the game is the village quarters. This is where the player learns the basics of movement and interactions in a safe environment.
A guard will stand in the player's way, insisting they use their drone (K.E.A.N.U) to help some kids retrieve their ball.
KEELY TEMPLE
The next area is the Keely temple. A holy site for the Keely, and the place where the player learns to use the Quantom doors.
As discussed above, the Quantom doors will only open if the player uses a switch WHILE observing the door somehow.
KEELY VILLAGE AND PLANET KEEL
Planet Keel is the entire playspace for the game. There are puzzles to solve, collectibles to find, aliens to meet, and stories to uncover.
The primary hub for all of this is Keely Village, where the player gets to talk with the aliens, gather quests and general directions.
A goal of this game was to make the player feel like they're exploring an entire planet. We really liked the idea of creating a microplanet like a small moon, where we could place interesting activities with high density.
Gravity was a large component in this, as the player needed to be locked horizontal at all times. It was a challenge to complete but worthwhile in the end!
PUZZLE EXAMPLES
These are some examples of simple puzzles I made with the mechanic set that we created
DOOR PUZZLE
The door puzzle is simple in functionality: a colored button activates all corresponding doors, and turns them in a 90° angle.
The player's objective is to reach the door on the far right side, however, it won't be as simple as just activating the red doors.
The player will need to use K.E.A.N.U to get a bird's eye view on the entire room and try to create a full path to the door.
TEMPLE ACCESS
This puzzle requires the player to open a Quantom door and retrieve the goggles to leave the temple.
The goggles are required to properly see the platforms leading out of the temple. Once they retrieve them they can simply jump their way across the chasm.
The Quantom door however is a bit more tricky, the button is not in a clear position (behind the giant Keely statue), and there's no way to both observe and open the door.
The player must use K.E.A.N.U to push the button while leaving the player looking at the door.
