Major Project 1
Major Project
September 21, 2025
Major Project
22 September 2025- January 2th 2026
FNAG YOAYUE (0372006)
Major Project | Bachelor of Design in Creative Media | Taylor's University
List
LECTURES
INSTRUCTIONS
FEEDBACK
REFLECTION
LECTURES
Game overview：
Spartan’s Oath is a 2D side-scrolling adventure set in ancient Greece. Players control a Spartan warrior navigating dangerous terrains—battlefields, forests, and Roman camps—guided by the words of their King: “Whoever saves the princess shall marry her.”
But beneath this heroic mission lies a bitter truth: the King’s promise is a lie. The princess has been promised to Rome for political alliance, and the warrior’s struggles reveal the futility of blind obedience and the cruelty of those in power.
Story and narrative：
Plot:The Spartan King summons his warriors, declaring that the princess has been kidnapped by Roman forces. He promises her hand in marriage to the one who saves her. Inspired by honor and ambition, a young Spartan sets forth on a perilous journey.
However, upon defeating powerful foes and reaching the princess, the warrior learns the truth: the King never intended to keep his promise, as royal blood cannot be mingled with common warriors. The tale ends with a bitter irony—valor rewarded only with betrayal.
Game objective：
1 Defeat enemies and survive environmental challenges.
2 Uncover narrative clues through NPCs and inscriptions.
3 Overcome a mini-boss and final boss to “rescue” the princess.
4 Reveal the irony of the King’s deception at the story’s end.
Story and narrative：
Plot:The Spartan King summons his warriors, declaring that the princess has been kidnapped by Roman forces. He promises her hand in marriage to the one who saves her. Inspired by honor and ambition, a young Spartan sets forth on a perilous journey.
However, upon defeating powerful foes and reaching the princess, the warrior learns the truth: the King never intended to keep his promise, as royal blood cannot be mingled with common warriors. The tale ends with a bitter irony—valor rewarded only with betrayal.
Backstory: Sparta, though proud and strong, is politically strained. To secure peace, the King arranges the princess’s marriage with Rome. The “kidnapping” is staged to keep the warriors loyal and motivated, but only one discovers the truth.
Story Progression:
Level 1 – Dark Forest
Level 2 – Desert
Level 3 –Ruins
Level 4 –Roman Colosseum
Ending：
Cutscene reveals betrayal: The King’s promise was false. Princess is handed to Rome, leaving the warrior disillusioned.
Controls：
Arrow keys – Move left and right.
Space – Jump
Shift – Boost
Enter – Interact
Game Balancing：
Progressive Challenge:The monsters progress from simple to difficult, the attack speed increases from slow to fast, and the damage rises from low to high.
Enemy Variety: Werewolf，Evil Mage/One-eyed giant(mid boss)，Skeleton monster，King Minos.
Accessibility: Early levels serve as tutorials; difficulty increases steadily through level design, enemy placement, and environmental complexity.
Vision: The levels progress from a forest to a dilapidated forest, then to a desert, and finally to a gladiatorial arena. The visuals shift from bright to dark, and the background changes from a lush forest to a desolate one, continuously becoming more desolate, providing players with an immersive experience.
INSTRUCTIONS
This time, we are creating it for the group. Specifically,
FANGYAOYUE is in charge of the artistic illustration,
GUQIANKUAN is responsible for the code writing,
ZHANGHNAYUAN is in charge of the UI design.
WEEK1:
his week, we have determined the game theme, which is inspired by Fangyaoyue. We played a game called "Double Edge Warrior" when we were young. It was a 2D adventure game where two warriors overcame numerous difficulties and finally defeated the giant to rescue the princess. However, the princess had a story where the two brothers, who shared hardships together, ended up killing each other. This story left a deep impression on us. Therefore, we plan to improve the plot based on this game. We will create a 2D adventure game set in ancient Rome. Currently, we are discussing the preparation of a main character, three types of monsters, two bosses and two NPCs.
WEEK2:
This week, we produced the GDD and determined that the game's protagonist is a Spartan warrior holding a axe. Based on the monsters from Greek mythology, we decided to create four levels, each with different monsters, namely werewolves, two-headed dogs, skeletons, and a boss.Then there were the One-Eyed Giant and King Minos.
The entire work also satirizes the current society. The king, in order to save his daughter, was willing to sacrifice the lives of the Spartan soldiers. In the end, the soldiers rescued the princess, but the king broke his promise and did not marry the princess to the soldier. It also hinted at some dark and unknown aspects of the current society, and it also suggested that it is extremely difficult for ordinary people to overcome class barriers.
Currently, some of the keys are used for controlling the direction (W, A, S, D), J represents close-range attack, and K represents using skills.
WEEK3:
This week, I have begun drawing the main character. I have chosen a black and red color scheme for the main character, as red represents the bravery of warriors. I have also designed a battle axe and a cape representing ancient Rome for him.
WEEK4:
This week, I drew the cover of the game's login interface. The inspiration came from Pantheon in League of Legends. I placed the Spartan warrior in the middle, slightly to the left and bottom of the screen. There is a road leading directly to the palace. The insignificance of the Spartan warrior contrasts sharply with the grandeur of the palace, and it also subtly satirizes the warrior's future.
WEEK5:
This week, I drew the map for the first level. The first level is a forest, and the monster that will appear in the forest is a werewolf. This is in line with the setting of the werewolf, and as the monster for the first level, the werewolf has low health and low damage, which is designed to help players adapt more quickly.
WEEK6:
In the sixth week, I drew more game maps, including the desert in the second level and the ruins in the third level. The desert in the second level was in a yellow tone, while the ruins were in a blue tone. I also drew the corresponding monsters, which were the two-headed dog and the skeleton.
WEEK7:
This week, I adjusted the size of the Spartan warrior's head, and drew the final level of the Roman arena, as well as two bosses and two non-player characters.
WEEK8:
This week is the presentation week for the speeches.
major project，作者 YAOYUE FANGWEEK9:
This week, I have completed the drawing of the main character, three monsters, two bosses and two NPCs that were prepared in advance. Next, I need to draw the movements of the characters. Each character needs to be drawn with four actions, namely the action movement, the attack action, the being attacked action, and the death action.
WEEK10:
This week, I drew the movements of some characters. The movements are divided into moving actions, attacking actions, being attacked actions and death actions.
WEEK11:
This week, I deleted the part of the two-headed dog and re-drew the monsters in the second level. The new monsters are mages with long-range attacks, and I also drew all the movements of the one-eyed giant.
WEEK12:
This week, I have drawn all the character movements and tested their coherence. I also extended the map, adding a waterfall to the second part of the forest map and a cave to the third part, enhancing the sense of mystery.
WEEK13：
This week, we have drawn maps of deserts and ruins. In the desert map, we have added rivers and temples. In the ruins map, we have included castles and bridges, enriching the game.
WEEK14：
As of this week, all the work has been completed.
We plan to undertake Major Project 2 in the next semester.
1. Re-design all the user interfaces and UI
2. Unify the map's style and add air walls
3. Design the movement animations for the characters, enhancing the impact sensation
4. Add a looping animation to the start page to enhance the visual effect.
5. Appropriately add skills to the main character and the boss (such as shock waves, throwing weapons, etc.
Game UGG link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RCkq6m7o-6JyIPTs5eabAr17ZNpxZtZ5g_lUKhStaOY/edit?tab=t.0
Mid-term presentation link：
https://www.canva.com/design/DAG2chXxOlQ/Vlx9-xw2NOoYb6J3piV0Lw/edit
Final presentation link：
https://www.canva.com/design/DAG89zrsddo/yW0pc4r6ZHqs-9w0SctvbQ/edit
Final presentation video：
Project Management Document Link：
Google Drive link：
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cTOXwHXL3kz85JKfFaSBszJMBQEGJHuf
FEEDBACK
WEEK1:
Ms. Noranis thought the game was great and asked us to create a game GDD and look for some references, so as to ensure that the preparatory work for the initial stage was well done.
WEEK2:
This week, we presented the complete GDD to Ms. Noranis and identified some maps and characters for reference. Ms. Noranis approved some of it and showed us some excellent examples from the market, enabling us to learn more about Hollow Knight.
WEEK3:
Ms. Noranis thought the drawing was excellent. She hopes that the character designs in the future can all maintain this style. The quality of a game is most directly reflected in its art style. This is what can most attract players. You must create something different from other games.
WEEK4:
Ms. Noranis examined it and thought the cover design was good. However, to give a more comprehensive evaluation, she needed to incorporate the UI elements into it.
WEEK5:
Ms. Noranis thinks the map is okay, but there are too many black areas for the obstructive parts below. It would be better to delete some. Also, it shouldn't just be a single map being repeatedly copied; there needs to be more variety.
WEEK6:
This week, after Ms. Noranis viewed the two monsters I drew, she thought the styles were not consistent. The head of the skeleton was too small, while the head of the warrior was too large. One looked like a comic book style and the other like a cartoon style. I need to adjust the size of the heads of the two characters. I agree to the style.
WEEK7:
Ms. Noranis' feedback was that there were no major issues with the entire map, but it needed more diversity. Repetition should not be the only approach. Additionally, she felt that the art styles of Spartan warriors and the boss, King Minos, were somewhat inconsistent.
The part of the dialog box needs to be modified. The character's portrait and the background of the dialog box are indistinguishable.
WEEK8:
This week was the presentation week. We showcased all the characters, maps, and actions we have so far. We also identified some issues, such as the UI not being consistent with the game, and the buttons and background on the main game page not being appropriate. There are still many areas that need improvement.
WEEK9:
After the mid-term presentation last time, our game revealed many issues. Ms. NORANIS felt that the UI and the game were not unified, and the style was inconsistent. The map background and roads were not aligned either, and the background should take up a larger proportion in the game screen rather than having the obstructive elements taking up more space. Add the time switching UI
This week, Ms. Noranis informed us that we could seek Mr. Razif's opinion.
WEEK10:
Ms. Noranis believes that the game characters are already satisfactory. She hopes that we can later convert the actions into animations and show them to her, as this would be more intuitive. She also wants to see more works related to UI.
Mr. RAZIF believes that the game artist has already achieved perfection. At present, being able to create such a work is already quite good. However, we need to consider whether the existence of the two-headed dog is reasonable, because it is mechanical in style and can be replaced.
WEEK11:
Ms. Noranis believes that the gameplay of our game might not be particularly unique. Some skills or other gameplay elements could be added. Moreover, the cover and logo do not match. The UI of the cover and the logo design are rather dull and need to be improved.
WEEK12:
Ms. Noranis believes that the actions are fine now, but the UI and the graphics are still not in harmony. Moreover, she wants to watch the game test video next week. The dialog box part, the dialogue box for the protagonist, still fails to distinguish it from that of the king, and needs to be improved.
WEEK13:
There was no feedback during this week's Christmas holiday.
WEEK14:
This week was the last week. We attended Ms. NORANIS's face-to-face consultation class and received feedback on 11 in-depth issues. We also asked about our planning for Major Project 2. The questions were as follows:
1. The login interface and the game logo are too dull and need to be replaced.
2. The art styles of Map 1 and Map 3 are not consistent.
3. There is no air wall at the bottom of the road.
4. The time switching UI in the middle should be deleted.
5. Add attack sound effects and impact sensation.
6. The health bar UI is too boring. Symmetrical health bars might be better.
7. The pause UI is not attractive.
8. The background and avatar of the character's UI lack uniqueness.
9. Add dynamic background effects for the main page.
10. Add optional animations for characters.
11. If time is limited, you can focus on completing one of the levels and the final level. There is no need to continue the story and create new levels.
REFLECTION
In the "Major Project" course, my team and I completed the entire creative process of "Spartan: Oath of the Throne". This experience allowed me to deeply understand the complete design process from concept development to actual implementation. Under the guidance of Ms. Noranis, I gradually learned to think about game design from multiple perspectives such as gameplay mechanics, visual style, and player experience, rather than just focusing on the visuals or functions themselves. In the early stages of the project, I encountered some difficulties in the level rhythm and combat feedback, but through continuous testing and adjustments, I gradually optimized the character controls and enemy designs, making the overall experience more smooth. This Major Project not only enhanced my technical skills in 2D game development, but also made me realize the importance of planning, iteration, and reflection in the graduation project. Finally, I sincerely thank Ms. Noranis for her guidance and valuable suggestions throughout the Major Project. Her feedback helped me think about design issues more directionally and also enabled me to constantly reflect and grow during the creative process.
In the subsequent major project 2, I will address the existing issues and continue to improve the game, adding more skills and animations to make the movements more coherent, thus completing the graduation project of my undergraduate studies with a perfect conclusion.
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