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Mau Lundell
Technical Designer
Camp Kollo
About:
Camp Kollo is a 2D adventure game made for the Nintendo Gameboy. Your mom has unfortunately signed you up for summer camp on an island in the archipelago without internet, but all you want to do is chat with your friends. How are you gonna be able to survive on the island?
Details:
Roles:
Solo Project, so pretty much everything
Dev Time:
September 2024 - Present
Genre:
Adventure
Tools:
GBStudio, Aseprite
Workspace:
Online
A Gameboy game made in 2024
Wanting to learn
One of my goals with the Camp Kollo project is to learn what was needed to create a game for a console made 9 years before I was born. Learning about asset restrictions, keeping the game size light, and seeing actual issues when having functionality on tick.
Releasing a game on Steam
I plan on releasing the game on both Itch.io and Steam. It will be easy to do on Itch, as the engine has direct export for it and I have published many games there before.
But I look forward to learning about all the new experiences of having to publish a game on Steam on my own. I even dream of putting in an achievement, if possible.
Creating a 2D platformer with longevity
Figuring out how to make a 2D platformer into a subscription game
When I joined the project it was already clear that the game was gonna be a 2D Platformer with different Level Design Components with a singleplayer co-op:y feel. Together with my mentor Alex Bräysy we finalized those components and had a good feel for how a platforming level would be played out.
But it needed to be connected to the core of LasseMaja mysteries in a good way. But how do you keep the game simple for kids, have a clear structure and with a subscription payment model in mind…
Designing pieces for randomly generated mysteries!
After some deep design sessions and a lot of prototyping we came up with a randomized system that would satisfy all the needs of what the game should be and it was fun to play.
In this picture you can see illustrated how the game handles different variables when it randomly generates a mystery.
We have a mystery!
And so the game has its core loop, mysteries! We designed mysteries with the goal of letting the player explore the world of Valleby (the town's name) and interact with the different characters by following clues to different locations.
In the game I did a lot of puzzle-level designing and location-level designing. I also was in charge of making sure every game scene's systems were set up correctly so that the game could generate properly.
Characters to already made locations
Some locations that can be added
There are a lot of characters that can be added
Characters to already made locations
1/3
It's expandable.
The system of randomly generated mysteries is easily expandable. At its initial release the game includes the initial east side of Valleby, a handful of those important locations and a bunch of characters.
But for future releases any developer can easily add a new character, a new location or more platforming levels with ease without it interfering with any pre-existing content or systems.
Creating systems that enhance the LasseMaja experience
Below are some of the systems I was in charge of both design wise as well as implementing with code into the game.
Navigating the World
Creating a 2D platforming game while trying to retain the iconic Valleby map that appears on the first page of every book was a big challenge as it was easily confusing. But together with a lot of in-game world hints together with the minimap system we managed to create something readable.
I coded the functionality for the map that translates the character location in the world to the map. This system together with the shaking houses to indicate where you are supposed to make for a good combo.
Connected to a mystery
(Suspect)
Not connected to a mystery
NPC Character Handling
Depending on the circumstances of when and why a character spawns in, they might have some accessories on them. For instance, if you find the priest randomly on the street, he is his normal self. But if you find the priest lurking in the library where a crime has been committed, well then he looks awfully suspicious (decked out with accessories).
I was in charge of coding this NPC handling system, making sure to set it up so that all the characters have their specific conditions set up so that it always feels accurate (a character with black hair can’t have blonde hair for instance).
Randomized Dialogue System
The dialogues also needed to be set up to work randomly. While Alex Bräysy did most of the writing and translating of the text, I was in charge of making sure that it worked grammatically in the game when randomly put together.
Together with splitting up names of things and different gender-specific words for different languages, the dialogue system is set up to work for most future language additions that would be wanted. It is also friendly to add more characters and locations.
You'll have to wait and see!
The game is still in production, but it is coming along nicely. I am looking forward to sharing more of the game in the near future!
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