Joe's Adventure - Map Design
Ruins of Pompeii
About Joe's Adventure
Joe's Adventure is a cancelled story-driven puzzle platformer with action elements. You control a young boy with a magic umbrella who travels the world to fight the evil forces and rescue his family.My Involvement
When I joined the project, I strengthened the theme and wrote up the game's lore and characters. Next, I wrote the story and broke it down into levels and quests. For each of the levels, I planned the flow, laid out the story beats, and wrote all the dialogue and interactions. Finally, I moved to designing the map layout - quest givers, NPCs, objectives, obstacles, trigger zones, landmarks, and dynamic changes.
About Pompeii
Lore
These ancient ruins belong to Pompeii, a marvellous city of a bygone civilization. The locals warned the archeologists of a dark curse that lingers in that place, but the scholar guild dismissed them as mere superstitions. They proceeded with excavations and unearthed glowing murals that shed light on a tragedy that befell in ancient times. According to the murals, a magical calamity caused the city's inhabitants to vanish in an instant. The murals warned against tampering with the sinister magic sealed behind a magic gate at the center of Pompeii - another warning the archeologists dismissed. And then, something woke up. Evil spirits and revenants awakened from their slumber and possessed the archeologists. Only one of them managed to escape. The visions of what he had seen still haunt him.Reference
This is an archeological excavation, so it should be at least halfway below ground level. But our traversal mechanics work upward. And there is no fall damage. The solution is to place the excavation below the ground level but also make the player go upward. That's how I thought of Machu Picchu - we can see the ancient city from afar, but we need to descend and then go upward to reach its center.
This is an archeological excavation, so it should be at least halfway below ground level. But our traversal mechanics work upward. And there is no fall damage. The solution is to place the excavation below the ground level but also make the player go upward. That's how I thought of Machu Picchu - we can see the ancient city from afar, but we need to descend and then go upward to reach its center.
Pompeii Ruins Map
Map Areas Breakdown
Each section of Pompeii has its own unique story to tell.
1. Archeologists' Camp
CONTEXT: An abandoned camp with archeological research stuff.
ENVIRONMENT: Tents, excavation equipment, and stolen relics.
LANDMARKS: Ruined walls, bridge, wall with murals.
ENEMIES: None
NPCS: Terrified archeologist (the one who escaped the revenants).
AUDIO/AMBIANCE: Distant ghost noises.
CONTEXT: An abandoned camp with archeological research stuff.
ENVIRONMENT: Tents, excavation equipment, and stolen relics.
LANDMARKS: Ruined walls, bridge, wall with murals.
ENEMIES: None
NPCS: Terrified archeologist (the one who escaped the revenants).
AUDIO/AMBIANCE: Distant ghost noises.
2. Pompeii Living Quarters
CONTEXT: The ancient people lived here, accustomed to magic in their daily lives.
ENVIRONMENT: Dense, narrow streets with ruined houses, magic runes on each house, magic lanterns lighting the streets.
LANDMARKS: Ancient murals depicting a calamity. A ruined fountain in the main square.
ENEMIES: Revenants, banshees, ghosts.
NPCS: Possessed archeologists who need to be rescued.
AUDIO/AMBIANCE: Eerie music, evil whispers, distant ghost noises.
CONTEXT: The ancient people lived here, accustomed to magic in their daily lives.
ENVIRONMENT: Dense, narrow streets with ruined houses, magic runes on each house, magic lanterns lighting the streets.
LANDMARKS: Ancient murals depicting a calamity. A ruined fountain in the main square.
ENEMIES: Revenants, banshees, ghosts.
NPCS: Possessed archeologists who need to be rescued.
AUDIO/AMBIANCE: Eerie music, evil whispers, distant ghost noises.
3. Amphitheater
CONTEXT: A large theater where ancient people used to gather and watch their favorite plays. Now, it's an empty theater full of "theatrical" ghosts.
ENVIRONMENT: Shaped like a semi-circled ancient Greek amphitheater with short walls separating different audiences.
LANDMARKS: A large statue of King holding a powerful artifact at the stage.
ENEMIES: Banshees, ghosts - all flying around the statue as if they were in a play.
NPCS: Possessed archeologists who need to be rescued.
AUDIO/AMBIANCE: Heavy metal or hard rock music, loud ghost noises.
CONTEXT: A large theater where ancient people used to gather and watch their favorite plays. Now, it's an empty theater full of "theatrical" ghosts.
ENVIRONMENT: Shaped like a semi-circled ancient Greek amphitheater with short walls separating different audiences.
LANDMARKS: A large statue of King holding a powerful artifact at the stage.
ENEMIES: Banshees, ghosts - all flying around the statue as if they were in a play.
NPCS: Possessed archeologists who need to be rescued.
AUDIO/AMBIANCE: Heavy metal or hard rock music, loud ghost noises.
4. Temple Holy Grounds
CONTEXT: An open temple with murals depicting how Pompeii ended - a dark wizard named Barty summoned evil creatures from the shadow realm.
ENVIRONMENT: A labyrinth of walls and columns that make up temple corridors.
LANDMARKS: Glowing murals on walls and large columns.
ENEMIES: Revenants, banshees, ghosts, and animated stone guardians.
NPCS: Possessed archeologists who need to be rescued.
AUDIO/AMBIANCE: Sinister whispers, humming murals, mystery music.
CONTEXT: An open temple with murals depicting how Pompeii ended - a dark wizard named Barty summoned evil creatures from the shadow realm.
ENVIRONMENT: A labyrinth of walls and columns that make up temple corridors.
LANDMARKS: Glowing murals on walls and large columns.
ENEMIES: Revenants, banshees, ghosts, and animated stone guardians.
NPCS: Possessed archeologists who need to be rescued.
AUDIO/AMBIANCE: Sinister whispers, humming murals, mystery music.
5. Upper City
CONTEXT: The district of the rich Pompeii citizens where Barty, the evil wizard, grew up. Contains runes with Barty's childhood memories. Barty was humiliated for his lack of magic skills and summoned evil creatures, trying to prove himself.
ENVIRONMENT: Ruins of rich houses, larger magical lanterns on each. Every house has a garden and a pool (no water in them).
LANDMARKS: Dark magic runes (different runes) that trigger Barty's memories.
ENEMIES: Revenants, banshees, ghosts, large dark apparitions.
NPCS: Possessed archeologists who need to be rescued.
AUDIO/AMBIANCE: Dark, sinister music, occasional kid's crying/laughter.
CONTEXT: The district of the rich Pompeii citizens where Barty, the evil wizard, grew up. Contains runes with Barty's childhood memories. Barty was humiliated for his lack of magic skills and summoned evil creatures, trying to prove himself.
ENVIRONMENT: Ruins of rich houses, larger magical lanterns on each. Every house has a garden and a pool (no water in them).
LANDMARKS: Dark magic runes (different runes) that trigger Barty's memories.
ENEMIES: Revenants, banshees, ghosts, large dark apparitions.
NPCS: Possessed archeologists who need to be rescued.
AUDIO/AMBIANCE: Dark, sinister music, occasional kid's crying/laughter.
6. The Royal Palace
CONTEXT: The King's palace where Barty unleashed his evil creatures upon the King. From there, he took over the entire city.
ENVIRONMENT: An ancient palace overgrown with vines.
LANDMARKS: The King's throne, statues of different kings.
ENEMIES: Barty the Necromancer, with an army of evil creatures.
NPCS: Barty NPC. We have a dialogue with him before the boss fight.
AUDIO/AMBIANCE: Intense hard rock/metal music during boss fight.
CONTEXT: The King's palace where Barty unleashed his evil creatures upon the King. From there, he took over the entire city.
ENVIRONMENT: An ancient palace overgrown with vines.
LANDMARKS: The King's throne, statues of different kings.
ENEMIES: Barty the Necromancer, with an army of evil creatures.
NPCS: Barty NPC. We have a dialogue with him before the boss fight.
AUDIO/AMBIANCE: Intense hard rock/metal music during boss fight.
