Projects
A Warm Winter
Project Lead, Game Designer, Programmer
Story-Driven Adventure
Group of 5
3 months in Unity
Developed for PC
Overview
A Warm Winter is a 2D orthographic-view adventure and exploration game where you step into the shoes of Sunny the Snowman. Embark on a journey to find Johnny, your missing creator!
Set in the snowy town of Snowville, Sunny the Snowman embarks on a journey to find Johnny, his missing creator. With his handy snowballs, Sunny can light up the world around him, and maybe even help villagers along the way.
A Warm Winter is perfect for players who are looking for a simple yet heartfelt story-driven game. Sunny loves spreading positivity and joy, and so can players when they join Sunny in his adventures in A Warm Winter!
Note: This is a casual game, so there is no way for the player to lose. However, if the player is attacked when they are at 0 snowballs, Sunny will melt and respawn at a designated spot in each area.
Game Design
In A Warm Winter, the player embarks on a main quest as Sunny the Snowman to find Johnny, his beloved creator.
The main storyline has 4 key NPCs the player has to talk to, in each of the key areas. Apart from the main storyline, there are also optional side quests the player can choose to complete if they want to get the happiest ending possible.
The game takes place in 4 areas, 3 of which are larger areas, while 1 is mainly a traversal area used to teach the player the main mechanics of the game.
Area 1: Johnny's House
This is the area directly outside of Johnny’s house. Sunny has just discovered that Johnny has been missing for the whole day, and decides to go look for him. This area allows the player to explore around and familiarise themselves with the main mechanic of throwing snowballs.
The first NPC, Timmy, can be interacted with by throwing a snowball at the streetlamp to light it up and reveal Timmy beneath it.
This teaches the player that they can use their snowballs to light up areas, and lit up areas can be interacted with.
Timmy points the player towards the direction of the town of Snowville, and gives a dog bone which he says will be useful in town. With this, the player is free to proceed to the next area.
Note: If the player attempts to leave this area without talking to Timmy, they will be stopped and prompted to search the area again.
This simple quest was concepted as a quick tutorial for the player to learn how to interact with streetlamps using their snowballs. While the NPC Timmy is still in the dark, he says some things to catch the player’s attention and hints at them to throw a snowball at the streetlamp he is standing under.
Area 2: Traversal
The next part of the map is a traversal area, where the player has to navigate their way around dogs. This is the first time the player learns about the hostile dogs, which are patrolling along fixed paths and blocking the way to the exit.
Upon seeing Sunny, the dogs will run towards him and attack if he is within their area of detection and aggression.
Side Quest: Granny
This is also where the first side quest takes place. The player can choose to guide a granny, Mrs. Buttons, to the exit safely without being attacked by a single dog along the way.
Upon accepting this quest, the player’s movement speed will be halved and they have to proceed carefully so as not to attract the dogs towards them, as they cannot out-speed the dogs during this period.
The player also learns from the granny that they can distract the dogs by shooting at streetlamps to light them up. However, unlike the previous area, these streetlamps will flicker off after a few seconds, and the dogs will roam again.
The player has to safely guide the granny to the exit in this manner by distracting the dogs and avoiding them.
Once the player reaches the exit area, the quest ends and their speed returns to normal.
The granny will give the player some mittens, which is an optional reward that they can add to their wardrobe. The player can now proceed to the next part of the map without regrets.
Note: If the player chooses not to do this quest, they can still proceed, but they will be prompted to see if anyone needs their help as they cannot turn back once they leave the area.
Area 3: The Town
The town of Snowville is the largest area in the map, and is where the player will spend most of their time in. There are both main quests and side quests to be found in this area, and the map on the bulletin board near the town plaza will point the player to these quest locations.
Main Quest: Tammie
As the player makes their way along the cobblestone paths of the town, they will come across Tammie, the next main quest NPC.
She will pass the player a dog bone, which can be used to tame a lost dog in town, as well as give a hint on where to find the next main quest NPC, Dan.
Side Quest: Old Man
If the player follows the path downwards from the town entrance, they will come across an old man. This is a side quest NPC who will request for the player to find his missing scarf upon talking to him.
The scarf can be found near the south of the town, and is obscured in darkness. The player has to shoot a snowball to light up the nearby streetlamp and interact with the scarf to collect it.
Once the scarf has been retrieved, the player can return to the old man with it, and get the scarf as a reward. This is an optional reward item that will be added to the player’s wardrobe.
Side Quest: Lost Child
The next side quest can be found near the east of the town, at the housing area. Here, a mother is anxiously looking for her child who has not come home yet despite it being night time.
Talking to the mother will start the quest, and she will give a hint on where to find her daughter. If the player talks to her again, she will give an even bigger hint that her daughter can be found in the north of town.
The lost daughter can be found admiring the moon at the top of the town, but her quest can only be completed if the player has already talked to the mother and triggered the quest. If the player finds the daughter before talking to the mother, she plays a generic dialogue and this does not complete the quest.
After talking to the girl while the quest is ongoing, the quest is completed and the player is rewarded with final accessory of some earmuffs. With this, the player has completed all 3 optional side quests and unlocked the happiest ending.
Main Quest: Dan
Dan is the next main quest NPC, and can be found to the upper east of the town, near the shophouses. He is shrouded in darkness, and when the player lights up the streetlamp, both Dan and a nearby gumball machine will light up and be interactable.
Dan will rudely ask the player to throw snowballs at the gumball machine to get candy out, and upon doing so, the player will complete the quest and get a key item to proceed onto the next part of the story.
Once the player obtains the key item of Candy, they can finally proceed to find the last main story NPC, Barry.
Main Quest: Barry
Barry is seen hiding in a snowpile near the town exit, he will remain in the snowpile if the player does not have candy, and cannot be interacted with. If the player has candy however, he jumps out of his hiding spot and the player can now talk to him.
Talking to Barry will prompt a short conversation where he devours the candy, then offers to lend the player his family dog, Soosig. Soosig is the last key item needed to proceed to the next area.
With Soosig, the player can now distract the adult guarding the town exit and gain access to the next area.
Note: If the player has not completed all side quests available in town before they exit, they will be warned that they cannot turn back, and prompted to search the area again to help anyone in need.
Area 4: The Forest
The last area in the game, and the culmination of Sunny’s efforts. The player will have to make their way around a rather confusing forest path, guided only by the sounds of Johnny crying in the distance.
As the player nears Johnny, dialogue will pop up at certain areas to reassure the player that they are going in the right direction, and the cries will also get louder.
Upon reaching the forest clearing, the player will find Johnny crying, and after talking to him, will prompt the final quest of the game to start.
The player has to shoot 5 incoming birds with snowballs in order to successfully complete this quest.
Completing this quest will conclude the game, and if the player collected all the accessories from completing all the side quests, they will achieve the happiest ending, where Sunny is dressed in these accessories.
Conclusion
Despite some issues faced along the way, development went relatively smooth and we were able to make a game that we are proud of.
I greatly enjoyed my time designing the quests in this game and building such a wholesome story. It was a challenge to tie the mechanics with the actual story, but I think we did a pretty good job of that.
There are some small parts of the game that were not mentioned above, such as the side objectives of delivering lost dogs to their respective owners.
If you are interested in trying the game out, please feel free to contact me on LinkedIn, I'll send the game build over!