Overview

Train Lovers is a puzzle game created for a Game Design lecture, where our team of three was tasked with creating a functional vertical slice of an original game concept.

The core concept is a hexagon-based puzzle game where players arrange rails to build a functional track for a train. I worked alongside Julian and Julius to bring this idea to life.

Roles & Responsibilities

To ensure a smooth development cycle, we divided the project based on our individual strengths:

• My Roles: Technical Director & Sound Designer.
• Julius: Level Designer and 3D Artist.
• Julian: 2D Artist and UI Design.

I designed the core code architecture, the gameplay systems and all of the sound and music of the game.

Prototyping

We began with a paper prototype to iterate on mechanics and rules quickly. This allowed us to gather immediate feedback from other students in the class, which was helpful for improving the games logic before moving into actual development.

Once the rules were solidified, I moved the project into Unity and set up a GitHub repository. This allowed our group to work simultaneously and sync assets efficiently.

Art Direction

We explored several styles to find a look that matched our teams skillset and the semesters timeline. After various tests, we settled on a clean, board-game-inspired aesthetic characterized by:

• Perspective: Orthographic Camera for a tabletop feel.
• Environment: 2D Billboarded elements within a 3D space.
• Stylization: Flat, simple colors and minimalist textures.

System Implementations

To power the gameplay, I developed three primary systems within Unity:

1. Hexagon Tile System

This modular system stores all data regarding tile types, rail paths, and grid positions. It features an automated detection script that loads all hexagons into the level layout upon starting the scene. This makes level design trivial for the designers since they can simply place hexagons in the Unity scene, and the system automatically integrates them into the logic.

2. Action System

To add depth to the puzzles, theres an sequence based action system. A player can "pick up" a tile, rotate it as many times as needed, and then either place it back or swap it with a neighbor. This sequence counts as exactly one action, encouraging clever, multi-step moves.
Medal ratings are then calculated based on the total actions used.

3. Validation System

After every move, the system validates the track. Once a continuous path from start to finish is detected, the train drives along the built track. This leads directly to the results screen and medal ranking.

Sound Design

I synchronized this project with my Sound Design lecture assignment. I took copyright-free assets from freesound.org and edited them to match our specific needs. Integrating the SFX and music was a challenging but rewarding process, which significantly increased the overall polish and "feel" of the game.

Final Product

I am incredibly proud of the result and how seamlessly our team worked together. Every design choice was made as a team, to make sure the final game stayed true to our original vision.