Zhuang Zhou — Butterfly LD
Overview
A flight-first 3D platformer that carries players from a realist museum into a shanshui dreamworld. Pedestals anchor; hoops accelerate. Each beat is painted to keep the butterfly moving and the duality reading — awake, or dreaming.
Contributions
- Flight-first layout — pedestals and hoops positioned to preserve momentum.
- Shanshui transition — museum to dreamworld; duality and transformation as spatial arcs.
- Painterly level art — shaders and landmarks that support navigation instead of fighting it.
Design Goals
Mood board — museum and shanshui references
Three north stars
The level had to hold narrative immersion, flight integration, and guided exploration at the same time — each goal steering the other two.
- Narrative immersion — transition from the museum into a shanshui dream; duality and transformation.
- Flying mechanic integration — levels centered on freedom, with pedestals as visual guides and vertical layering.
- Guided exploration — lighting and landmarks cue direction without breaking openness.
Design Process
Whitebox metrics · design reference
01 · Whitebox & metrics
Uniform pedestals and hoops during whitebox — same scale, same spacing — so every iteration could be compared for clarity and consistency before art landed on top.
Prop placement — positioning and flow
02 · Prop positioning
Hoops and pedestals placed to preserve momentum — the player should never have to brake to find the next beat. Flow first, aesthetics second.
Painterly shanshui shaders
03 · Level art
Painterly shanshui shaders across the dreamworld pass — art supports navigation rather than fighting it. Landmarks stay readable at flight speeds.
Playthrough
Full playthrough — museum to dreamworld
End-to-end run
A recorded flight through the full level — the realist museum opening, the transition into the painted shanshui, and the final pedestal beats.