Alberto Arosio

Laika 2.0

Steam Page: Laika 2.0 – Sekret Pravda on Steam

Technical Designer – Studio Albatros.

Overview

Laika 2.0 was born as a university project. After delivering the prototype for the course we decided to complete it and put it on Steam.

It’s a mix between a puzzle game, a platformer and a metroidvania. It’s very challenging (especially in the last levels) and can become a bit frustrating for people who give up easily.

I was the only Game Designer working on the project, so I made everything, from the Level Design, to the whole gameplay. I’ve also implemented a few features directly in Unity, especially the Steam API.

Story

Prologue

It’s the year 1957, in a laboratory hidden deep in the Siberian tundra the Laika project is not obtaining the expected results. The idea to create a super secret agent using a dog is shattered by one critical problem: dogs don’t have opposing thumbs. The Laika project is officially deemed a failure, and the unlucky canine is sent to a secret soviet space station orbiting Earth.

Moscow, 1958, one year later. A group of scientists show the government a new groundbreaking idea to re-open the Laika project: using a chimp as specimen instead of a dog. The idea is met with enthusiasm and the Laika 2.0 project is officially underway.

In-Game

A group of terrorists known as the OGDOADE have hijacked and taken control of an English submarine near the Suez canal and claimed it for the USSR. The soviets want to avoid an international incident leading to WWIII and decide to dispatch their newest KGB agent to solve the situation quietly. Laika 2.0, a genetically enhanced chimpanzee with telekinetic powers, is to infiltrate the submarine, deal with any terrorist on-board and retrieve any evidence. Operation Anubis is the first field operation for the little monkey.

The operation is a success but the KGB is scared of the consequences of such a powerful creature becoming known to the world. They decide to lock her in a cryochamber hidden below an oil rig in the South China Sea.

Laika is going to stay there, sleeping, for a few years before a malfunction on the oil rig finally lets her free. She tries to contact the KGB using a local radio but it’s the Russians who responds, it’s the Japanese. They quickly understand the power of such a creature and decide to turn her into an agent for the Land of the Rising Sun.

Laika is quickly sent on a mission to recover documents regarding a world-ending weapon in development by the USSR. Even after years of cryo-sleep, Laika is still in shape and completes the mission without problems. The documents obtained show that the weapon is actually a joint operation between multiple nations and it is currently on a space station orbiting Earth, while the three devices needed to activate it are scattered all over the planet.

Laika is sent to the space station to disable the weapon, and then sent to recover the three devices hidden in three different corners of the globe: Area 51, St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and in a super-deep borehole near Lokatuy in Russia.

Laika completes all the missions and when it seems like Japan has finally got its hands on the weapon, the OGDOADE attacks the Japan Imperial Palace setting it on fire and stealing the three devices.

After escaping the palace, Laika is able to hide in the terrorist’s airplane that is going to land in Egypt, near the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is then discovered that the OGDOADE has built a secret base below the pyramid and that they are actually an unofficial Soviet special group.

In the end Laika is able to defeat the terrorists, destroying the three devices in the process, making the weapon useless.

The Gameplay

The game is a 2D with a side view. The monkey can move around, jump and even climb walls and ceilings. She can also use telekinetic powers: she can create an abstract version of herself that can interact with small objects (such as switches) without the risk of getting killed by traps. This abstraction can only be maintained for a small amount of time before it dissipates.
The monkey has no fighting capabilities so she needs to rely on stealth and wit to avoid getting killed by enemies and traps. The monkey gets killed in one hit by anything that is even remotely deadly but the respawn is almost instantaneous, so no harm done (only a death counter at the end of the level to make the player feel bad about themselves for having killed tens, or even hundreds of monkeys).

The game is divided in 10 levels, each with its own peculiarity. They are divided in rooms that require a mix of puzzle solving and platforming skills to complete. There are secret collectibles scattered around levels that unlock pieces of lore that can be found in the main menu. At the end of each level there is some kind of end-level boss.

Level Design

Overview

The levels are divided in fixed size rooms. Each room has a static camera that frames everything in the room. Only whatever is present in the active room is visible to the player.

Workflow

The workflow to design the levels follows three main steps (in order):

  • Shape: each level has a specific shape, designed to resemble an hypothetical real-life counterpart. Due to the nature of the game, the inside is not realistic.
  • Player Path: this is the general path the player has to take to complete the level. This path connects the various objectives the player must complete in order to reach the end of the level.
  • Single Rooms: these are the single parts of the level. Each room may feature self-contained puzzles, multi-room puzzles (puzzles that need to visit adjacent rooms to be solved) or they may be empty.

Level 1: Operation Anubis

Laika is the newest special agent of the KGB. She has been trained for the last few years and is now ready for her first mission. She must recover a tape from a group of terrorists that took control of an Egyptian submarine.

  • Shape: the level is the inside of a submarine. The level is a horizontal rectangle.
  • Player Path: the level is mostly on a single path. The first part (the left area) is a tutorial area, where the mechanics and some enemies / traps are gradually introduced to the player. The second part is a way to test the player’s understanding of the main game features. After reaching the boss, the player must escape the now self-destructing submarine through the back escape route all the way to the extraction point (which coincides with the last tutorial room).
  • Level specific features: the game is introduced to the player gradually

Level 2: Operation Lone Life

The Laika Experiment was deemed a failure. Laika is put on cryo-sleep in a hidden base in the Southern Chinese Sea disguised as an offshore oil rig. After a few years the cryo-sleep container fails and Laika wakes up in an unknown place. She must find a way out.

  • Shape: the level tries to resemble a small oil rig, with a hidden facility below water, a small structure floating above sea level and a crane.
  • Player Path: the first part is straightforward: the player must avoid traps to try and get to the main building above sea level. From there there are three ways: left, right and top. The top way is closed (it leads to the exit), the left and right ways lead to two different areas (colored Red and Purple in the diagram). The player must complete both areas in order to open the way towards the exit, but they can be done in either order. Completing the Red area unlocks the door towards the exit, while in the purple area the player can activate the crane in order to remove an obstacle just before the exit.
  • Level Features: This level is similar to the first level, as it features mostly the same traps and mechanics, they are just pushed a bit further.

Level 3: Operation High Speed

Laika has been rescued by the Japanese secret services who decided to make use of her. Her first task is to infiltrate a train on the Siberian railway and recover a briefcase containing classified schematics about a new super secret weapon.

  • Shape: the level is a train, and each car is divided in sections similar to each other. There is a cargo area below and an air vents area above. Sometimes Laika finds herself on the roof of a car or below the wheels (trying to not get crushed).
  • Player Path: the path is very straightforward: complete a car and move to the next one. In the last car there is the briefcase that must be recovered, and next there is the locomotive where Laika must find the controls to stop the train and await extraction.
  • Level Features: the level takes a different approach compared to the previous two. There are completely new enemies and traps to force the player to adapt.

Level 4: Operation Tin Can

The Japanese discover that the new super secret weapon is orbiting earth on a space station. Laika is sent up there to disarm it.

  • Shape: the level is a cross-shaped space station, with a central body with 4 wings attached to it.
  • Player Path: this level is labyrinthic. There are two main switches (in the left and right wings) that must be activated to open the top wing (where the boss is located). There are a lot of keycards scattered around the level, so the player may need to backtrack to find the correct path. There is not a main switch in the bottom wing but a few keycards are there so the player must visit that too.
    NOTE: the backtracking is limited if the player only wants to complete the level. If they want to find all the secrets scattered around the backtracking becomes a bit more intense. 
  • Level Features: this level takes place in space, so there is no gravity. In game this is done by reducing the falling speed of Laika and by inverting the gravity each time the player jumps.

Level 5: Operation Bald Eagle

After disarming the weapon, the Japanese want to take full control of it. To do so they must collect three different devices scattered around the world. The first one is in a facility inside Area 51.

  • Shape: the level is an underground laboratory, hidden below a military barracks.
  • Player Path: this level features quite a few steps.
    • The Radio Transmitters: The first one is to place two radio transmitters on the roof of two different buildings to allow the Japanese operators to hack the security of the lab. The first roof is readily available, while to access the second Laika must first override the lock on the elevators of the lab, descend through elevator number 1, move through the upper levels of the lab towards elevator number 2, and then access the roof of that building.
    • The Blackout: After placing the radio transmitter, the Japanese operators are able to open a few more doors in the laboratory, while also generating a blackout. Most of the lab is pitchblack, the only lights available are the flashlights of some soldiers. The player must activate three switches to manually override the lock on the door of the core of the base. A big feature of this level is the presence of air vents that allow Laika to move to different sections of the level quickly.
    • The Escape: after accessing the core of the base and having defeated the boss of the level, the player must collect the briefcase with the first device and then escape through elevator number 2.
  • Level Features: The main feature of this level is the blackout. With most of the level being completely dark, it becomes hard to navigate, forcing the player to explore every nook and cranny to find some hidden way.
    The Air vents to move around is also something that is not found in other levels.

Level 6: Operation Glory Hole

The second device is hidden deep in a hole excavated by the Soviets in the Siberian taiga.

  • Shape: the level is a mostly vertical tunnel.
  • Player Path: this level is more straightforward than the previous one. The player starts going downwards until the fork. There, the player must first access the left branch in order to open the right one. At the end of the right branch there is the boss and then the briefcase.
  • Level Features: this level is vertical, allowing for a different approach to most puzzles.

Level 7: Operation Banana Crusade

The third device is hidden in the Vatican City.

  • Shape: the level divided in three macro areas: St. Peter’s Basilica, the Catacombs and the Vatican Museum.
  • Player Path: The player must gain access to the Catacombs by finding a hidden switch in the basilica. The catacombs are full of traps and dead ends, but, by activating the correct levers, the player can find the exit with very little backtracking. In the Vatican Museum there is the boss and the briefcase.
  • Level Features: The main feature of this level is that all the rooms of the Catacombs are the same size (2×2 in game units) but, sometimes, the player may see in the camera frame parts of the level that are not reachable directly. This helps the player understand the layout of the level. It also replicates the more famous details (statues, paintings, etc) of this place.

Level 8: Operation Son Goku

Terrorists have attacked Japan and recovered the three weapon devices. The castle where they were being kept is now on fire and Laika must activate the fire suppression system to leave the place and chase the enemy.

  • Shape: the level is shaped like a japanese castle with a building for servants adjacent to it.
  • Player Path: the player starts just next to the exit. The exit is not accessible due to the fire spreading everywhere. The player must then climb to the top of the castle, descend on the other side, access the servants’ quarters and activate the fire suppression system. From there the player can go in a straight line all the way to the other side of the castle, ending in the place where they started in the first place. The exit is accessible, and just behind it there is the boss with the exit behind him.
  • Level Features: this has a lot of fire spread around, but the main feature is the fact that the player starts just next to the exit, but must complete a long path before actually being able to reach it.

Level 9: Operation Elegant Elephant

Laika infiltrates the gigantic airplane used by the terrorists to escape.

  • Shape: the level tries to follow the shape of a big airplane. It is a horizontal rectangle divided in two macrosections.
  • Player Path: this level is divided in three different areas: the Cargo Area, the Air System and the Crew Area. The player must complete the Cargo Area by activating two switches in the Orange and Purple areas. The two switches open up the Air System controls allowing the player to reach the upper areas. By using the switches in the Air System Controls the player can open and close ways in the Air System and thus gaining access to the three different areas of the Crew Area (Yellow, Green and Blue). By activating three switches (one for each of the areas of the Crew Area) the player can open the access to the Landing Gear Area, where the player can fight the boss and hide from the terrorists until landing.
  • Level Features: this level doesn’t have specific features, but has a lot of characterizing elements around.

Level 10: Operation Osiris

Laika finds the location of the HQ of the terrorists: a pyramid in Egypt.

  • Shape: the level is pyramid shaped, with an underground base below.
  • Player Path: The player must gain access to the underground base. The entrance is at the top of the pyramid. The left part of the pyramid is straightforward, with a linear way until the top. From there, the player can access the right part of the pyramid that is divided in two areas, each containing a single key. With the two keys the player can open the long shaft to access the underground base. There, the player must defeat two minibosses and the final boss of the game.
  • Level Features: this level features puzzles with elements never seen in the levels before.