UnityGameDev

Path of Ascent is a 3D platformer adventure with vertical climbing and physics-based challenges.(A game inspired by Only Up)

1. High Concept

• Tagline: “A surreal climbing adventure where the only way forward is up.”
• Genre: A 3D platformer adventure with vertical climbing and physics-based challenges.
• Target Audience: Casual players, challenge seekers, PC gamers.
• Platform: PC

2. Story & Setting

• Opening Scene: The scene fades in. You find yourself standing on an endless, barren ground stretching into the horizon. No paths, no walls—just silence. You try to move left, but something unseen holds you back. Right, the same. The only direction left is above. Towering shapes and strange objects rise high into the sky, stacked endlessly, beckoning you. The question lingers in your mind: what waits at the top? The only way to know… is to climb.
• Narrative Theme: A surreal journey of persistence and discovery, where the only way forward is upward — each step testing your determination while hinting at the unknown mystery waiting above.
• World Description: Endless plain → stacked objects → final destination
• Player Motivation: Find out what lies at the top.

3. Gameplay & Mechanics

• Core Loop: Move → Jump/Climb → Avoid falling → Progress upward.
• Controls: PC: WASD + Space (Jump) + Mouse (Camera)
• Progression: Increasing jump difficulty, new platform types.
• Fail Condition: Fall → restart / checkpoint.
• Win Condition: Reach the top object/goal.

4. Level Design

• Structure: Single continuous vertical climb.Divided into sections/zones to give variety and sense of progress.Each section introduces new challenges or platform types.
• Sections: Break climb into parts → beginner, tricky, advanced.
• Obstacles / Platform Types:

1. Static platforms → beginner section.
2. Small platforms → harder jumps.
3. Moving platforms → left-right or up-down.
4. Rotating/balancing beams → test stability.
5. Breakable platforms → collapse if player stays too long.
6. Slopes/slippery surfaces → extra challenge.

• CheckPoint: Few checkpoints (every 1–2 zones) → balanced difficulty.[decide later acc. to game feel]
• Level Flow: The climb has rising tension → player feels nervous the higher they go.Each zone gives a sense of atmosphere (different props/colors).Visual cues help players know they’re progressing (new objects, lighting shifts).

5. Art & Visual Style

• Direction: Low-poly, stylized, surreal.
• Colors: Neutral tones for base.
• Environment: Floating junk, crates, pipes, candies, industrial objects, surreal ruins.
• Player: Simple humanoid/figure, readable silhouette.

6. Audio

• Music: Calm, ambient, slightly mysterious.
• SFX: Jump, land, fall wind, footsteps.

7. UI/UX

• Main Menu:

1. Options: Play / Quit
2. Quote: “Every journey begins with a single step… but where does it end?”

• HUD:

1. Elements: Height counter, optional timer.
2. Quote (small text at corner): “The higher you go, the more you see.”

• Pause Menu:

1. Options: Resume / Restart / Quit
2. Quote: “Even stillness is part of the climb.”

• Game Over:

1. Text: “You fell! Try again?”
2. Quote: “Falling teaches you where to rise again.”

• Win Screen:

1. Minimal message: “You made it.”
2. Quote: “But was this the top… or just another beginning?”

8. Technical Details

• Engine: Unity
• Language: C#
• Target FPS: 60+
• Builds: PC

9. Inspiration & References

• Only Up, Getting over it, Roblox lobby of only up
• Art Style: Low poly surreal world.
• Moodboard: Floating junkyard, candyland, industrial ruins, dreamlike skies.