Designing the journey
Layered terrain, paths, water, planting, and small structures organize the environment around a recognizable focal point.
INDEPENDENT VIDEO GAME DESIGN
Waterfall
Gem Tycoon.
A landscape to explore.
A world to grow.
A personal game-development project built around collecting falling gems and investing in the world around them. Environment design and progression systems turn a waterfall into both a destination and the center of play.
- Focus
- Environment design, gameplay systems, and iterative development.
- Design approach
- Connect player actions to visible changes in the landscape.
THE CORE IDEACollect. Upgrade.
Collect. Upgrade.
Explore further.
The core loop begins with gems falling through the waterfall. Collection feeds upgrades, while new paths, crossings, and taller waterfall stages give progression a spatial expression.
Separate player upgrades explore movement speed, collection speed, and basket capacity. The design links the pace of play to an environment that changes as the player advances.
Making collection tangible
Development work explores gem spawning, movement through water, manual collection, basket collectors, and individual inventory objects.
More than a larger number
Waterfall, base, and character upgrades create distinct progression paths. Collection ideas include rare discoveries, gem size, mutations, and a gem index.
Images are AI-enhanced portfolio visuals based on the project, including promotional concept artwork.
DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTFrom gems
From gems
to a growing garden.
A further design concept connects rare gem discoveries to a garden system: gems become seeds, with timed growth and plant, bush, or tree outcomes. Variation in size and mutations extends the collection loop.
This progression concept is part of the project's ongoing design exploration.
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