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The mountain calls: an exploration of immersive storytelling through art and level design

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The Mountain Calls
An Exploration of Immersive Storytelling Through Art and Level Design

by

Suli Zhang

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF FINE ARTS
(INTERACTIVE MEDIA)

May 2023

ii

Acknowledgements
I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to my thesis advisors, Associate Professor Richard
Lemarchand and Professor of Practice Peter Brinson, for their unwavering support and encouragement
throughout my project.

I am also deeply grateful to all the USC Games MFA Cohort '23, as well as to Laird Malamed, Martzi
Campos, and all the playtesters who have been a constant source of inspiration and motivation. Their
invaluable feedback and constructive criticism have played a vital role in improving the quality of The
Mountain Calls.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge and thank my team members for their support and contributions
during the development.

iii

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... ii
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... v
Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1
Project Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 1
Thesis Question ......................................................................................................................................... 2
Design Pillars ............................................................................................................................................. 2
1. Platforming .................................................................................................................................... 2
2. Puzzle-solving ................................................................................................................................. 2
3. Immersive storytelling ................................................................................................................... 2
Player Experience ...................................................................................................................................... 3
Prior Works ............................................................................................................................................... 3
Cutscenes in Gravity Rush ..................................................................................................................... 3
Platforming in Celeste and Hollow Knight ............................................................................................ 4
Environmental changes in Gris ............................................................................................................. 5
Fragmented storytelling in Souls-like games, Elden Ring in particular ................................................. 5
Target Audience ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Chapter Two: Mechanics: Retainment vs. Deletion in Development ........................................................... 8
Initial Mechanics ....................................................................................................................................... 8
Iterating Mechanics and Final Presentation ............................................................................................. 9
Merging characters ............................................................................................................................... 9
Iterating mechanics ............................................................................................................................. 10
Chapter Three: Dynamics and Aesthetics: Beauty vs. Practicality in Level Design ..................................... 12
The Role of Game Art in Level Design ..................................................................................................... 12
1. Establish the atmosphere and theme of the level .......................................................................... 12
2. Highlight key information and guide players .................................................................................. 13
3. Strengthen storytelling and emotional experience ........................................................................ 13
Creating Game Art for The Mountain Calls ............................................................................................. 13
General direction: Feng Shui in Taoism, Wuxing from nature ............................................................ 13
Drawing inspiration: Traditional Chinese landscape painting and mural ........................................... 14
Process of Designing the Levels .............................................................................................................. 15
Visualizing the story ............................................................................................................................ 15
Finding the relative balance ................................................................................................................ 16
iv

Chapter Four: Narration: Depth vs. Complexity in Immersive Storytelling ................................................ 18
Combining Storytelling and Playfulness .................................................................................................. 18
Conveying Cultural Differences to the Audience .................................................................................... 18
Storytelling in The Mountain Calls .......................................................................................................... 20
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 22
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 23

v

Abstract
In video games that contain elements of puzzle-solving and storytelling, environmental variables
are often the key to players finding clues to solve puzzles and driving the plot forward. Puzzle-solving
games typically require players to use critical thinking and utilize all the items in the environment to
solve challenging puzzles. Solving puzzles can give players a strong sense of satisfaction and
achievement, motivating them to continue playing. Narrative-driven games, on the other hand, often
rely on an engaging story to draw players into the characters and plot, establishing a connection
between the player and the game and evoking various emotional resonances. Environmental changes in
these games often foreshadow significant plot developments.
Integrating puzzle-solving and immersive storytelling can greatly enhance the player's
experience in a game. However, combining immersive storytelling and puzzle-solving effectively is a
significant challenge for designers. This thesis project, The Mountain Calls, attempts to explore the
potential for integrating puzzles and plot through environmental changes to create an immersive
experience. The development process will follow the MDA framework and document the design process
to investigate this potential synergy between storytelling and puzzle-solving.
The first section of this paper provides an introduction to the project, including the design pillars
and player experience goals. The second and third sections describe how puzzle-solving and storytelling
are interrelated in The Mountain Calls, covering the game's core mechanics, level design, art, plot, and
their iterations. These two sections also analyze examples from other games to support the iterations
and modifications. The final section provides a summary of this thesis.

1

Chapter One: Introduction
I sometimes design original characters and write story outlines for them for my own
entertainment. These characters do not know each other but exist in the same world setting. Similar to
how the main characters in Octopath Traveler
[1]
have no interaction at the start of the game until the
middle to later stages where the player has completed their individual story chapter. As a result, it is
easy for me to take one of the stories with its related character out and turn it into a narrative-driven
game. I would like to use this opportunity to introduce some of my original characters to others and
convey some interesting and fundamental elements of Chinese culture to players while exploring my
thesis question.
After conducting research, considering cultural differences and acceptance, I eventually decided
to use "Wuxing ( 五行, The Five Elements)"
[2]
, which are well-known and recognizable among the survey
participants, as the key puzzle element. As a result, a 2D platform puzzle game with an ancient Chinese
cultural background and Taoist theory began to take shape in my mind.

Project Overview

The Mountain Calls incorporates Chinese Taoism and legends into its narrative and aesthetic.
The player takes on the role of Ningshan, a Feng Shui priest, who uses elements from nature to repair
broken incantations, ultimately preventing a disaster from befalling the village.
2

Thesis Question
How to enhance immersive storytelling through art and level design?
To answer this question, my team and I conducted research from various aspects such as art,
Chinese folk mythology, and Taoist philosophy during the game development process. We also read and
watched many videos and written materials on level and quest design to integrate core mechanisms into
the plot, attempting to seamlessly integrate the use of Wuxing for puzzle-solving into gameplay, without
making it feel forced or out of place for the player.

Design Pillars
In the game, players will encounter the following three features:
1. Platforming
As with most platformer games, the player must input commands to control the character and
navigate obstacles. The player will discover hidden paths, hidden plot, and other surprises while
exploring.
2. Puzzle-solving
The game features many different types of puzzles for the player to challenge themselves with.
They require the player to use the Feng Shui priest's ability to solve them by manipulating two of the
five different elements from “Wuxing”.
3. Immersive storytelling
I aimed to create an emotional story that allows the player to feel the characters' struggles and
resonate with them. The plot revolves around the player character repairing the crumbling spell ring and
advancing towards its center. With each completed section of the incantation, the protagonist will be
one step closer to the truth. The ending reveals the secret of the village where the protagonist lives, and
at this point, the player will have to make a difficult decision.
3

Player Experience
I hope that the player will experience the following goals while playing the game:
● A sense of joy and achievement when overcoming difficult platforming and puzzles.
● Empathy towards the characters and the struggles they face, and the courage to take
responsibility for their choices at the game's ending.
● Experience and enjoy the traditional Chinese cultural elements and Chinese aesthetics
involved in the game, thereby increasing their interest and curiosity in Chinese culture.

Prior Works
Cutscenes in Gravity Rush

I like the way cutscenes are presented in Gravity Rush
[3]
. They use a comic format, where the
camera switches to the next storyboard when the player clicks confirm. Dialogues pop up in order upon
the change of storyboard, which also grabs the player's attention. I incorporated a similar cutscene
format in The Mountain Calls.

4

Platforming in Celeste and Hollow Knight
The emphasis on platform jumping is different in Celeste
[4]
and Hollow Knight
[5]
, but both games
have fun and challenging aspects that can provide players with a very enjoyable and fulfilling gaming
experience.

Screenshots from Celeste (left) and Hollow Knight (right)
In Celeste, the difficulty of platforming shifts as the game progresses, gradually becoming more
challenging. The level design features obstacles and traps that are both interesting and challenging, such
as moving platforms, rotating saws, and projectiles. By completing challenges and exploring, players can
acquire more skills and moves to help the protagonist better overcome the difficulties in the game.
Platforming in Hollow Knight places more emphasis on exploration and discovery. Players need
to use the character skills, such as double jumping, gliding, wall climbing, and dashing, to reach different
areas and hidden places in the game. This not only requires players to have sufficient skills but also a
deep understanding of the map and environment. In addition, combat in the game also requires players
to use platforming skills flexibly to dodge enemy attacks and launch counterattacks.
In designing the levels for The Mountain Calls, I combined the focus on platforming challenges
from Celeste with the emphasis on exploration and discovery from Hollow Knight.

5

Environmental changes in Gris

Screenshots from Gris
In Gris
[6]
, each level has a unique visual style and theme, with the game's graphics being simple
yet artistically rich, matching the emotional experience of the protagonist. As the protagonist’s
emotions change, the color scheme and graphics also change, representing her emotion shifting and
growth. For example, after experiencing a heavy sense of loss, the protagonist falls into a cave, and the
environment and music become dark and heavy. However, when she regains hope and strength, the
color becomes bright and lively. This kind of color treatment was also used in The Mountain Calls. I used
a lot of dark and cool colors to depict the unknown darkness in the mountain cave for the protagonist.
As the areas became visible with light, he became less tense, so the colors in those areas were more
vivid.
Fragmented storytelling in Souls-like games, Elden Ring in particular
Elden Ring
[7]
and other “Souls-like” games are known for their immersive storytelling, which is
conveyed not only through cutscenes but also through the gameplay itself. As players progress through
the game, they gradually uncover the lore and backstory, often through cryptic clues and hidden details
in the environment. This creates a sense of discovery and engagement with the world that is
unparalleled in other genres. In Elden Ring specifically, players will be able to experience a vast and
interconnected world full of diverse environments, characters, and enemies, each with their own unique
stories and histories to discover.
6

Screenshots from Elden Ring
One example that left a deep impression on me is the side quest about an NPC named D. If
players never read the description of D’s equipment, they may not know that D had a twin brother even
after completing the game multiple times. After D dies, players can choose whether to give his
equipment to his brother. If they do, his brother will appear in one of the ending prerequisites standing
next to a dead NPC with a bloodied sword, muttering that he has avenged his elder brother. If they
don't, the NPC will still die, but D's brother will not appear.
Elden Ring focuses on exploration and discovery, which provided me with an enjoyable
experience while playing. I added some deleted plot and details that do not affect the overall story
development during the iteration process to The Mountain Calls. I hope to use this approach to help
players better understand the background and characters of the story.

7

Target Audience
1. All genders, aged 18-35, puzzle game and platformer players.
2. Role-playing game players.
3. Mid-core players that enjoy taking challenges.

8

Chapter Two: Mechanics: Retainment vs. Deletion in Development
Initial Mechanics

Initially, I envisioned a game where the player could proficiently use two protagonists to
navigate and solve puzzles, similar to Trine
[8]
. In that idea, the hunter protagonist had better mobility,
with the ability to double jump and dash, while the Feng Shui priest excelled at using five elements to
solve puzzles.
Challenging platforming, interactions of five elements, and difficult puzzles are all exciting ideas
that I found invigorating, both as a player and a designer. I was excited about these ideas and became
completely immersed in designing the game mechanics based on the “generate and overcome”
relationship between the five elements from Wuxing: for example, using fire to burn vines would leave a
pile of ashes in place, as fire generates earth according to the theory. Moreover, to increase the
9

difficulty of the game, in the earliest prototypes, the player had to search and store elemental energy
from the environment, and the element resources available in each level were limited. In other words,
when facing puzzles, players had greatly reduced margin for error, and I hoped this design would better
motivate players to think actively.
However, it was apparent that I had overlooked a few recurring issues in game development,
which are scope and projection. My prototype only developed single interactions for two elements and
did not create the combined effects of the ten possible effects in total. Only using two mechanisms
related to elements in level design gave me the delusion of having a small workload. It was not until I
began recruiting my team members to create a vertical slice that I realized that my project scope was
too large. Therefore, I had to significantly reduce the scope, leading to the iteration that followed.

Iterating Mechanics and Final Presentation
Game development often involves multiple iterations. Iterations on game mechanics inevitably
involve removing, modifying, and adding. How to make trade-offs has become a headache for me. There
were some detours during the development of The Mountain Calls. Upon realizing them, they sparked
my reflection of iteration.
Merging characters
I know that making a complete system of Wuxing with their interactions and relationships can
be difficult, but during the early stages of iteration, I didn't consider modifying it. One reason for this is
that I wanted to maintain the integrity of the five elements, that is, to preserve all of them - would
players find it strange if they could only use some of the elements but not the rest? On the other hand,
my team was working on the game's story at the time. My writer felt that the Hunter character had a
small role in the entire storyline and could only appear as an NPC.
10

This was a good suggestion. This way, we could reduce the number of character animations
needed in art, write less code involved in controlling different characters, and simplify the player's input
actions. Therefore, the first thing to be deleted or, in other words, integrated was the player character.
Iterating mechanics
Although I realized the scope was too large and made cuts early on, I later discovered a more
serious problem. I only completed a portion of the core mechanics surrounding the five elements in the
prototype and vertical slice, and only proved the feasibility of the puzzle mechanics based on the
interactions between the elements. I didn't deeply consider how to incorporate the remaining three
elements into the game. This led to a chain reaction where I couldn't come up with a reasonable way to
integrate the interactions of Wuxing into the game, resulting in a delay in level design. At the same time,
my lead programmer and friends also expressed that developing ten different element interaction
mechanics was too challenging. Before the problem got any worse, I made adjustments to the core
mechanics, although this is not typically recommended in the middle stages of a project.
This led me to reflect on the planning of game projects and my personal skills. Game
development is indeed a complex iterative process that requires careful consideration, but this should
not be an excuse for my mistakes. In the early stages, I did not fully consider the game mechanics or my
own abilities and team size. I overlooked whether the vertical slice could effectively represent the core
mechanics, or could objectively evaluate gameplay and design direction, and missed the opportunity to
examine whether the core mechanics needed to be retained or be deleted. In the middle stages, I
became obsessed with ensuring overall consistency and neglected the real problems. It wasn't until I
couldn't avoid the issues any longer that I began to make adjustments and search for solutions,
ultimately reducing the number of elements and changing the core mechanics to improve feasibility. If I
had consistently followed the concentric development, I may have been better able to address the
problems more effectively, avoiding the wastage of time and resources.
11

In the end, I cut the elements, which had been the core mechanic based on their generation and
restraint, significantly simplified the complex interactions, and shifted the design focus to the story with
levels as a supplement. My core loop became:

12

Chapter Three: Dynamics and Aesthetics: Beauty vs. Practicality in
Level Design
The “environmental variables” I mentioned earlier are actually the "dynamics" in the MDA
framework
[9]
, which refers to the interaction between player actions and game world reactions. In my
understanding, “dynamics” is the manifestation of game mechanics in actual player operation, and it is
the interactive process between mechanics and players. These dynamic events can include the
movement, attack, and other interactions of player characters, the actions and reactions of other
characters and elements in the game, and the presentation of various effects in the game. “Dynamics” is
an important medium between mechanics and aesthetics, and they interact with each other to create a
meaningful gaming experience.

The Role of Game Art in Level Design
The role of game art in level design is significant as it can enhance player immersion and
gameplay experience. In my personal opinion, its functions can be summarized as follows:
1. Establish the atmosphere and theme of the level

Screenshots from Paper Dolls: Original
Art assets such as textures, sound effects, and lighting can quickly create the atmosphere and
theme of a certain place in a game. In Paper Dolls: Original
[10]
, a large number of 3D assets of wooden
13

furniture with Qing dynasty style are used, which make players recognize the architecture as Chinese at
a glance. The dim lighting with dark yellow or cool color tones, and eerie sound effects make players
immerse in the tension and fear of exploring a haunted Chinese mansion.
2. Highlight key information and guide players

Screenshots from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Using prominent colors to mark key items or paths in the game can help players progress
through the level more easily. In the mazes of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
[11]
, most objects
that can be repeatedly activated or are waiting to be activated have an orange glow, while activated and
moving objects are blue.
3. Strengthen storytelling and emotional experience
Game art can tell a story and enhance players' emotional experiences through level design
layout and scene construction, known as environmental storytelling. This type of design is often
implemented under the premise that the overall atmosphere and theme of the game have been
established. By observing the environment, players can piece together the story on their own.

Creating Game Art for The Mountain Calls
General direction: Feng Shui in Taoism, Wuxing from nature
Fengshui and Wuxing are important concepts in Taoist philosophy. Fengshui refers to the
traditional Chinese practice of arranging objects and space in a way that promotes the flow of positive
14

energy. Wuxing is a system of five elements that are believed to be fundamental to the natural world.
These elements are seen as interconnected and in a state of constant change and interaction. Each
element is associated with specific attributes and can be used to understand and harmonize with the
natural world. The principles of Feng Shui and Wuxing are seen as essential for creating balance and
harmony.
In Chinese folklore, these two are endowed with even more mystical colors. Fengshui is believed
to be a supernatural art mastered by Taoist priests, which can drive away evil spirits and protect people
from being threatened. This led to the creation of the background setting for The Mountain Calls and
provided a rough direction for creating art assets.
Drawing inspiration: Traditional Chinese landscape painting and mural

Traditional Chinese landscape painting typically emphasizes the beauty of lines, brushstrokes,
and shapes, aiming to depict the essence and harmony of nature, while murals usually depict religious,
historical, and mythological themes.
When creating art assets, I combined the characteristics of both and used traditional Chinese
painting techniques to depict highly recognizable cultural elements such as mountains and decorative
patterns. I retained some of the brushstrokes of ink painting but enhanced the changes in light and
shadow, fully utilizing space and lighting effects, and creating a sense of depth and space through
elements such as color, composition, and shape.
15

Process of Designing the Levels
Visualizing the story
Designing and implementing the visual environment
[12]
is the first step in helping game designers
visualize the story. After the basic plot was completed, we began working on level design.

First, we determined the total number of levels and roughly estimated how long players would
stay in each based on the amount of text in the corresponding script (assuming they were only watching
the plot). This gave us an initial scale for the levels.

However, in works of film or games created using the Three-Act Structure, the second act often
contains half of the plot. Therefore, we have adjusted the proportion of the time that players spend in
16

each part of the game in the predetermined levels that appear in different acts and have derived a new
scale. By visualizing the story, we can quickly and clearly see the scale and game flow of each level and
identify any mismatches with the plot during the development, allowing for timely adjustments.
Finding the relative balance
I had always been interested in the relationship between artistic and practical considerations in
game design, which for me is similar to the debate between "form follows function"
[13]
and "function
follows form" in industrial design. A game needs to have enough visual appeal to catch the player's eye,
while also being practical enough for the player to easily understand the game's rules and mechanics.
A role-playing game designer may decide to use a unique art style to highlight the game's
uniqueness and beauty. However, if these art styles are too exaggerated or complex, they may affect
the player's understanding and use of the game's rules and mechanics, thereby affecting the game's
practicality. In an action game, the designer may decide to use some flashy visual effects to increase the
game's artistry. However, if these effects are too flashy or dazzling, they may interfere with the player's
vision, making it difficult for the player to see the enemy's attacks, thereby affecting the game's
practicality.

17

When designing the levels, I often need to balance between artistic and practical considerations
to ensure that the game pace is attractive and playable. In addition to considering how to design a
reasonable route, I also need to ensure that players do not get lost or experience too much repetition
during gameplay.
[14]
To achieve this, I divided and adjusted the level into different parts, make the areas
where players may pass multiple times within a small range, and marked them with an iconic object to
improve the game's playability and player experience. In addition, I also tried to guide players to learn
the game rules unconsciously through inducement-based method by connecting the levels and
environments before and after, encouraging them to actively use character skills to solve puzzles.
In the end, I came up with my personal conclusion: in level design, designers need to constantly
balance and weigh artistic and practical considerations to ensure that the game pace is attractive and
playable enough. Furthermore, designers need to flexibly apply various design techniques to achieve
good results based on the differences in game type, theme, and audience, balancing artistic and
practical considerations. Additionally, designers need to introduce new mechanics or rearrange existing
ones based on differences in game type, theme, and audience to ensure that the game pace is attractive
and playable enough, bringing players a better gaming experience.

18

Chapter Four: Narration: Depth vs. Complexity in Immersive
Storytelling
Strictly speaking, narration should actually be classified under “dynamics”. But in my thesis,
immersive storytelling is a major focus, so I decided to create a separate section for it.

Combining Storytelling and Playfulness
Incorporating storytelling into game mechanics is most commonly achieved through character
dialogues and written texts. Players can understand a character's personality and emotions through
their tone and dialogue and can learn about the world view and background story through descriptions
or clues found in exploration. Branching also allows players to make decisions that impact the game’s
ending, allowing them to explore the world and story at their own pace, creating a tight connection
between the player experience and the story.
Similarly, using the game world and its visual and auditory elements to evoke a sense of story
and atmosphere can be achieved through the use of music, sound effects, environment, and character
animations. These all help convey the mood and tone.

Conveying Cultural Differences to the Audience
Genshin Impact
[15]
is a highly popular game worldwide. Every year during the real-world Spring
Festival, the game introduces a limited-time Lantern Rite (adapted from the Spring Festival) mission that
highly incorporates cultural elements, allowing players from different backgrounds to experience the
cultural significance and emotional value of the festival.
In the mission, the origin, evolution, and emotional significance of the festival are divided into
multiple task steps, each corresponding to different objective keywords. This allows players to gradually
19

understand the festival's background and customs while completing the mission, gaining a deeper
understanding of the festival.

Screenshots from Genshin Impact
The Lantern Rite mission's flow design closely follows the festival's customs and emphasizes
player participation. Players collect materials to make props that are only used during this festival,
experience the festival's features and customs, and even release the Kongming lanterns they have made
themselves. In the cutscenes, they can witness hundreds of Kongming lanterns flying together, creating
a grand and lively atmosphere. Through the presentation of cutscenes, accompanied by voiceovers,
subtitles, and background music, the plot reaches a climax, creating a romantic and festive atmosphere
and conveying emotions such as longing for a better life, family reunion, allowing players to gain a
deeper understanding and experience of the festival. As a result, even if players have no knowledge of
the real-world Spring Festival, they can share the same emotional experience as those who celebrate it,
despite coming from completely different cultural backgrounds.
Therefore, incorporating cultural elements into games and conveying cultural differences to
players through missions, props, and environment can be an effective way. In this process, the design of
mission flow and level is also very important, in order to provide players with a sense of participation
and emotional experience, and to help them understand and appreciate different cultures.

20

Storytelling in The Mountain Calls
The Mountain Calls’ plot is created based on the Three-Act Structure, which includes setup,
confrontation, and resolution, to help us build a solid story framework. We further divide these three
parts to better grasp the character's emotional changes over time and convey the corresponding
emotions to players.

Act 1 typically includes important information such as character information, world setting, and
character goal. We put more effort into the art design of Act 1 scenes, adding more storytelling
elements and details to create an immersive environment.
Act 2 is where the character takes action to achieve the goal and faces challenges and
difficulties. This stage gives game designers more subjectivity, as puzzle-solving difficulties can be
provided in level design.
In Act 3, the story reaches its climax, and the character faces the biggest test. We choose to use
a black and white comic book format for the ending to convey the character's growth and breakthrough
to the players.
By applying the Three-Act Structure in storytelling, we can accurately capture the character's
emotional changes, build a tense and engaging story framework, and immerse players in the game
21

world. At the same time, the arrangement of environmental storytelling, level design, and ending format
also helps us better tell the story. It is important to focus on the creation and refinement of the story
structure to ensure that players can have a complete and profound story experience in the game.

22

Conclusion
Firstly, the combination of puzzle games and narrative-driven games can be highly optimized
through changes in the game environment, which can enhance the player's experience and motivate
them to continue playing. Secondly, aesthetics and practicality play important roles in game level design,
and the interaction between dynamics and art can create the ultimate game experience. Finally,
research on storytelling can provide useful insights for game designers, helping them to convey cultural
differences and engaging storylines in their games.
In the development process of this paper, we used the MDA framework to make The Mountain
Calls practical and aesthetically valuable. We explored the possibility of combining immersive
storytelling with puzzle-solving in level design, providing valuable insights for game designers.
Additionally, understanding player behavior and psychology is crucial for game designers. By conducting
in-depth research on player behavior and psychological reactions, game designers can better
understand players' needs and preferences, creating more excellent game experiences.
In summary, this paper explores the combination of puzzle games and narrative-driven games
and provides some references and insights. I hope to further improve the practicality of this
combination and create even better game works.

23

Bibliography
[1] Square Enix. Octopath Traveler. Nintendo Switch. Square Enix, 2018.
[2] "Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. ，
Accessed 10 Feb. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxing_(Chinese_philosophy).
[3] SCE Japan Studio. Gravity Rush. PlayStation Vita. Sony Computer Entertainment, 2012.
[4] Matt Makes Games Inc. Celeste. Multiple platforms. Matt Makes Games Inc., 2018.
[5] Team Cherry. Hollow Knight. Multiple platforms. Team Cherry, 2017.
[6] Nomada Studio. Gris. Multiple platforms. Devolver Digital, 2018.
[7] FromSoftware. Elden Ring. Multiple platforms. Bandai Namco Entertainment, 2022.
[8] Frozenbyte. Trine. Multiple platforms. Frozenbyte, 2009.
[9] Hunicke, R.; Leblanc, M.G.; Zubek, R. MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research.
In Proceedings of the Challenges in Games AI Workshop, Nineteenth National Conference of Artificial
Intelligence, San Jose, CA, USA, 25–29 July 2004.
[10] Beijing Litchi Culture Media Co., Ltd. Paper Dolls: Original. Multiple platforms. Beijing Litchi Culture
Media Co., Ltd., 2019.
[11] Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Nintendo Switch. Nintendo, 2017.
[12] RizaldiMoh, Design and Implementation Visual Environment of 2D Puzzle Platformer Computer
Game: ASCENDER[J]. International Journal of Asia Digital Art and Design Association, 2017, Volume 21,
Issue 1, Pages 73-78, Released September 08, 2017, Online ISSN 1738-8074.
[13] Sullivan, Louis Henri. "Form Follows Function." Lippincott's Magazine, vol. 57, no. 334, 1896, pp.
403-409.
[14] Jonkers, Diorgo. "How to Design Levels for a Platformer." Dev.Mag, Accessed 15 March 2023,
http://devmag.org.za/2011/07/04/how-to-design-levels-for-a-platformer/.
[15] miHoYo. Genshin Impact. Multiple platforms. miHoYo, 2020.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Zhang, Suli (author)

Core Title The mountain calls: an exploration of immersive storytelling through art and level design

School School of Cinematic Arts

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Interactive Media

Degree Conferral Date 2023-05

Publication Date 04/17/2023

Defense Date 04/21/2023

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag 2D platforming game,game art,immersive storytelling,level design,OAI-PMH Harvest

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Bilson, Danny (committee chair), Bolas, Mark (committee member), Lemarchand, Richard (committee member)

Creator Email sulizhan@usc.edu,sulizhangcn@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113017546

Unique identifier UC113017546

Identifier etd-ZhangSuli-11646.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-ZhangSuli-11646

Document Type Thesis

Format theses (aat)

Rights Zhang, Suli

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source 20230418-usctheses-batch-1024 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu