ⓘ OVERVIEW
Head in the Clouds is a short game about an author delivering copies of his latest novel to his fellow villagers. As the player glides between floating islands, they come to realize that nobody actually wants to read the book. The protagonist, however, has his “head in the clouds” and believes everyone will love it.
This game is meant to comment on how artists pour their hearts into their work but often don't feel their efforts reciprocated by consumers.
👁 RECEPTION
Head in the Clouds earned a 1st mark (94/100) with a 100/100 mark in the Production Quality category for its ironic dialogue, adaptive sound design, and atmosphere (BSc Interactive Media, University of York).
The game has also been used at open days for BSc Interactive Media to showcase past student work.
It was also shortlisted for the Best Project award at the 2023 Interactive Media Showcase.
⌨ DEVELOPMENT
This was a 2nd year university project developed in Unity. I aimed to create a calm, airy project with gliding, floating islands, windmills, and a breezy, dynamic soundtrack. The game draws influence from Journey, Supraland, and the Legend of Zelda franchise (namely Skyward Sword's Skyloft and Breath of the Wild's Rito Village).
As the project had to be playable in under five minutes for a university submission, many of my ideas were cut short. Further development could see new challenges like the item puzzles in Heat of the Moment.
I aimed to make everything about Head in the Clouds feel airy: gliding, volumetric fog, air cannons to propel the player upward, and trilling synths in the soundtrack. A depth of field effect fades distant objects, simultaneously making the world feel tiny and creating a sense of mystery around blurry islands in the distance.
Characters are hidden all around the environment, so players must use their glider and air cannons to reach high-up or distant islands.
While I initially aimed to make navigating the islands more of a puzzle, I later added additional paths to tricky islands to ensure they wouldn't be frustrating to reach. I made sure to add a path back to the remote starter island in case the player missed the character there.
Unfortunately, I had to scrap the pretty lighting shown in most screenshots thanks to some annoying grading computers, but you can still download either build on the itch.io page. Just be aware the nice lighting build has been abandoned and the cheaper lighting build is the final version.