Meso Mountain is a whimsical 3D platformer created by Irina Fawcett (Developer & Graphic Designer) and Noah Ilbery (3D Artist & Animator). Inspired by classic platformers and a plush toy, the project blends custom 3D art with a custom-built third- person controller to deliver an accessible, browser-based experience.

We spoke with Irina and Noah about their inspirations, development process, and the challenges of creating Meso Mountain.

What inspired you to create Meso Mountain?

When we joined the game jam, we immediately were discussing how fun it would be to do a 3D platformer style game. The game-play style was inspired by Banjo-Kazooie and Yooka-Laylee. The cute and round style of the dinosaurs in the game was inspired by and modeled after a Bellzi plushie we had.

How did 8th Wall Studio help bring your vision to life?

8th Wall Studio's Entity Component System (ECS) architecture made it easy to manage entities and their behaviors across the experience. Using this component based system we could create templates for desired behavior and attach those to various entities with the added benefit of being able to tweak those behaviors per entity via the schema inputs. 

Additionally, the event systems, particularly the physics collision events, were utilized to drive much of the game interactions such as the item pickup zones, the death zones, the proximity animations and even a character reset for if you fall out of the map. 

Another essential feature is the custom third-person controller which was created with 8th Wall’s FPS Controller as a template. This controller utilizes the state machine to transition between different character animations. This template and its revised version also use the input system as a base for all desktop controls to move the character and interact with the environment. What’s great about these is you can easily map several inputs across various devices to trigger the same interaction. 

What challenges did you face along the way? How did you overcome them?

One of the main challenges we faced was that we wanted to create a 3D platformer, which required a third-person controller, however, there was no template or boilerplate for this. So referencing the mechanics of the first person controller, we created a brand new third person controller. This had added difficulties of the camera rotation not necessarily being the same as the character rotation which meant that independently rotating the two was impossible. We solved this by adding an additional empty object as the parent of the camera and setting that object's location to the character’s location. Now the camera rotation actually rotates the camera around this new axis so that it can maintain its offset and appear to look at the character independently of the character’s rotation. 

This custom controller worked great, but raised another issue. We had no way to interact on mobile now since typical WASD controls do not translate. As an additional step after the game-jam we worked on creating a custom integration of joysticks and onscreen buttons so that users can interact on mobile as well. This was done by injecting HTML directly for the UI and tying those behaviors into the controls of the existing third person controller.

On the design side of things, we actually had to pivot and adjust fairly early on when we realized the world we had designed would have to be redone since the physics collider only allowed for convex shapes, not concave shapes. This meant our original plan for a navmesh had to be entirely rethought. We adjusted by breaking down the environment underlayer into simplified chunks, all of which were convex shapes, and piecing each of those together. Then we added the more stylized and textured map over that for the visuals. Somewhat like a skeleton for collisions, with a beautified layer over it for visuals.

What were the key steps you took to bring this project to life?

Initially we did a concepting and design phase. This included character design, environment design, puzzle design, and UI design all done in parallel to ensure a cohesive style across the game.

Second, we modeled, animated, and rigged the models for the game. This included characters, environmental elements, and each of the puzzles. We really value the 3D design process and hand-created custom assets as an element that brings a lot of character to any game.

Third, but somewhat in parallel with step two we focused on a basic character controller and physics mechanics to get a character moving in the world and interacting with it as well. This included collision zone triggers and base player stats like health and a game win state.

Fourth, we got into the nuanced states of everything in the game. This included diving deeper into player data and the game’s states as well as detailed interactions and animations for the puzzles.

Fifth stage, Polish. Once we got the absolute MVP in for the game, we did additional passes to add the “nice to have” features. This includes things such as better ui states, intro sequence, proximity triggered bird animations, and NPC characters you can talk to. 

What advice would you give other developers building with 8th Wall Studio?

You don’t have to try to make an incredibly intricate and complex AAA level game. Just focusing on creative and engaging game mechanics and a cohesive intentional style can go a long way. Just take it step by step creating the absolutely necessary features first, then move on to the smaller details to really take it to the next level. We read a quote recently which applies great to game design: “just make it exist first, then make it good.” 

Where do you see the future of AR and web game development going?

Web games are great and gaining popularity because they are easily accessible and shareable without any download or wait times. You can just hop on and have a moment of awe and delight! 8th Wall Studio is acting as a way to democratize access to game creators of all levels and is a great way to get more people into the web game world. 

Ready to build your own game?

Inspired by Irina and Noah’s journey? Sign up today to create your own 3D game or AR experience for free with 8th Wall Studio. Whether you’re new to development or looking to push your skills further, our sample projects are the perfect place to start. Have any questions or ideas? Join the conversation on Discord.