Giving players options on how to progress was a core concept for the blockout. Allowing players to go in guns at the ready or take the stealth option depending on their personal playstyle.
The Adventure Begins
Created in Unreal Engine. This blockout was a test to push my ability to create a fully playable experiance from start to finish. All of the mechanics were for the project were created using Unreal Engine's Blueprints, something i found easy to adapt to my goal of the blockout. My goals during this project were to create believable spaces that would keep players engaged throughout the level using a range of game design techniques. These range from blocking backtracking using one way valves as the player approached a critical point in the level to using the enviroment to navigate and reward players who took the time to explore.
Pre Production
Taking Concepts To Reality In A 3D World
From the very start of this level design, I worked in engine. Building an environment in a 3D space allows me to test on my ideas and quickly make any changes to both the layout and scale of the blockout if it doesn't fit the goal I intended.
This allowed me to build on my knowledge of level design principles as well as how to incorporate natural flowing terrain to give the space a more accurate setting by taking the design off of a grid based design.
See below how the the broken house was used to frame the end goal to the player.
Initial placing of the end goal.
The end result frames the observatory for the player before they enter the one way valve.
Level Design
To fit with the narative design of the level, the enviroment was used to give players directions. Trees that have fallen down provide direction for the player by pointing in the direction they should be heading in. Other elements were used to guide the player. Once the player climbs the inital slope, they are able to get a glimpse of their objective off in the distance, the old clocktower. This repeats itself throughout the flow of the level as a visable landmark through cracks in cave walls and in the house seciton of the level. This was done to ensure players can observe they are on the correct path and can see their overall goal.
Picking The Right Swatch
The colour scheme was also used to help guide the player in the correct direction. Yellow was used to indicate the player could use the climb mechanic. This idea was inspired from games such as the reference for this project, "Uncharted 4", God Of War and Horizon. They all use the simialr principle to guide players by placing chalk outlines and markings where players can climb. This visual language is important in the design to ensure players can learn how they should be interacting with the games enviroment.
I also wanted to ensure the colour scheme matched that of the overall theme of the level. I opted to use mostly browns and greys to give players the sense they werre in a rocky mountain area. where the player would interact with water based sections of the levels, i would include greens and blues to give the illusion of moss and wetlands. This colour scheme is imprtant not only to give players testing the blockout a sense of the enviroment but also, to ensure the enviroment artist who is going to be making art assets for the level, understands what each area should represent in the final product.
They Went That Way...
Splitting the paths for the player and giving them choices allows people to play the game their own way. I wanted to ensure players could make their own choices even though the end goal for the level is the same. Being able to play the level this way allowed players to craft their own experiances.
Testing The Design
To ensure the deisgn could be taken to an art pass. the level flow and mechanics had to be tested on a regular basis. This testing prcosess would allow changes to be made to the blockout before any final artwork was created for the level.
Testing feedback found that some of the areas of the level required more detail to be added to them to help guide the players towards their objective. The grapple secition confused alot of the players and was reworked to include a better camera angle so the players could observe their intneded direction. The grapple ability also was changed to include the pop up UI text that would give players instructions on how to progress with the area.
Other areas which saw a redesign was the optional path area. This section sees the map transform from a linear style path to the more open world design. offering players different paths they could take to reach the same destination. Players would often end up taking the combat path as this is the most prominent path that they observed entering the area. The stealth path was reworked to be more visble to players entering the area so they could see that they hand more choices to make if they wanted to