I built a world that has both parkour and doors for the player to open. It has floating islands, coins and gems to collect, and a competitive drive to see how fast the player can get to the end. It is a fun game for the players to test themselves and their obby skills, and allows for basic fun while also being interesting.
The original idea for this level was for the players to have to just focus on getting to the end of the level. However, this changed as I was building to to decisions on getting all the coins and gems or getting to the end in the best time possible. The most fun part of creating this level for me was the coins, as it was fun just putting them everywhere and seeing how many the player can grab. Hardest part was either the door keys or the islands, as while it might not seem hard on the surface in practice I struggled with it.
The tool that was most useful was the duplication tool, for the obvious reason that I didn't have to manually find all the pieces in the content folder and drag them in one by one. Instead, I could just hold alt and drag the specific piece out of the existing piece to create another island or platform like in the images above. The thing I am most proud of is the floating islands in this level, as while they are rougher and could use some fine-tuning, they do work better than I thought they would. Something I would polish would be the smaller details in the project, to make the whole experience flow better than the rather rough state the level is in now.
The Valley (Seen in the pictures below) is a level initially created from a series of instructions that I then changed and added objects and actors to in order to make the level that is seen below. These new things are the checkpoint buildings I created, along with a puzzle made to slow the players down from simply breezing through the level. I made a village that was more designed to be abandoned than alive. What makes this world more interesting is the challenge to get past the starting zone, the puzzle and exploration of the level itself, and the challenge to find the coins that are hidden throughout the level.
The parts I increased the most in this unit are the pathways leading up to the castle and village and the initial starting zone where the player begins the level. The tools that were most useful in this process are castle building and likely the blueprint tool. I used the building tool extensively with creating the new sections of the map that were the puzzle, debris in the starting zone, and the refinement within the village. Some things were needed that weren't in the assets, though, so I used the blueprint tool to create those specific actors needed for the level.
Something I can say I am most proud of is the puzzle and the initial obstacles within the beginning sections of the level that can challenge the player sufficiently. This new level is far different from the end of Unit four, as Unit four was establishing the base of the map while this unit was more adding content to the level that makes the level interesting. I would have improved the whole flow and placement of the level if I did have more time, but I can say that I am satisfied with how the level turned out overall.
What is The Valley like now that it has hazards and gameplay? It is far more interesting for the player to experience and play through, as now there are actual challenges within the game that are designed to test the player's skills or gaming technique. Before, it was more of a rudimentary obstacle course for the players to get through and complete the level. Now it is still the same general goal, but the experience with these new sets of specific obstacles in the players' way is far different than the previous experience.
What kinds of challenges did you add? I added the challenges of a pendulum in the starting zone, several sweeper arms that are positioned around both the start and the coin in the start, and a rock spawner with a ramp and obstacle avoidance course. The pendulum and the sweeper arms add a basic challenge for the player at the beginning and sets a floor for what the player can expect later in the level. The boulder spawner I made a necessary feature to get through despite being what some might call too difficult, with death zones around the trees to prevent players from just going around the obstacle instead.
How do these mechanics change the player’s experience compared to Unit 5? These change it drastically, as now they really have to struggle in order to make any progress within the level and win. As said above, these obstacles make a simple parkour challenge for the player into a much more difficult obstacle run for the players to get through. In summary, these mechanics change a simple challenge into something the player can really get into and work for the win rather than just getting through it.
Which challenge was the most difficult to build, and why? I would say that the pendulum was the most difficult for me. I managed to get the general shape and build down for the pendulum structure, but the part where it was difficult was the animation and the actual movement of the pendulum hammer while also applying a collision to the end that interacted with the player. I ended up having to rebuild part of it and recheck the conditions of the pendulum, and in the end managed to fix it by rewatching the tutorial and double-checking my work.
How did you balance difficulty to keep it fun but fair? I balanced the level somewhat, but really couldn't balance it too much unless I wanted the level to not have some challenge to it. I made the sweeper arm guarding the coin pickup rotation *180 to make it more difficult for the player to get by and pick up the coin, and I didn't change this to make the challenge more engaging. Similarly with the boulder challenge, I added little to no barriers or safezones to increase the challenge and engagement because a) the checkpoint is right before the boulder challenge, and b) multiple playthroughs by me have shown it to be possible though very difficult, some that I find to be good for engaging a player in a challenge.
Which mechanic are you most proud of, and how does it fit the story of The Valley? I would say I'm most proud of the Pi challenge I added after the starting zone. This was part of the creative expanse yeah, but I can say at least that I didn't have to follow a tutorial to make the challenge the way I did. The way that it fits into the story of the Valley is that the main character is a bit on the lesser side of intelligence and would canonically struggle with this challenge. If we wanted to go deeper into lore, it could also be said that his previous neighbors put up this challenge to keep him out of the Valley and hopefully have him not come back.
If you had more time, what new challenge would you add? I would add a tower with the Pi challenge to keep the player from staying still and googling an answer. This little extra challenge would make the player have to keep moving and not stay still, then having to either go trial or error on which number is the right digit or not, or having to know Pi by memory and know which doorways to go through. This might affect how some play the game, but it would make the challenge here far more interesting than it is now.
What did you learn about storytelling through visuals and sound?
Which feature do you think most enhances the player’s emotional experience?
If you could add one more cinematic or audio element, what would it be - and why?
What did you learn about storytelling through visuals and sound?
Which feature do you think most enhances the player’s emotional experience?
If you could add one more cinematic or audio element, what would it be - and why?
Level design plan: The level will follow the typical end goal/maze theme that makes the player go through obstacles that challenges the player and makes the have to adapt to difficult challenges to get through the level.