The Process

Going into this first introduction level, I honestly did not have an idea of what I wanted to do. I was expecting to go, follow the tutorials, and then add on to that. In terms of collectibles, I wanted coins to be dispersed around the level, something that was not very well hidden. The contrary goes to gems, of which I only added a few in the level (I believe 5), which are meant to reward the player for exploring the level. I think the most difficult, but most fun part to create was the second floating island section, where I had to set up the timelines for each island. I also made a path that branches off, which leads to a jump boost to get a hidden gem. It was also very fun to think about where to hide each gem.

Techniques and Final Thoughts

A technique that was very effective to create the natural sense of the islands was offsetting their animations so that they didn't move simultaneously. This also made it so the jumps would be harder to land, which made my level more engaging and fun. Another technique that was useful when managing blueprint code was using the sequencer node and the reroute pins. While these did not affect anything in game, or even in the blueprint itself, they helped with organization and keeping everything looking clean. What makes me the most proud about this entire level is having learned some of the basics in Unreal Engine 5 and having started to understand how everything works to apply it in later levels. I'm also proud of the progress of learning and having documented every step in the reflections section of this website. If I had more time on this level, I would have probably added more alternate extensions like I did with the islands, but all over the level, to encourage exploration and then reward it with a gems. This would increase the challenge and make the level more satisfying to complete.

Intro

The Valley is a mystical area in the kingdom which has a spirit of its own. The main character, Santyago Cavanagh, has lost his memory and is looking for answers in this magical place. In this unit, I sculpted a landscape, painted it, added 4 checkpoints which will go after every challenge, added foliage, and made a castle and a village in the middle of the map. My world is interesting to explore because its details in the checkpoints and the village add up to tell the story of what has happened in The Valley, and it has some well-hidden gems to look for.

Focus & Tools

When making a level, there will often be some areas that take developers more time, or that they want to expand more on. In my case, it was the village and the castle. I felt that, even though my checkpoints were small and simple, they got the message through, so I decided to expand on my village a little bit more to give it the right feeling. For me, to give this level the atmosphere I was looking for, the most useful tool was lighting. Lighting is crucial for atmosphere because it influences how everything in the world is portrayed, and also the time of day, which creates some uncertainty in my world specifically.

After-Thoughts

What I am most proud of in Unit 5 is the atmosphere that I was able to create, and how I was able to connect what I was doing with my original story without having to change much. Compared to the world I had in Unit 4, I believe this one has much more personality and fits better with my original idea. This is due to the higher freedom I had in the creation of this level with what I already learned in the first. If I'd had more time, I would have expanded my checkpoints a little bit (not excessively, adding 2 or 3 details) to make the theme stand out more. In fact, it was my original idea to do so, but I ended up only improving the village because of the time factor.

Intro

Now that The Valley has hazards and actual gameplay, it feels like a proper videogame. Before these additions, it looked like an interesting place, but there wasn't much more to it; now it is not just interesting, but a fully playable experience. In this unit, I added 4 different challenges, each with its own set of obstacles to surpass. First there is the narrow path, which is a water section where the player jumps from platform to platform, avoiding pendulums and sweeper arms that they need to jump. The second challenge is the boulder path, a hill where boulders roll down and the players need to avoid them. Next is the timed gate, which is a village full of obstacles that the player needs to surmount within a time limit. Finally, there is the guarded marketplace, where the player needs to dodge flying projectiles coming from different towers around the area. These mechanics change the player's experience compared to unit 5 because they are what makes the game fun. An immersive atmosphere is important in a game, but the "meat" of it (in my opinion) will almost always be the gameplay, which is what I have added in unit 6.

Difficulty

In terms of difficulty for the developer, the challenge that was the most difficult to build for me was probably the timed gate. None of them were really overly complicated, but I felt like in the timed gate it was harder because I needed to come up with different obstacles, block passages I didn't wamt the player to go through, and coordinate the time limit with the obstacles accordingly. To balance difficulty and keep it fun, but fair, I tried to always have the difficulty increase within the challenges themselves, as gradually as possible. This meant starting out light, but increasing in difficulty the later in the challenge, like when I removed the projectile blockers towards the end of the guarded marketplace. Additionally, when I thought a section was too hard, I tried to make it less punishing by adding a checkpoint in the middle of the challenge, something I did in the narrow path.

After-Thoughts

After finishing everything gameplay-wise, the mechanic I am most proud of is probably the firing turrets from the guarded marketplace. This is because it was the mechanic with the most steps involved; coding for the throwing of the projectile and its calculations, making the character, making the particle effect, adjusting the different values, etc. If I had more time, I would've liked to add a challenge that has a combination of the 4 that came before. What that could look like is a timed platforming section with the abyss down below, which includes towers that shoot from the sides and boulders that could fall from the sky. This would be the last section, preferably not too long because it would be the hardest, and an intense wrap-up for the level.

Pre-Production Planning

(zoom to see images better)

Concept Statement

When Certeo (the main character) reached the center of the castle, he saw a brief flashback about his past; nothing was clear to him except that he needed to head to the north of the valley. During this level, players should feel like the tension is step-up from level 2, as the protagonist gets closer to finding out about his identity and the presence of the valley manifesting itself against the character's progression becomes more evident, and intense.

Game Elements Breakdown

The level will be based on parkour and challenges of similar nature to those seen in level 2. There will be a section with rolling boulders and fog that will make it harder to see where to go. There will also be a low gravity section where the player needs to go up jumping between floating platforms. Additionally, the player will encounter a timed gate area with a key that needs to be found to open a second door; the section will be full of pendulums and sweeping arms. There will be a last platorming section in which some platforms fall and the player is being shot from a considerable distance.

Ethics & Rating Justification

This game will be Everyone 10+. This is because of the fantasy theme, the mild violence but with no blood present, and the cartoon-ish feel of the world.

Game Design Documentation

The player's objective in the level is to make it through the different platforming and timing challenges and obstacles placed along the way  and make it to the end. A side-objective is to collect all of the coins that will be scattered throughout the level and the 5 gems, which will be harder to obtain (most likely hidden or areas that are harder to access).

In the first section there will be rolling boulders going down a cloudy/foggy hill that the player will need to dodge. Boulders will be spawning from different sectors and the player needs to traverse up the hill with limited visibility. The reason behind this is that the player will always need to be alert and there will be a sense of urgency because they will not be able to see where the section ends. This will require using the boulder asset I made in level 2 as well as the spawner multiple times. For the fog effect, I could use Niagara or Volumetric Fog Materials.

The next section will consist of different floating platforms the player needs to jump between. They will be placed going up progressively and there will be low gravity to add a special touch to the challenge, and to be able to get higher up. For this, the main assets I will need will be for the platforms, which will mostly be wooden posts, simulating floating tree trunks. For the low gravity, I will place a collision box and go from there.

Next, the third challenge will be a timed gate, similar to the one in the last level, which will require a door and the blueprint of the switch previously built. The sector itself will have houses and obstacles as well as a key to open a second door, behind the one that is opened with the switch. This one will require the assets for the key and the door used in the endings of the past 2 levels.

After that, there will be another section based on jumping between platforms, but this time it will be linear instead of going upward and will have pendulums and sweeping arms to make it a real challenge. Additionally, from a certain distance, on a mountain, there will be a couple of shooting turrets which will fire projectiles nearing the end of the challenge and into the next part; this will require the use of the tower asset.

The last part will be made up of a corridor which the player needs to rush through while avoiding multiple of the mentioned turrets shooting fast. The idea is to have an intense ending where the player cannot overthink and needs to act as fast as he can to get to the end, with no cover. It will be short, but extreme.

In terms of UI design, I will keep everything as it was previously, there will be no changes made. This is because I want to keep the same design line as was present before, just to have everything be more coherent. Furthermore, I do not believe I will have enough time to focus on anything other than the level itself, so this is the best decision.