For one of the assignments I have constructed a level based on the game The Forest, which is a survival game where the main character crash landed on a cannibal island and has to find their son and escape the island. So for this level I decided to base it all on the inside of a cave where the player can find various loot from exploring each branch of the level.  So I utilized Minecraft to build the mockup of the level and used various blocks/items to indicate certain parts of the level, such as loot and monsters.

The main forms of fun that I was focusing upon this level design was Immersion, Discovery, and Thrill of danger. One of the crucial parts of the player experience is for them to feel as though they are really inside a underground cave, as a result this level is designed to have tight and narrow walkways where the player can traverse and discover different things. 

The player is rewarded in a sense at certain points of the level, for example in one of the dead ends there could be loot that the player can use to survive better. On the other hand there could a cannibal monster that will attack the player. So the idea here is that the player is rewarded with an "event" that forces them into making a choice on what to do next. If any end/mid points of the level don't have much "events" or none at all it can make the player disinterested with the area and they may decide that place is worthless. 

(You can find the minecraft (ver 1.12.2) map file below!)

For another assignment we were tasked to design a level that concentrates around the misc en scene and look of the environment, which is heavily used in narrative based levels. So for this level I decided to base it off the game Fallout 4, which is a post apocalyptic rpg game that centers in the future where the US and China had an all out nuclear war. The player plays as a vault dweller that was frozen for many years who is searching for their son who is now the head of The Institute. 

The whole of this level is based underground inside the base of The Institute in where the player can explore two main sections that will represent the different sides of The institute. In the green section I wanted the players to see the good side of The Institute, the fact that they are trying to bring back extinct plants back to life as well as extinct animals. In this section I wanted to have a very clean and pristine environment where everything seems calm , orderly and nothing out of place.  

On the other main section (red section) it is an area where all the previous failed inhumane experiments were held and access to that area is locked to the player.  Once the player finds a way into the red section they will instantly enter an area that tells a history of chaos and death. This section of the level is meant to make the player feel uneasy as they have uncovered the dark part of The Institute and their cruel experiments of the past that they had to bury.  There are various rooms and cells that have many skeletons of previous scientists and science experiments. If the player opens the terminals and checks for the journal logs they will find out all the wrong deeds that they have performed in this section and how inhumane. 

(You can find the minecraft (ver 1.12.2) map file along with the texture pack below!)

For my research methodology subject I touched on the different approaches to narrative level design. My goal was to find out if these approaches are a viable way to get the players to be immersed in the game world.