Project & Portfolio IV Level

Project Postmortem: IAT4 Level

Introduction: In Project & Portfolio IV, I was tasked to come up with an idea for a level in order to later design it in Unreal Engine 5. But before doing so, I needed to have one required objective, three optional objectives, and two mechanics. Today, I am going to talk about what went right and wrong in my level.

What Went Right:

1. Main Objective: The main objective was to retrieve the gold figure at the end of the level. This objective was inspired by Indiana Jones: and The Raiders of The Lost Ark (1981) at the scene where Indy retrieved the gold figure and then he escapes the temple.

2. Path 1: Making the first path was very simple because that’s what everyone does when designing a level. In my case, it was a straight path.

3. Level Start & End: The level contained a start, focal point, and the ending scene with different locations. 

4. Optional Objective 1: In my level, it was to find and read the note of the temple. This was located inside the house at the start of the level. 

5. Optional Objective 2: In my level, it was to collect treasure items. These items were around inside the temple, and it was an objective I took inspiration from the Uncharted games. 

The most important thing that went right was the main objective because you can’t have a level without a main objective. When designing a level, you need to let the player know what they are playing for and the main goal. 

What Went Wrong: 

1. Stressors: I didn’t put stressors in my level because I wasn’t aware of anything that the player would get stuck on. 

2. End of the Level Data: While the menu for it shows up, the data collection was not because I didn’t know how it was done. 

3. Optional Objective 3: In my level, it was to find the hidden room. While it was in the level, I was not aware of the fact that there was a main objective in one of the rooms. 

4. Path 3: The level needed to have 3 different paths from start to end. I thought I was right about the paths but it turned out I wasn’t because I didn’t do path 3 right, but I was right and wrong about path 2. 

5. Adding a roof for the temple: Because it was top-down, and the issue I had with the camera view being stuck on things that prevents the player from seeing their character, I decided not to add a roof to the temple.
   
   In conclusion, I understood the flaws in my level and I knew it wasn’t so easy, but it’s important to learn from our mistakes so we can improve and do better moving forward. Overall, I at least tried what I could considering how tough it was to do some of the tasks, but in the end, I know what I can do next time I design a level.

• Link to Gameplay Video: https://youtu.be/Kec2BXfCMZs 

• Link to Mechanics Video: https://youtu.be/0GzR1I6j2xc