Level Design✏️

First attempt at creating a cohesive level design within Unreal Engine 4

Project Overview

Brief

This was part of the Game Content and Level design Module at GCU. Our team was given the brief of a "hungry king on an asteroid".

Role

Team size - 3
Level Designer - I designed the level "Cosmo Cal-Zone"
Responsibilities - selecting features, sketching layouts, implementation and refining variables. I also presented development logs and documented progress

Results

Within 3 months, I worked alongside my team to efficiently deliver my level, gaining experience in Unreal Engine templates and honing in level design skills with an extensive tool kit.

I received 75/100, being commended for rising above challenges with early technical implementation by the end through refinement of the level

Play with Password - GCU@2022

The Process

Setup

Within the game, my level serves as the 2nd out of 3. It builds on feature use from the first level such as moving platforms and turrets. The overall player goal is to collect a set of 3 points, these are located in an easy, medium and hard section of the level

The main gameplay challenge is testing players timing intensely by precise jumping and avoiding projectiles. These patterns are gradually introduced allowing the player to gain an understanding and time their run accurately

Sketches

Sketches were created to breakdown how the level would look and playout. I used an unorthodox method by starting from the most intense section of the level and then filtering down to easier ones and mixing the feature use that were used in the final implementation.

This idea revolved around jumping on static and moving platforms to collect items. Rockets would fire breaking the static platforms making for an intense challenge to get to the end

This was chosen as the basis for the final implementation since it was the most feasible

Used the feature set, but was flawed in that players could easily jump down to the bottom and end the level quickly.

Inhibitors would need to make a guided path down

Had great deal of complexity as these platforms move around in a circular motion.

Not only would the player have to correctly time their jumps, but implementing this would have be timed insanely accurately

Feature Use

An overview of the features was given to understand the complexity and difficulty of how these should be implemented

The level follows a 3 act structure

introduce a mechanic
Rise intensity with increased challenge
Climax with tying up mechanics learned with different layout

The pacing diagram shows this gradual rise in tension and points of resting.

Beat Sheet and Pacing diagram

Beat sheets supported tracking how the gameplay would look at glance.

These helped streamline the level's feature use throughout and give a comprehensive indication of all the objects within the level and how it overall stacks against the other 2 efficiently.

The moving platforms were inspired by clocks ticking, taking the idea of manipulating time to create abrupt motions along the Z axis (in and out the screen).

Within the initial prototype builds, the smooth motion platforms were either to fast or too slow. The clock ticking effect gave just enough time to land and propel the player to the next platform, but also challenge them to time it correctly and move quickly

Final Iterations

Section 1

This act introduces the obstacles the player will encounter later in an concise way

Only one moving platform and two turrets are used to ease them into the challenge. They must analyze the moving platform's timing and turret fire to coordinate the most optimal time to jump.

A checkpoint is given to reward players with rest and save progress

The timing of platforms was the biggest challenge. I created platforms with opposite motions using a spline tool that creates a path for the platform to follow.

I played with speed values for these, however these created inconsistencies therefore they were kept the same ticking interval values so the platforms coordinate the in and out motions simultaneously

Section 2

This act provides challenges player in a bigger way - this reflected by using the camera to zoom out initially so the player can see ahead and coordinate their run

I gathered from playtesting that static platforms had to be in between moving ones to allow moments of rest, other wise players would find it increasingly difficult to jump constantly in one go

I also included destructible objects that breaks when turrets fire to create a sense of anxiety so players feel urgency.

Section 3

This act of the level ties the features and patterns learned before and serves as most challenging section with the payoff of completing the level

The timing of the platform and turret fire have a big emphasis here within a compact area, challenging players skills that should have been trained by the sections previous

Our 1st development presentation

We outline the game experience and how we intend to go around approaching the brief

Our 2nd development update

We show initial concepts and progress on the project and how we are working as a team