Introduction
A semi open world experience, inspired by feudal Japan, in the vein of the worlds of Ghost Of Tsushima and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. In this I had a focus on set dressing the world, including key level design philosophies designed for the third person perspective.
Specifications
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Made in 9 weeks half time
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Focus on level art and level design
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Unreal Engine 5
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Assets:
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Mainly Megascans Library
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Modular asian house kit by Hannes Gille
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InfinityBladeTemple
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Medieval_Environment
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Particles_Wind_Control_System
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PhotoR_Backgrounds
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PN_FoliageCollection
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SoulCave
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WaterMaterials
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Overview
Level Overview
Level Flowchart
1
Ascend the mountain
2
Vista of the world
3
Crossroads
4
Burnt village
6
Farmland
7
Fanatic village and gate
5
Lakeside village
8
Ravine passage
9
Beneath the pagoda
The Start
Cave passage
It starts with a foreshadow of a distant tree which will give the player a short-term goal to strive towards giving them incentive to continue forward.
The path is linear and tight, setting a serene mood thanks to the environment.
Funnel before reveal
Traveling further, there is a slight funnel before reveal to enhance the establishing shot of the world where the player may set short, mid and long-term goals.
Establishing Shot
The Plains
Detail work
To make the houses look burnt, I used a combination of vertex painting, decals and tweaking materials.
Finding a balance between painting and decals was necessary since the meshes did not look great with only vertex painting.
Environmental
storytelling
There are trails of a carriage leading towards the Lakeside Village. These trails stem from a recent raid on the burnt village.
Streamline workflow
Creating debris like broken fences, I use a method I thought of which is to simulate physics for the objects to achieve a more realistic result, work smarter, not harder.
Lakeside Village
Environmental
storytelling
There are trails from the burnt village that lead to a mysterious crypt which the player may find if they are observant or decide to explore.
Design techniques
Leading lines are used to guide the player's eyes towards the inn, on the bridge they are guided to the pagoda.
The bridge functions as a portal, transitioning the player from one area to another. It also functions as a hourglass design, creating a chokepoint in an otherwise open area, giving the player a sense of progression.
Fanatic Camp and Ravine
Level composition
Compositional techniques have been used throughout the level.
One of the main things to focus on is the landmark, by using techniques like rule of thirds and leading lines, I can better guide the player in a more intuitive way than signposting their way forward.
Bait & switch
A conflict between the village fanatics and the temple has rendered the path through the gate unusable. By turning around, the player may discover a previously hidden path that they may take to reach the landmark.
Exploration
The player may explore to find a slightly hidden shrine, a view of where they came from and what they have yet to find, giving the player a sense of discovery.
Pagoda Town
Space planning
Designing the town with the pagoda was a difficult task. It had many areas which served little purpose, I iterated and moved the whole town closer, tightening the whole level as a result, making it more prominent as a landmark.
This allowed me to create more paths to the town, giving the player more agency on which way to go.
Problem solving
Constructing the pagoda was difficult, testing different designs, amount of stories and variations of roofing.
The roofs I used worked fine for the other buildings, the problem was that they did not look match my references for the pagoda.
I solved it by scaling the roofs slightly, having them shrink as they ascend.
Creating all the buildings in the level and especially the pagoda has been possible because of kitbashing, assembling bits and pieces of different packs together.
The process has been very time consuming but at the time it was what I thought was the best method to reach the result I sought after.
Kitbash
Pre-Production
Heading 6
Throughout the project but escpecially at the start, I would gather images of different areas which I would want to create. I would use these images as architectural guidelines for my environment to make it believable.
Reflections
This project had many challenges, space planning was probably the most prominent, finding a good balance between the points of interests and the areas in between. I think I achieved a good balance although I would have wanted to tighten up the area towards the beginning, shortening some of the traveling paths. In order to do that I would have had to move the entire mountain where you start which would take a lot of time.
To enrich the level I would have wanted more buildings and props in the towns for immersion and believability. The overall experience, dressing and composition took priority over finding suitable meshes, kitbash or creating my own that matched my style.
Overall I am pleased with the result and I hope you found it interesting.
Thank you for your time!