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Story synopsis

Your subway station has been flooded so you must find new shelter. The military patrols the nearby area so reaching your goal will prove difficult. Sneak or kill your way through enemies to reach the new subway station and clear it of enemies to claim it as your own.

Specifications

  • Made in 4 weeks half time

  • Focus on level design

  • ​First Person Experience

  • Unreal Engine 5 

  • Assets:

    • BlockingStarterPack​

    • AnimStarterPack

    • Meshes created in Blender

    • thebasemesh.com

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Level Overview/Top down

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Level Flowchart

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1

Flooded subway

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2

Emergence

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3

Building

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4

Found a weapon

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5

Crossroads

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6

Vista

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7

Entering the subway

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8

Subway fight

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9

Back to the entrance

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Tension

1. Flooded subway   2. Emergence   3. Building    4. Found a weapon   5. Crossroads    6. Vista    7. Entering the subway   8. Subway fight   9. Back to the entrance

Design Techniques

Foreshadow

When exiting the subway, the player's next goal is foreshadowed. Leading lines, framing and the plane's movement is used to enhance the foreshadowing, drawing the players eyes towards their goal.

Vista

From the vantage point a vista is presented. It shows the players goal in addition to where they came from. Deciding which of these routes to take gives the player agency over what kind of encounter they prefer.

Vantage Points

There are two locations, one where the player can choose between two paths, combat or puzzle. Combat may take the player to their goal faster whilst being riskier, the puzzle route gives the player an advantageous position above the enemies. 

Level Loop

After clearing out the subway, the player loops back near the start. Having cleared the subway of enemies, the player has secured the subway as a new shelter. they may safely take it over. The loop lets the player bypass backtracking while making the subway interconnected. 

Level Iterations

Interactible Environment

I wanted the player to interact with the environment and more specifically around my combat encounters. Utilizing them in different situations gives the player agency over how to play out these different encounters. 

Make It Memorable

By mixing up my usage of interactive objects, the encounters become more recognizable and memorable which is my goal when designing different combat encounters.

As a result, the level keeps the player more engaged since there is always something new for them to tackle. 

Blockout Process

Less Is More

Refining gives room to improve, iterate and de-block an otherwise square look. Finding a balance between dressing and achieving a refined look was difficult. Keeping it simple with a couple different meshes worked wonders to achieve a refined state.  

Environmental Storytelling

Space planning

Achieving the look of a war-ridden city festered with enemies and worn-down buildings was a large focus for this level.

The player is be able to understand the environment they are in, allowing them to puzzle together the story themselves.

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Pre-Production

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Level Design Document

The first thing I did in this project was to write a rough pitch of the level which included a short story and setting. Then I designed my level in a document where I established the levels goals, features like enemies and what the player can do and a sequence of gameplay beats. 

Goals

My focus was to make a linear experience where the player would have different options on how to tackle different encounters. I also wanted to have defined combat areas and stealth areas, to give the player knowledge when it switches from one to another.

 

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Gameplay beats

I wrote down different gameplay beats I could have in my level. A gameplay beat could be something that encapsulates a specific mood, scenario or a certain emotion. By combining these events and puzzling them together I created a level flow and with that, a level.

 

By doing these steps, I had a good idea of what I wanted to accomplish with my level. It was now way easier to start making a top down and blockout.

Reflections

Overall, I am pleased with the result and this has been very enjoyable to work on. There are some certain things I would have wanted to change if I had the time.

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I would have wanted the combat design to be more fleshed out. If the enemies could move, take cover and add a damage system to enemies and destructible objects, it would have allowed for better playtesting experiences where I could have iterated even more on the combat design.

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This project really improved my blockout skills and space planning for first person, space planning still needs a lot of work since I feel the level has some areas, more specificaly outside, are too big for their purpose. I would have needed to tighten those areas and remove the unutilized areas. 

I learned a lot about creating combat encounters which allow for different approaches, enhancing the player’s agency.


Thank you for your time!

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