DESOLATE DETECTIVE

ROLE - Level Designer

INTRODUCTION

My final year project in which I set out to create a 1st person open world exploration level in which I used environmental storytelling to convey its narrative to the player. To do this I had to use my skills in Level design and Unreal blueprint scripting.

GENRE

open world/ exploration

RESPONSIBILITIES

Concepting with game idea
Research and development of level
Designing and documenting level designs
Designing and documenting mechanics
White boxing level within engine
Producing environment using Unreal Level editor
Placing of assets into level
Producing mechanics using Unreal Blueprint
Testing and iterating on level
Optimization and crash fixing of level

TOOLS

Unreal Engine 4
3Ds Max
Photoshop
Microsoft office suite
Pen Paper
Unreal Level Editor
Unreal Blueprint
Unreal UMG
Unreal Material Editor
Unreal Niagara
Quixel Assets
3rd Party Sounds (GDC bundle)
Unreal Market place assets (Procedural Nature Pack Vol.1, temperate Vegetation: Spruce Forest)

LEVEL DESIGN PROCESS

RESEARCH

Before Starting this project, I had not worked on an open world level, so I needed to research how to effectively design an open world level so that the player never felt as if they were lost or didn’t know what to do. This was mainly through looking at GDC talks which went over different aspects of nonlinear level design (Designing for Non-Linear Story Discovery in Tacoma, Level Design in Hitman: Guiding Players in a Non-Linear Sandbox, Designing Radically Non-Linear Single Player Levels).

PRE-PRODUCTION

After my research, I decided that a tutorial-like section was needed to introduce the player to the mechanics as well as how the game would be played. The tutorial area had to have a very different vibe and level flow compared with the main game. This was done to emphasise the feeling of dread the player feels when entering the main area as well as increasing the sense of shock and that something has gone wrong and needs investigating.

Tutorial Theme

Main Area Theme

Knowing this and knowing what each section would contain I gathered a collection of images to inspire the layout and look of each subsection of the level would look like to ensure the area felt as real and lived in as possible.

mood board for tutorial area 2

mood board for grand hall area

mood board for waterfall area

mood board for tutorial area 2

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LEVEL MAPS

Using the gathered information I went about designing the area to do this I split the design into subsections which I designed separately and combined to make the over all level. In each section I made sure to emphasise a distinct aspect of it to act as a landmark and point of intrigue for the player.

Tutorial Map

paper design for tutorial area

additional mapping tutorial area

white boxing of level annotation

paper design for tutorial area

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Main Area Map

more detailed overall main area paper design

overall main area map

overall main white box 3

more detailed overall main area paper design

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Main Area Subsections Maps

grand tree map

grand tree map 2

grand tree white box 1

grand tree map

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grand hall extieror map 1

grand hall intieror map 2

white box grand hall 2

grand hall extieror map 1

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residential area map 1

residential area map 2

white box residential area

residential area map 1

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water fall map

water fall map 2

waterfall white box 1

water fall map

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LEVEL PRODUCTION

While creating the level in the engine I continued to iterate upon the designs to improve the different aspects of the level be it emphasising more exploration, making sure visual storytelling elements were more clear, or improvements on other aspects to optimize the project.

Tutorial Area Development

Main Area Development

LEVEL DESIGN TECHNIQUES

EDUCATING THE PLAYER

Making sure the player understood mechanics and where to use them was important as otherwise, the player was unable to tell where to use the investigation mode

Used diegetic methods to teach how to do a mechanic inspired by games such as Dead Space
Used diegetic methods to prompt the player to use the mechanics in the right place

The choice of diegetic methods allowed for a better sense of immersion for the player as well as feeling less like the game was railroading the player.

PLAYER PROGRESSION THROUGH LEVEL

Due to the non-linearity of the level had to make sure the player knew where to go without compromising the open feel.

Did this with the addition of decals in a similar colour as the investigation mode and mechanics on key sections or paths between them
Used sight lines to expose items of interest from the different sections

CLARITY OF STORY BEATS

When conducting observations of players I noticed that people were confused by what had caused the damage as apart from the burnt trees there was not much to indicate it to the player outside of the text. To fix this I did the following

Created glowing orange decals to show glowing parts left by the fire
Added lights of the same colour under the trees to push this
Added particle effects to represent embers
Added audio of fire crackling to push it further

MECHANIC DEVELOPMENT

Although this project main focus was level design it was still my responsibility to create, document and, produce the mechanics for the level so it could actually be played it consisted of 3 main mechanics the documentation for which is below.

INVESTIGATION MODE

investigation mode diagram 1

investigation mode diagram 2

investigation mode diagram 3

investigation mode diagram 1

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JOURNAL

journal diagram 1

journal diagram 2

journal diagram 3

journal diagram 1

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END GAME QUIZ

end level quiz diagram

end level quiz diagram 2

end level quiz diagram

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INVESTIGATION MODE DEVELOPMENT DURING THE PROJECT

Created a porotype pass for the mechanic to prove that it was possible to execute and work in a gameplay sense
It was hard for the player to know when to use the mechanic so I added a particle effect that would be around the area of items that were visible in investigation mode to subtly cue the player
To push this further a volumetric sound of people speaking was added that got louder as the player got closer to encourage player exploration and cue the player without hand holding while also making it feel mysterious

JOURNAL DEVELOPMENT DURING THE PROJECT

started with testing it on basic items
Added a widget image to make the journal look more visually appealing
Changed sound cue to a more thematic sound (writing in a journal)
Added a menu type system to improve player navigation as well as improved visual presentation

END GAME QUIZ DEVELOPMENT DURING THE PROJECT

Started with an example of how it would work
Added buttons to give a more professional look
Improved on that further
Added a section at the end of the quiz which tied the quiz to feel more relevant to the narrative of the overall game (that of choosing the fate of the settlement) rather than something tacked on at the end

Link To Design Doc For More Detailed Breakdown Of My Design Process

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