Description
Role
A Cyberpunk / Star Wars themed level blockout for an Advanced level design course at Futuregames. Worked in a group with 2 others who made levels that came after mine in the game. The character controller we used was the ALS system made by Jakub W.
Level Designer / Level Scripter / Lighting Artist
Project
Cyberpunk / StarWars Level prototype
School
Futuregames
Genre
Action Adventure
Engine
Unreal Engine 5.3
Gameplay
Level Documentation
For this project, I made a Miro section to have the LDD and mood boards, reference videos, and drawing designs in one place for my level segment.
To add variety, we used variety tables where we would ask people to randomly say yes or no without telling them what mechanics we are using, which would give us random data points that could make for interesting gameplay
Level Production phase 1
The level I was making is set in a spaceship factory. I wanted to have a large and vast environment that gives the player many options on how to get to the objective. The difficulty comes when guiding the player to make it feel natural and not holding the player's hand.
Here, I was trying to get the player scale correct, along with the roof and doors. I was unsure how this level would connect to the next level my teammate would be working on. For now, I was just playing around with shapes to get a feel for the space.
The beginning of the block out for the lab that is upstairs. Here, there will be little space due to there being a lot of cover so the player can sneak around in stealth. If they get caught, then they will have to engage in CQC.
Miro Board
Top Down
Screenshots from phase 1
Level Production phase 2
In this phase, I worked closely with my teammate brainstorming where the levels would connect and designing what the second level could be and how I could incorporate it into mine. We came up with a large train that will be half on my level and half on theirs. Placing the player around helped with finding the right scale.
I wanted there to be a big control room that the player enters from the lab location, which would introduce the player to the factory scale. From there, I started to design how the player would get to the next level. To get down from the control room, I made a large staircase that spans many floors to give the illusion that this facility is much bigger than it really is.
Screenshots from phase 2
Level Production phase 3
In this phase, I made big improvements to the level. I finished the scaling and feel for the whole level. I started with the first iterations of cover for the player to use for stealth. I also added vents around the lab area to facilitate emergent gameplay. I also started placing and testing the AI pathing and their patrol routes. Balancing their difficulty and the amount of cover was quite a challenge. I found it hard not to make it too easy that you can, on your first try, make it through the level without getting spotted.
I started to experiment with lighting and came up with solutions that were as performant as possible compared to normal spot or point lights. I used Emissives on rectangles to make long lights that use Unreals Lumen global illumination along with Nantie to light the scene. As they were not real-time like point lights, I could place many more than I would be able to otherwise.
Screenshots from phase 3
Level Production phase 4
Here, I started to hone in on the atmosphere of the level, along with AI additions and improvements. I added a door that I scripted to open and close and that the AI can also trigger them, which was a challenge. If there is any colider blocking a path when the game starts, the AI pathfinding thinks there is a wall and it can't go through the door. I found a way where if I reduce the size of the collider so that it does not touch the floor but is low enough for a player not to crouch under it, the AI will use it just fine.
I also started to experiment with how I could guide the player around the level using the lighting. I placed lights in the lab to go in the direction of where the player needs to go. Vents are marked with yellow light along with points of interest. Red lights mean that it is blocked, and green means that the player can go there.
I placed red lights in front of the gate that the player needed to find the drone to open. Once the key unlocked the door, the lights changed to green.
I play-tested with some classmates, and they were struggling to find where they had to go after the lab location. I spoke with my mentor and we came up with adding lights that sequentially point in the direction that the player will need to end up. I scripted lights to turn on and off in a row to make it look like they were moving in sequence. This helped with guiding the player but this still was not enough.
Screenshots from phase 4
Level Production final phase
This was the final phase of my level. I added a beauty corner at the beginning of the level when you enter the lab to show how the level could look with assets. I added a military vehicle on the factory floor to act as a boss enemy. I replaced placing all the AI for an AI spawning system I found. This helped a lot with performance, not having to have all AI active all the time.
I made the sequential lights large and green with another iteration and testing. This was to continue with my green design language, meaning the player could go there. When the player enters the control room, there are large green flashing lights that run the length of the crane track towards the exit, showing the player that it is where they need to go. Lastly, the testers also said that they didn't know how to get to that exit, with a new placement of AI the player would be forced to take a certain path that would lead them to the objective. I also added a flickering light pointing towards the cockpit of the spaceship, which is connected to the crane, which seems like it could be taken away any second. I did a final test by letting my girlfriend, who doesn't play any games, purely test the navigation through the level, and she managed to get to the exit without any help or prior knowledge of the level.
Finally, I added polished assets to a small section of my level, as shown in the screenshot. This is to show how my level design can work with the art and still fulfil its purpose.. Form follows function.
Screenshots from the final level
AI enemy
I also worked on the readability of the AI enemies for this project. I added a shoulder-mounted flashlight that first added to the atmosphere of the game, but gameplay allowed the player to know where the AI was looking even while hidden behind the cover. It can also show the player what the AI can see.
I also added red glowsticks on the AI so that they can be read more easily from a distance. One on their hip and one on their backs.