My original blockmesh had two bridges the player would need to make a series of jumps across. Playtesters reported that this wasn't fun, wasn't engaging, and didn't really look all that great. I responded by making this section of my level destroyed by a landslide that the player would have to navigate across. It felt very productive to directly respond to player feedback and flesh out my original idea to a greater extent.
VERDANT OVERGROWTH
The aim of this project was to design a seamless gameplay experience with two other game designers. My level was titled the Verdant Overgrowth and is home to an ancient temple, a hidden waterfall passage, a militant fortress, and a tower that ascends beyond the surrounding area. Several things went right and several things went wrong. Each instance, however, proved to be a very valuable learning experience when it came to my grasp on both Unreal Engine and Perforce.
I designed my level from blockmesh to final design. Prior to the project, I had not ever made a blockmesh. There were certain tools of the trade that I had not known which would have helped me immensely when designing my original level. Navigating my blockmesh also proved exhausting as I had no idea there was a "Play from here" option when right-clicking on the map. Thankfully, I became aware of the "Play from here" option for future projects. I remember kicking myself for making such a complex blockmesh but the satisfaction of seeing the finalized versions made it very much worth it.
The biggest headache of my level was most certainly the waterfall with the hidden passage. There were difficulties from both a technical and design perspective. I had to design the waterfall in a way that was both hidden and discoverable for the player. I decided to have the passage blocked off until the player collected a specific relic within the temple. This was a simple blueprint communication but challenges arose to make the change more apparent to the player.
It was suggested to me that I could implement a sequencer to alert the player that a change occurred within the waterfall. The sequencer I introduced to my level was incredibly buggy and did not cooperate with me in the slightest. I had to abandon my sequencer and instead, attempt to direct the player using leading lines and convenient lighting.
I wanted a narrative reason as to why the surrounding area was so lush with plant life. I decided that an ancient civilization worshipped some sort of plant deity and I subsequently made an altar to them in the temple. My level being overgrown made for an excellent opportunity to become acquainted with the landscaping tool and the foliage tool, both of which I had not used prior.
It was a bit of a challenge to find the right assets but Infinity Blade had more than one asset pack that fit my level. While I could find a great number of assets that fit the tone I was going for, there were a few select parts of my level where no good assets could be found. If I had known the selection of free assets were so sparse, I would have designed my level with that in mind. I somewhat appreciated the limitation as it allowed me to be creative. For example, I could cover up seams and graphical errors with rock and overgrowth to further immerse the player.
I am a massive fan of narrative in games. I took this level designing experience as an opportunity to dress a set with a narrative. This poor person, for example, was seemingly killed by roots. I like to think that nature itself responded to him chopping trees to make his cabin.
There was a lighting bug in my blockmesh where the very start of my level was being affected by an invisible point light, making everything around it appear chromatic. I spent a considerable amount of time trying to fix it when it dawned on me that the player would not play the blockmesh and my time was better spent focusing on elaborating on design choices.
I knew I wanted to incorporate a massive tower in my level but feedback reported that the rooms felt empty even after adding statues. I tried my best to make the rooms feel more alive. I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition that the tower was so romantic and idyllic when compared to the violent exterior of the surrounding area.
In conclusion, I consider this project an unrivaled success. Not only did I learn the basics of level design, but I also applied them and will continue to apply them to any future levels. While my level may not be the most visually encompassing, it is technologically impressive to me given my prior lack of experience. On the plus side, I greatly enjoyed making it and it only affirms my desire to make games. My knowledge of Unreal Engine and Perforce increased greatly towards the end of this project.
I intended for there to be multiple interiors to my level. I wanted to experience how the design process of interiors differed from exteriors. I found a challenge in properly immersing the player in a construct of meshes. The cave of my level is several upscaled rocks made to look like a tunnel. I love this aspect of trickery when it comes to game design