POST APOCALYPTIC SURVIVAL EXPERIENCE
A short post-apocalyptic adventure dropping the player into hostile territories
Commentary Video
PROJECT OVERVIEW
DESCRIPTION
An open world experience with a fully set dressed world including gameplay, level streaming for performance and key level design philosophies
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The project is fully designed for a switch between third person and first person perspective. Indoors and outdoors has been carefully designed in order to not interfere with the experience
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SPECIFICATIONS
Time Dedicated: 3 Weeks
Game Engine: Unreal Engine 4
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​Level Design
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Blueprint Scripting
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Lightning & Atmosphere
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Story & Narrative
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Documentation & Workflow
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Gameplay Functionality Implementation
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Artificial Intelligence Implementation
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BLOCKOUT BEFORE AND AFTER
GIF's to give you a perspective of my workflow and blockout process.
LEVEL OVERVIEW & Breakdown
Refined gameplay & world illustration.
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UNIQUE AREAS
MAIN CITY
SUBURBS
References & Inspiration
Gathering information and inspiration is key for a good design.
DayZ, Miscreated, The Last of Us, The Walking Dead.
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LEVEL DESIGN principles & TECHNIQUES
ESTABLISHING SHOT
When presenting new areas to a player, it's a good practice to do so via establishing shots, which can be combined really well with a vantage point. As shown you can see clearly where you are, the mid-term goal & long-term goal.
You've also got a mid-term player choice here, you can either go explore a local town or procceed down to a checkpoint allowing you to pass to the next area.
CHECKOV'S GUN
Something that will be of significant importance down the line, perhaps for a big fight?
In this instance the rocket launcher provides an imaginative solution for the player which will do big impact on the game's progression.
PROBLEM SOLVING
When a player is offered a problem to be solved.
Forcing the player to look around or explore for a solution to their progressive issue at hand.
For this instance, I've blocked of the bridge clearly. The player is soon offered a solution just around the corner.
Can in other cases force the player to think outside the box. Simple example but a powerful one if implemented contextually.
PLAYER AGENCY
In an open world it's vital to present player agency in order to let the player feel like they have the upper hand of their destiny, even though the outcome might be the same. The sensation of exploration and discoverability.
DATUMS, LANDMARKS
Anchoring the world to a datum which for this example is a river, running across the world, creating connections to landmarks, areas and points of interest.
LEVEL STREAMING
When working with a large open world or level, performance is very vital for it's gameplay and user experience.
A solution for this is Level Streaming. By setting up the visibility & rendering of different sections of the open world, depending on where the player is.
SAFEZONE ENVIRONMENT
Introducing a safezone or a hub can be challenging. A readable way to configure this is via colors.
Therefor I scripted an event, for when the players enters a certain area the world shines up and therefor contributes with intense colors and warmth.
LEVEL SEQUENCER
When wanting to add life to the concept, you can easily do so by using a level sequencer, in order to provide more interesting encounters, moments or occasions. This allows you to both block, introduce new sections, items, events of the world design.
Note!
The World has been provided with assets the from unreal marketplace. The imported assets has been providing the level with some, AI, combat, weaponry, items, basebuilding, vehicles etc.
All of which are heavily manipulated by myself in order to fit the design. This also includes manipulating and retexturing meshes and art.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
This project had a deadline of 6 weeks. After scraping and iterating several times halfway through the project I took a risk to start all over. This was the end result.
Having such little time left taught me much, especially that 'killing your darlings' is vital for maintaining a good design. This experience provided me with a completely new insight in game & level development when working against the clock and having to provide a sustainable level & game design.