MY ROLE
Level Designer
TEAM SIZE
2 people
DEVELOPMENT TIME
2 weeks
GAME ENGINE
GENRE
Unreal Engine 4
Puzzle
LEVEL DESIGN DOCUMENT
The level design document (LDD) was the first step in the level design process and was conducted while the environment artist created a moodboard and style guide. The LDD gives context to why the player finds themselves in the level, what the design pillars are, and what the player sees and feels throughout the level.
DESCRIPTION
Map Dev Name: Water Temple
Level Design Owner: Liam
Environmental Art Owner: Hugo
Version Number: April 25, 2022, v1.0
THEME & STORY
The Water Temple is the first temple of a non-combat adventure game where you play a young boy who's been given the task of collecting ancient heirlooms. These heirlooms all lie in temples hidden throughout the land. The first one is the "Companion", a small automaton which can move on the bottom of small bodies of water and through narrow passageways.
DESIGN PILLARS
Feelings of awe through exploration
"Aha" moments after figuring out how to use the keys
No stressful moments
1
2
3
BEAT CHART
1
The player starts in the temple's antechamber. The space hints at the theme of the level through small streams of water leading into the temple.
2
The corridor between the antechamber and the main room is dark, but the sound of rushing water can be heard in the distance. The player feels excitement at entering a new temple.
3
The player enters the main room and feels awe at the scale of the room. They also see the goal: a gate with light shining through from the outside. They cannot reach it as it’s too high up now that the stairs have collapsed.
4
Cracks in the ceiling and walls illuminate the surroundings. The player sees a gate to the right with a path leading there along the wall.
5
The only way forward is to step/jump into the water (teaches the player that water is not a hazard).
6
The door locks behind the player as they enter. The room is smaller and has moving contraptions. Water can be seen moving up and down. The player has a chance to feel clever as they solve the puzzle.
7
The player makes it out of the puzzle room. The door to the left is open to signify that the player is no longer trapped. In front of the player is a pool of water with a path that is too small. The player has learnt to return later in previous dungeons.
8
The space opens up again, and there's a sense of accomplishment due to progress being made toward the goal. The player will get a sense of scale as they travel from one side of the temple to the other.
9
A pathway with a locked gate steers off to the right. A nearby waterfall captures the player's attention. Atop it is a switch that can be seen through some bars. The player makes a mental note to come back here later. The path forward is clear.
10
The player can see a pool of water in front of them as they enter. Fish are swimming in and out of a tunnel below the surface. An open gate can be seen if the player turns their camera.
11
The key (companion) can be seen on the other side of a pool through an underpass.
12
Blocking bars appear in the underpass once the companion is picked up.
13
The companion is used to get into a narrow underwater tunnel wherein a switch removes the bars that blocked the player.
14
The player is now able to use the companion to go through the subsurface tunnel. The end of the tunnel has a switch the companion can activate. The player can see the gate through the bars. There is also a platform above the companion that they cannot get up.
15
The player will get access to a switch in the Control Room once they pass through the now-open gate along the viaduct.
16
The water in the main room rises to allow the player to progress to the goal.
17
Light fills the screen as the player leaves the temple.
DIGITAL PROTOTYPE
The digital prototype was done in Miro and consists of two parts, a high-level map and a flow chart of player progression.
HIGH-LEVEL MAP
The numbers between 1-17 all correlate to a beat on the beat chart. The Water Temple is a level with several vertical floors, so the legend (F4-B1) is there to clarify which height that particular zone is in. If I worked in a larger team, this legend would be expanded to include: red rectangles being locks, red diamonds being keys, and the green star being the "dungeon item".
FLOW CHART
The flow chart can be seen as an abstract map showing the player's progression throughout the level.
The critical information shown is locks and their respective keys, puzzle beats, notable locations, and visibility to the goal.
BLOCKOUT AND ARCHITECTURE PASS
Creating the level in Unreal Engine was a three-step process. It started with a rough blockout made using the Blockout Tools Plugin, followed by an LDK (level design kit) blockout, and lastly an architecture pass. All versions were built by the level designer (me).
ROUGH BLOCKOUT
The rough blockout set a scale for the room. A cube with a blue, transparent material was used to represent water. Underneath is a 1x1 meter hole leading to a corridor.
ROUGH BLOCKOUT
The height of each floor, where the water is coming from, and the location of each room was set in the rough blockout. Switches and locked doors were also coded.
ROUGH BLOCKOUT
Basic version of the room where the dungeon item is collected. The focus was on the functionality of the item.
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