Diverging Paths Level Design
2023
Introduction
For this project, I was tasked with creating a level with three different paths. There was one main objective the player must complete as well as three optional objectives. I designed the level and implemented my own mechanics over the course of a month. My level itself was a spooky, atmospheric level. The player started at the scene of a car crash and had to make it to the mansion on the other side of the map. The three paths they had to take were a dark forest, the shore around a lake, or a cave. The player could optionally equip a headlamp to see better in the forest, open a chest on the lake to collect a photo, or ride a minecart inside of the cave.
What went right
Atmosphere and theming
I have been trying to create a horror-themed project for a while, and this finally gave me the excuse. I was able to add a spooky atmosphere to this project. I am going to continue working on the level to make it even spookier and stretch my own horror chops.
The headlamp
This project, I wanted to create a flashlight that the player held in their hand. That didn’t work out. I realized that creating a flashlight with animations was out of scope. Instead, I created a headlamp that, when collected, would snap up to a socket on their head. It took me some tweaking and lots of research to figure out how to make that work, but I am extremely proud of the final product and how it came out.
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Blinking lights and flickering flames
I decided to make my lights more realistic with this project. I made two different Blueprints for the two different types of lights. I had lanterns which I wanted to feel like they had a flame as their light source and a cave light that was a light bulb. I made the flame light flicker more randomly to imitate how flames look in real life, as well as making the cave light bulb flicker just slightly, just as light does in real life. I also made a Blueprint for some blinking car hazard lights to enhance my car crash and make it more realistic.
Scale with references AKA “Man with car” stock photo
I always use reference images when creating things based on real life, but this project I found I used even more. I wound up looking at lots of stock photos of people standing next to cars just to make sure my tipped over car was to scale. I also looked at references for scaling my lanterns and iron gate. The joke of this project became my Google search for “man with car” or “man by car”. Overall, the photos helped me greatly and I am proud of my scaling for this level.
Data collection and analysis
This project was the first time I did data collection for my level from inside of it. Each optional objective, my main objective, and the total time taken were tracked with each playtest and then analyzed in a document. Using the data helped me tweak aspects of my level and enhance the gameplay experience based on what players actually did, instead of just guessing what I needed to fix.
What went wrong
Hurricane Ian
The biggest issue I faced with this project wound up being something entirely out of my control. During the first week, Florida was hit with Hurricane Ian. There were three days where I was unable to work on my project as I was housing some friends and weathering the storm with them. On top of that, my internet connection was spotty and my power seemed like it was going to go out at any moment. When the hurricane was over, getting back into the groove was hard. It took me a day or two to recover and get back into a work mindset.
Minecart problems
Up until the final week of the project, my minecart was working flawlessly. It was animated with a timeline and moved to a set target point in the world. Then, right before I was going to film my final gameplay video, it stopped working. Playing in the Editor, it worked perfectly. But if I tried to play a standalone game, it would travel to 0,0,0 every time. I tried to troubleshoot it for almost two hours, but realized that I didn’t have enough time. I wound up fixing it by hardcoding the position it needed to move to. I’m going to go in and fully debug to figure out exactly what happened later on.
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Lots of freedom
Having a lot of creative freedom is great, but having to come up with something brand new (on a time crunch) is stressful. Being able to make whatever I wanted allowed me to add in some fun elements I had never tried before, but it took me a while to actually get started as seeing the blank canvas made me freeze up. Through doing my Level Design Document, I was able to find a good starting point and get working, but it took me a while to do so.
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Post-processing volume and brightness
I was advised by a friend to use a post-processing volume to make my level darker for the nighttime theming. When I put the volume in and set the values, I thought it looked great. However, I received a lot of feedback that my level was way too dark. I then spent the next day or so fixing the values to make the level the perfect brightness. I got it working in the end, but it was a struggle.
The landscaping tool
For this project, I wanted to push myself to use the Unreal landscaping tool to create my terrain. I was not prepared for how frustrated I would become with it. I joked with my friend that the tool functioned similarly to the Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 landscaping tool, and I was right. Trying to make my cave with the tool was a massive undertaking that I had to cut. I made the cave instead out of simple shapes as I knew whatever I would make with the tool wouldn’t be up to my own personal standard. Now that I am familiar with the tool, though, I feel much more confident using it in a future project.
Conclusion
This project was stressful. The limited time frame that was shortened with the hurricane put me into overdrive. Despite that, I am proud of how my level turned out. I was able to push myself in various ways to enhance both my gameplay and the overall atmosphere of my level. There are still things I want to tweak and enhance, but as my level stands right now, I am happy with it.