Overview
Role: Level Designer
Team Size: 12 (22 Originally)
Genre: Action Rougelike
Mode: FPS Single Player
Duration: Non-specific, can be completed within 20 minutes
Software: Unreal Engine 5
Inspiration: Monster Train
"Constraints": Max 150x150 for levels
Responsibilities:
Create a new level for stage 3
Add a few more decals to exiting levels
Tweak store UI
Polish enemy AI mechanics
Continue further developement after Steam release
-Make the card highlighting in the shop louder
Move the store buttons around so it's harder to accidentally leave the shop
Problem: Circle strafing is too dominate of a strategy. Design/balance enemies to beat circle strafing
Game Pitch - Obliterate the forces of chaos and fight your way through currupt environmental hazards in this first person rouglike deckbuilding game
Summary - Players craft their abilities using different cards they find in the environment to defeat enemies. They use these skils and continue to advance to new worlds and gain enough skill to face Choas itself.
Gameplay Trailer
Playthrough Timestamp: 1:22:20-1:41:10
Level Overview
Objective
Defeat enough enemies in the world in order to open portals and advance to the next world before the corruption takes over. Build and upgrade the deck to gain enough skill and power to defeat "Oliver: The Moldering One."
Steps 1-5 (No Particular Order)
1 - Defeat enemies to gather currency
2 - Spend money on chests placed throughout the levels
3 - Cleanse enemy shrines after surviving a large spawn of enemies
4 - Cleanse all three shrines to end the level and advance to the next area
5 - Defeat the boss enemy of Chaos using mastered skills and new abilities
Pre-Production Process
Documentation
The team already had a list of different tasks that needed to be implemented before I joined after it's initial release. The team lead distributed part of these unfinished tasks based on low to high priority. Most of these tasks included polishing, fixing small bugs, and adding small details scope didn't allow before.
References
Our inspiration came from crystalized caves and rocky terrain for level 3. The previous levels included some small reminants of the old world and we wanted the level progression to show the world deteriorating. This meant having no grass or buildings and focusing more on environmental hazards like pits, poison, and rapidly growing crystals.
Narrative
There is no exact story listed but the loading screen includes some background of the enemies history.
Enemy AI
There are 3 different enemies:
Echo Grunts - Melee attacks
Ravens - Shoot from a distance
Watchers - Shoot player and shrine from above
Level Layout
For this level, I prefered to work without creating a detailed level layout and mostly work in engine. This was because the third level was focused more on terrain rather than filling objects in the world. I created a small table napkin sketch to give a general idea but didn't make it as detailed as the designer did for levels 1 and 2.
Production Process
Blockout
Measurements
All measurements were constructed from previous levels and the main focus was keeping it consistent so the player could easily jump and have room to manuever.
The level is 100x100 meters
Player - 1m x 2m
Jump Height - 2.5m (max 5m with double jump)
Horizontal dash - 9m with no input
Echoes & Ravens - 0.6m x 0.6m x 1.85m
Watchers - 2.12m Diameter
Points of Interest/Landmarks(Weenies)
In order for the player to easily find the shrine, there is an infinite light beam that can be seen from any area of the map. Chests are meant to be slightly more hidden and difficult to find allowing for more player exploration.
Affordance/Denying Affordance
To aviod any confusion of mistaking a large area to be climbable, crystals were placed vertically so the player would have to find another way across, preferably traveling to the horizontally placed crystals
Traversal
The space is very open so there is no long-lasting cover
All shrines are on the upper level, so if a player misses a jump they will fall, lose health, and reset at a checkpoint. Originally it was created to be more difficult with pits everywhere, but upon constant playtesting, players weren't given enough room to fight. This changed so more enemies could spawn at the shrines and have more room to chase the player.
Set Dressing
Throughout the setdressing process, a lot came from trial and error finding the right material to use for the environment. This is the only location that contains a specific cave theme but it had to match the deteriorating world that comes from the previous and future levels.
Mechanics
Decks
At the start of the game, the player holds three decks that contain cards in each slot. As the game progresses, more cards can be added and switched out of these hand slots. Once one card is used from this hand slot, it has a cooldown and allows the player to use a new card from the same slot.
Having three decks that the player can move allows them to make the best decisions on which cards work the best together, even while in a cooldown stage.
Players can manipulate these cards in the vendor shop by removing, swapping, or adding new cards
Traversal
The player can run and jump approximately 1.5x faster than enemies
Echoes and Ravens run and jump as well, most stay in spawned area but can follow the player to a distance
Watchers stay in one spot but have a strong attack on the player
Player/Enemy Damage
Players can use a throwing melee attack or use their deck for heavier attacks
Enemies die quicker when the player uses the deck, but the melee attack may be more useful for further enemies
Boss Enemy
Oliver: The Moldering One
Unlike previous enemies, the boss enemy cannot move and uses the environment to kill the player. It also sends out balls of acid and uses tenticles to throw the player off
Blueprints
Programmers and designers implemented a card creation pipeline that made it easier to manipulate and change custom-made card components.
Player Stats
For replayability purposes, player stats are shown at the end of every game to encourage the player to do better. This includes completing the level faster, defeating more enemies, and finding all the chests.
Lighting
Lighting
There is a day to night cycle that progresses as the player goes into different levels of the game. As this happens, more enemies appear and become more violent.
Screenshots
