Fortress in The Woods
The level takes place in the world of Hyrule, where the player is tasked to find missing key fragments to enter a Yiga clan fortress. The goal for this particular project was to create an open space that allowed the player to explore through intention and visual interest, while simultaneously keeping pacing moving and encouraging environmental puzzling.
Role: Level Design
Duration: 2 Weeks
Tools Used: Unreal Engine 4
Genre: Action Adventure
The initial block-out process came from taking a space relative size to the introduction space for Zelda Breath of The Wild. I knew I wanted 3 focal points that could be viewed from a central point in the level, this gave me the opportunity to introduce narrative which could act as a hint to give meaning exploration and flow of the space. I really wanted to establish a hierarchy of locations to visit and even though it was semi-open, in a way where you could visit any area in any order, i crafted it in a way that helped guide it to do so. I used enemy encounters to gate locations that funneled the player to avoid areas until they got better upgrades, I also used environmental noise and space to encourage exploration and solve environmental puzzles.
The initial block-out process came from taking a space relative size to the introduction space for Zelda Breath of The Wild. I knew I wanted 3 focal points that could be viewed from a central point in the level, this gave me the opportunity to introduce narrative which could act as a hint to give meaning exploration and flow of the space. I really wanted to establish a hierarchy of locations to visit and even though it was semi-open, in a way where you could visit any area in any order, i crafted it in a way that helped guide it to do so. I used enemy encounters to gate locations that funneled the player to avoid areas until they got better upgrades, I also used environmental noise and space to encourage exploration and solve environmental puzzles.
Area 1: The encampment near the waterfall.
This area is the intended path for the player's pathing. The area introduces weaker enemies and a larger open space for the player to fight and draw out this combat encounter. This was really a testing zone to draw enemies out and provide the player with a strategy of combat within this level.
Area 2: The mushroom forest is meant to be a break in the combat encounters, though this area does provide some combat, it’s not focused and is more of a space that the player is incentivized to explore and solve environmental puzzles.
Area 3: The Treetops, was another combat beat I wanted the player to feel like they were taking on a decently sized challenge. The idea was a traversal of platforms and a ladder much larger than the first encounter. This challenged the player to fight within constraints, where free-roaming was no longer encouraged but fighting became methodical. This was also an opportunity to give the player a “demi-boss” at the top of the tree base and reward them with the upgrades needed to kill the stronger enemies guarding the final area.
Area 4: the fortress, is the final destination for the level. It is gated by two keys which must be collected before entering the space. It appears massive and acts as a landmark in every direction to reiterate that this is where you must end up. I wanted to create a juxtaposition in the landscape that served as separate to the current natural landscape, I also decided putting a bridge outwards would draw the player to the next location once they get through the fortress. On top of the fortress is a light emanating upwards to let the player know something mystical and dangerous lies within that fortress.
The primary learnings from this project came in the form of progress from ideation to finished prototype. Learning how to code the list to spawn a random platform was another piece of knowledge that strengthened my understanding of loops in relation to adding and subtracting objects from a list. I used unity's particle system for the first time which added a great deal to the player feedback and the experience. Another thing I learned what referencing code inside other scripts and using that information to make decisions. Understanding the idea of referencing code in other scripts has been my biggest learning from this project.
The challenges presented for this game were the following.
1. Make a fun 1 button game.
2. Make a game that breaks the player’s flow in an enjoyable way by throwing out random threats.
3. Make a semi-polished game with a score and particles.
I managed to complete most of the goals through this project though due to time constraints, I wasn't able to take it to the polish I would have enjoyed. I think landing on the right idea through intuition and ideation helped me decide if this will be a game to further polish. One-button games can be either extremely boring, or something that has been done time and time again, so I wanted to end up with that could push this genre.