Project Info
I set myself the challenge of creating a complete level in a day using the 3D Game Kit within Unity. This was initially quite daunting as I had never used the 3D Game Kit before, and I'm not as experienced with Unity as I am with Unreal. However, I feel that I produced a very good level in the end.
​
The story concept of the level I created is that the player is a space explorer who lands on a floating island - which is a part of a wider floating archipelago. The island appears to have been abandoned by some form of ancient civilisation, hence the ruins. The players objective is to explore it and uncover the secrets on the island. The game plays like an action adventure game, with a good amount of combat and 3D platforming, as well as some light puzzles.
Skills utilised:
Level Design - Game Design - Scripting - Conceptualisation
Final Level Playthrough
Breakdown & Analysis
1. Early Concept
The final product shares a lot of similarities with the above concept, however I made major changes in multiple areas after playtesting – which I’ll break down further on. The general level progression and flow stayed the same though, going from an open area into a more linear area towards the end. My aim was to give the player an open-ended experience at the start of the level, with multiple terrain paths to reach certain points without the terrain itself being clearly outlined as separate routes (for example, in the final level there are multiple ways to reach the door that is unlocked by the pressure pad, as you’ll see later). I took inspiration from the open areas of Rise of the Tomb Raider – particularly the surrounding area for the Soviet Installation - when designing the first portion of this level, as in that area of the game it’s quite an open playground with multiple ways to reach certain landmarks. It also has a few different paths to explore, as is the case with my level.
​
For the second part of the level (the bottom half of the above design) I wanted to focus the players experience and guide them onto a more linear path, but one that is more challenging to traverse and also reminiscent of traditional 3D platformers. This meant having more moving platforms, more jumps to make, more traps etc. The player is then greeted at the end of this with a boss fight in a wide, open area.
2. In-depth Level Analysis
1. Level Start
The player begins in this open, grounded area surrounded by encroaching cliff faces, as well as floating rocks in the distance. One of the first things they will spot is a giant locked door further ahead in front of them, encouraging them to explore the level to try and unlock it. I added these giant, unreachable, floating rocks around the level to add more backstory to the level and its world. The game world is quite clearly sci fi, and I wanted my level to take place on a floating archipelago. It would only make sense that there are other floating islands nearby, making up a system of them, and in this case the player has landed on one of them (hence the dropship being there) and is exploring it.
​
From my experience in level design, you can use environmental elements/cues to hint towards paths or objectives for the player, and I did this using the pillars. Many of them have fallen over or have structural damage – again, this is to add some backstory to the level. Whoever built these structures is evidently no longer there, and the place has experienced either some kind of natural catastrophe or battle in order to damage the pillars. I placed the front left pillar so that it points towards a path that the player can take to reach the door that is unlocked from the pressure pad (behind this door then lies the path which eventually unlocks the main door mentioned earlier). The front right pillar is placed and angled so that it points towards where the player needs to go to reach the pressure pad and progress further in the level, and the far left pillar is still standing but is tilting towards the only fully standing pillar – which has the pressure pad on top of it. This is all subtle direction for the player, but from my experience it usually subliminally works as they are key visual cues that effectively act like arrows/waypoints.
​
I also added 3 melee enemies and 2 spitters just before the path that you need to take to reach the pressure pad. This forces the player into having a taste of early combat and helps to fill out the initial open space.
2. First Path & Unlocking Second Path
The image on the left shows the path that the player has to take in order to reach the pressure pad. Again, I wanted these platforms to be floating to fit into the ‘floating archipelago’ theme. The fact that they float also works to help create a traditional platforming challenge for the player. I added a large curved platform, with the aim being to redirect the player back around to face towards where they need to go next/the starting area. I didn’t want the platforms to go too far out, I wanted things to remain fairly focused on the starting area and the open terrain that surrounds it, so that the player doesn’t get too confused and that it flows fairly nicely. I also added a moving platform, that takes the player down to a cliff on the main island which is unreachable from anywhere else.
The right image shows this clifftop. This area is quite open again, however there are two defined ways the player can go. Going to the right reveals a health chest – in which the player can regain any health that they may have lost from the first enemy encounter. Apart from the chest there is nothing else, and this way does not progress the level any further. If the player simply goes forward after getting off the moving platform (or backtracks from the right hand path after opening the chest and then goes forward), they’ll come to a pointed cliff edge, with the pressure pad a few yards away from the cliff edge on top of one of the pillars. The player must then carefully jump onto the pressure pad to open the door for the second path. I wanted this pressure pad to be challenging to activate, but not too challenging. The jump itself is easy to make, but the player may have to be careful to stick the landing. I wanted to incorporate the pressure pad into an environmental element, once again in order to help build the world. If this is an abandoned island/lost civilisation scenario, then it makes sense that for this light puzzle element they placed it somewhere a bit more inconspicuous. I also wanted the door that opens to be in view of the player as they jump on the pressure pad – which it is as they jump from the cliff edge which is facing towards said door. I did this because it then immediately shows the player what their action has just done and where they need to go next. From here, they can then jump directly onto the cliff opposite - where the now unlocked door is – or if they fell off the pillar after activating the pressure pad they can reach the unlocked door by taking the path the front left pillar is pointing towards in the start area.
3. Second Path & Reaching Main Entrance
The left image shows the overall layout of the second path, and how it is more of a traditional platforming experience than the first path. I intended for this to be more platform based as I wanted it to not only contrast with the first path, but also to give players a taste/heads up of what the next overall stage of the level will be like. I added a few destructible crates at multiple points. These are there to block the player, and they can either jump over them or destroy them. I figured it would be nice for the players to have the opportunity to deal with some interactables on a few of the longer platforms, and who doesn’t like to break things? It’s a common trope with platformers and one that I wanted to evoke here. I also added a few acid traps, and this is the first time the player will encounter them in this level. This gives them an extra hazard to avoid, makes the level more challenging and also just spices up this section visually with a fresh new aspect.
The right image shows the end of this path, with a switch on it that the player activates by getting close to it. This switch then opens the big door on the main island, which you can see further back in the image. From here, the player can either retrace their steps and go back the way they’ve just come, or risk jumping down from where the switch is and landing close to the start of the second path. The latter is a shortcut, and will save the player time, but it’s also riskier as it’s a fairly high jump onto a narrow platform. I wanted to give the player an element of choice here, again evoking an element of Rise of the Tomb Raider where there are sometimes areas like this with multiple ways to approach them. Just like how you can see the second path door from the pressure pad in the first path, I wanted the player to see the door that they’ve just opened from the end of the second path. Whichever way the player decides to go, they will see in the distance that the door is now open, letting them know that it’s now good to make their way to the main entrance and progress to the next stage of the level.
4. Next Stage & Boss Fight
The left image shows the start of the next stage after going through the main entrance. This bridge is fairly long, so I added a destructible crate halfway across to give the player something to interact with. When reaching the end of the bridge, they’re presented with an acid trap and a few platforms to navigate across. I tried to space these so that the player can jump, land, immediately jump, land and then immediately jump again. That’s the rhythm I want most players to get into, however slower players can still stop at each platform and take their time before jumping to the next – the choice is there to go at your own pace. At the end of this segment, there’s a platform which moves horizontally that the player has to jump onto. This moving platform then meets up with another moving platform (this one moves vertically however), which the player then has to jump on – so timing is key here.
This leads onto the second image. After ascending via the second moving platform, the player has a bit of a breather with a long stretch of platform, and then after a few jumps they’re onto the big platform which has the boss on. I tweaked the default settings for the boss character quite a bit. I gave the boss a bit more health compared to the other enemies, which makes sense as they’re the boss. I also gave them an invulnerability time, so that if the player damages them, they must wait before the boss can take damage again. This stops the player from unloading constant attacks on the boss and eliminating them really early on. I did however change the damage area of the boss. With the default settings, you can only damage them from behind, however I felt that this was too punishing in accordance with my other changes so I altered it so that the player can damage the boss from any angle. I also added a health chest to the left side of the platform in case the players health gets low during the boss fight and they need to regain it. I didn’t want the combat to be too unforgiving so I figured that giving the player a lifeline of sorts was the right thing to do.