Vietnam Action Adventure

This was for an assignment in a module called Level Design in which I was paired up with another student to create a cohesive 2 level experience for an action-adventure game. We were required to research, design and breakdown a concept for our levels and document it in a wiki for the module tutors.

After we had finished the initial design phase, using node-diagrams, moodboards and a top-down map, the development of the levels started. Using Unreal Engine 4 we developed our concepts into a fully-fledged level that we then playtested. Using feedback from playtesting we then improved the levels based upon that feedback before the final submission.

For my team's game we decided to make our levels with the theme that you were a pilot that crashlanded in a remote region of Vietnam with the ultimate goal of reaching a large radio tower to call in support to evacuate yourself, with secondary goals of disrupting enemy plans.

I was responsible for the first level in the project and decided I would treat it like it was a tutorial level at the start of the theoretical game we were making these levels for. Because of this I focussed on ensuring the combat and movement mechancis package we were given as part of this module (Advanced Locomotion Sytem) were taught to the player in a "do not tell" way. To do this, I only told the player the very basic controls for a mechanic and then presented them with a situation in which they could use it.

The pattern of teaching the player a mechanic and then presenting them with a situation in which to use it continued throughout the level, culminating in the final room in which the player was presented with a number of enemies that they could use the stealth and combat mechanics to fight. Or the player could just sneak and push boxes to create a path to escape the cavern they had found themselves in.

Once the player exited this large cavern, they would find themselves in a tunnel that would load them into the second level.

Which leads onto the second level which my team-partner, Edward Thompson, created. This level expanded upon the first level by giving the player more challenge with many more opponents and a less spread out than in the first level. In addition this level expands upon the narrative of the game more by showing a straight-forward military based with the main-objective (the radio tower) visible throughout the whole level.

Although I did not work on the layout or design of this level, I worked with my partner to ensure there was a consistent theme and narrative throughout the first and second level. In addition as the second level had more objectives for the player to complete, I created an objectives manager using Unreal Engine Blueprints that my partner could use to decide what objectives the player should complete and within which order they should be completed in.

In addition, I also made the functionality for the mines that were used within the minefield in the second level.