Level Design Blog

 This level is part of our Ventures project which is an action-adventure demo focused on combat and puzzle-solving. The story focuses around ties to voodoo magic and the culture that originates from in Haiti, all the way back to Africa. So our demo takes that same journey around the world including multiple locations. This location is within a temple in Africa, as our protagonists look for the clue within. The original "Art Style Guide" for this level some of a temple made of black volcanic stone, partially enveloped in the earth, which consisted of mostly red clay. So I made a Level Design Document to put my thoughts on to paper first:  The Forgotten Hollow LDD   I then took to unreal, and I knew I wanted to definitely blend these elements together, knowing a combination of landscaping and asset pieces would meld together well. So I started with the landscaping first: I then started to add more of the assets and proxy lighting to piece together the full feel of the scene...

 The main things I wanted to change in this level, after consulting more experienced LDs, were the first main combat space, and to "art" the level up in some spaces some more. This is what the main first combat spaces looked like:  The main area was originally split into 2 rooms, and I was advised to combine the 2 and expand the area to allow for more paths. Here's the updated areas with new paths and the rooms halfway combined together. I say halfway, because visually they're very open and next to each other, but the transition to the 2nd half does prevent the player from backtracking. I still need to work on some of the "art" side of this area, and need to playtest the obstacles and spawn points of the enemies etc. The next thing I wanted to change was the "art" side of this level, and I started by changing the table in the main hall area. This is the before, which was very basic: I then tried to push some environmental design, and really add mor...