Environment Design
Designing the layout and flow of an environment for gameplay
The project
This project is focused on story-driven and psychological steering of the player through a game environment.
The player has full control over their movement, but is more likely to take a certain path due to composition, instinct and other types of guidance. I made this place to see how I could take control of the unconcious steering of the player.
It was completely made using assets, allowing me to focus on the design of the layout. This project was also my introduction to working with Unreal Engine.
The premise
You are a water priest of a remote swamp village, and upon return after shopping you see the village half destroyed! You must figure out what happened, how you can stop the alien corruption you’ve found and how to recitfy the divine water symbols scattered around.
You figure out in small steps that there are alien creatures corrupting the nature around the village. They sit on meteorite shards and seep the life out of plants nearby. You learn to sever these connections by hand, an later with a holy light beam. When the connection is severed, the land heals and the creature dies.
The big creature the Alien King, has already gotten so much life energy it is no longer dependent on it’s energy source. The player must puzzle out that the only way to get rid of the creature is with the holy light beam, and how to shine it upon the King.
Playtrough (5 min)
Level abstract: concept explanation, walkthrough and hooks for each phase.
Steering: compostion
The upper images are the old comopsitions, and the lower ones are the improved ones.
I overpainted a key game screenshot to analyze the image from a 2D perspective (allows for better overview of leading lines), and changed parts to create a more natural/pleasing flow for the eye, and clearing up room around the POI’s to highlight their focus.
Concepting
The idea was also used in another project of mine, but had to be scrapped then due to time constraint. I revisited the concept and molded it into what it is now.
Creatures from obelisks became creatures from meteorite shards. The big omnicreature became the alien king.
What I would do different
After testing and reflecting, I see there are further improvements that can be made.
- Wiebe feedback
- Exposition shot Alien king: you look up to it instead of looking down upon it, to make it feel more intimidating.
- The end feels a bit anticlimactic.