The City of Ruin - Level Design
Follow the story of a news reporter who has traveled back to their home town, many years after the "Great War". In this first person, narrative, exploration game, complete various objectives, discover various landmarks, and learn of the events of the "Great War".
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The City of Ruin
Mapping it out
Using Pure Ref, I pulled various images from the web to visualize my vision for this project. The mood board consist of the player start, the three paths the player can take, and the end of the level. It's good to make these so I have something to refer back to.
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The City of Ruin
A refresher on lighting
I knew that my level would need lighting in certain spaces, so I took it upon myself to get a refresher in lighting and other Unreal Engine topics through LinkedIn Learning. Lighting can be a challenge but understanding how lights affect your level, managing them becomes easier.
The City of Ruin - Block Mesh Showcase
The City of Ruin
Trying to get the lights right
Lighting is not just about making a space/area visible, it is also about how it affects the user experience, the level's mood, and overall, just brining the level to life. Although I didn't need to have much lightning in my level, adjusting the lighting in the places I had them still proved difficult.
For example: In the top picture, this building is the biggest indoor space in my level. While the building does have windows, allowing the natural sun light to come in was a big plus. However, combining the natural sunlight and adding in additional lights became an issue. To resolve this, I went for soft lighting. Avoiding making the additional lights too bright and allowing the sunlight to carry the weight of lighting up the area.
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The type of lights I mainly used were Spotlights. This is due to my light fixtures being hanging lamp lights. Throughout my entire level, there are only about four point lights. You can see two points lights by the double doors in the last picture.
The City of Ruin - Block Mesh Gameplay Showcase
The City of Ruin - Mechanics Presentation
Level Design Concepts Used
Color Language
This refers to how an object is read by the viewer.
Refuge
This is a place in the level/game where you can pause, catch a breathe, hide from an enemy, check your inventory, talk to an NPC, sleep, stretch, not worry about story elements, not worry about gameplay, or any combination of these.
Landmarks
These can be large or small. Large ones are used to help a player know where they are in a level. Small ones (like a red barn, or scary tree) are used to give directions and help players know where they are in the level.