This is the summary of Emilio Padulo's Level Design Master Class.
· Overview
· Environment
· UI
· Gameplay
1. Overviw
1.1 Campaign
· Fearful Forest: Twists and turns, Mystery and danger at every corner.
· Single Campaign.
1.2 Mission Location
· Forest, Watch Tower
· Outdoors / Indoors
· Forest set in a cyberpunk / futuristic atmosphere
1.3 Mission Difficulty
Find Compass 3
Destroy Power Grid 2
Release Prisoners 4
Retrieve Key 4
Destroy Watch Tower 5
· General: The mission difficulty curve slowly progresses from easy to difficult as the player traverses through the entire map.
· Find Compass: This section is both challenging and familiar to the player.
They are introduced to both mechanics that have seen before.
The objective for this is to find the compass to help guide them in the map.
· Destroy Power Grid: Here the player must defeat 2 NME’s in order to take down the power grid. This will help them along the mission. The difficulty isn’t to hard here since the player has already been used to fighting both types of NMEs.
· Release the prisoners: The difficulty ramps up a little more. The player is introduced to a new NME they have not encontered yet. The goal for this mission is to defeat the NME and release the prisoners.
· Retrieve the Key: After taking a ride on a jeep through the forest with the prisoners, the player must now find they key to enter the watch tower. Here the player will solve a very difficult puzzle and also defeat some NMEs.
· Destroy Watch Tower: The difficulty reaches its mas point. The player must now defeat a brand new NME they have never encountered. This NME has new abilities not known to the player. This is the final OCR in the Level.
1.4 Mission Metrics
· The total play time for the level is 32 min.
· The Dimensions of the map is 120 x 58 units. This is the total physical size of the map.
· There are 2 new NMEs that the player is introduced to : NME Melee 3 & Caster 2.
· The Watch Tower is the main Dominant in the scene and the foreshadows the end goal for the player in the map.
2. Environment
2.1 Level Atmosphere / Mood
· The Level is very dark and ominous. Dense forest and a dimly light moon are what cascades over a lonely Watch Tower. Without any soul in sight, one might think this forest to be haunted. The Tone is very foreshadowing and daunting. This gives way to the twists and turns that lurk around the corner.
2.1.1 Story
· The Player must enter the forest and free the Prisoners before they are executed. They are an ex – spacial forces unit. They were brought into this map to free old comrades that were thought to be dead ling ago. They are being tested and experimented on by the evil Dr. Pavlov. In order to free them, the Player must break in, find a compass the lead them towards the power grid. Once there, they can destroy the power and force the emergency power to come on. That will limit the NME’s camera and video surveillance. Once that’s complete, they will free the prisoners from the cages. But in order to escape they must Destroy the Watch Tower. It has a homing beacon implanted in all the prisoner. So the only way to truly escape in by destroying the power system inside the Tower. The player must find the correct keys and enter the Tower.
2.2.2 Major Areas / Visual Themes
Find Compass:
The first OCR in the map. The section is laid in a dense brush of the forest. It’s one of the 6 outposts that surround the Watch Tower. There is low visibility. It is patrolled by one NME Caster that encircles around the trees.
Destroy Power Grid:
Takes place inside a small compound. The interior is dark and decreptid. Mice and rats roam freely through the passages. Here houses the main power supple for the entire compound.
Release Prisoners: The Prisoners are are kept in cages on the outer part of the compound. There is no real cover from the cold mysts that creep in from the forest. This section is very morally discouraging. The smell of human decay stretches out for miles. There is one guard that patrols the Prisoner cages. The majority of these soldiers are morally broken and nothing but a dim light reside inside of them. A control panel is needed to open all the cages.
Retrieve Key: The room acts as a storage facility for the Watch Tower. Here they keep most of the experimental tools and equipment. This room is light very well. White walls, floors and lights. The room has 2 NME currently patrolling inside. There are boxes all over the place all over the place.
Destroy Watch Tower: The room has 6 large pillars in the middle. It is 6 floors from the base of the Forest. Inside there are electrical units all over. Monitors and cameras that are recording all sectors of the compound. The main control panel is behind a large scientist that is watching over everything.
2.2 Map Objective
· The main objective if the mission is to release the prisoners and not get caught.
· There are 5 main objectives as perviously mentioned
· Find the Compass: The compass will act as a map for the entire compuond.
· Destroy Power Grid: This will knock down the power of the entire compound and will aid the player travers without being caught.
· Release Prisoners: Here you release them from the cages. From there they must wait for your signal in order to escape the compound entirely.
· Find the Key: In order to gain access to the Watch Tower, the player must find the key to enter it.
· Destroy Watch Tower: The Watch Tower has a homing beacon on every prisoner. The Geo location will send a distress signal if one of them are to escape the parameters of the compound and send a call to the main HQ. The player must destroy this control panel for all of them to escape safely.
2.3 Challenge Highlights
· The level will consists od both NME and puzzle that the player will have to solve and defeat.
· Each OCR will introduce some mix match of these elemnts as well.
2.4 Actors
2.4.1 Player
· There will have a silencer and knife for the entire level.
· OCR 1 is the start location. This location is where the player will begin their journey.
· The main objective for this character (player) is to free the prisoners without being caught along the way.
2.4.2 NME List
2.4.2.1 NME Melee 1
· Melee enemy
· Objective: Kill the player
· Lowest tier of Melee NME
· They are in OCR 2.
2.4.2.2 NME Melee 2
· Melee enemy
· Objective: Kill the player
· Second lowest tire of Melee NME
· The are in OCR 4
2.4.2.3 NME Melee 3
· Melee enemy
· Objective: Kill the player
· Mid tire of Melee NME
· The are in OCR 5
2.4.2.4 NME Caster 1
· Melee enemy
· Objective: Kill the player
· Lowest tire of Melee NME
· The are in OCR 2
2.4.2.5 NME Caster 2
· Melee enemy
· Objective: Kill the player
· Lowest tire of Melee NME
· The are in OCR 2
3. User Interface
·In – Game Informatin:
· Objective menu at the beginning of the level.
· OCR list will be shown as they progress
· Map on the top right corner of the screen
·HUD Elements
· Health / Armor / Weapons
4. Gameplay
4.1 Gameplay Mechanics
· Main Mechanics:
· Fighting
· Solving Puzzles
·Fighting:
· The player will encounter 2 types of NME
· Caster
· Caster NME are long range NME that can hit the player from over 20 meters away.
· Their abilities vary from:
· Fire Balls
· Fell damage over time
· Forest slow
· Melee
· Melee NME can only attack when the target is within 3 meters.
· Their ablilities vary from:
· Basic attack
· Bleed
· Slow
4.2 Level Progression Chart
· The Following is the Level Progression chart for the map. It showcases the different encounters the player will see.
4.3 Level Flow Chart
4.4 Level Beat Chart
· The Following is the Level Beat Chart for the map.
· Each section is valued at the corresponding difficulty the OCR has
Picture Beat Level.
· The Following is the list for all Activities and their respective difficulty values.
4.5 Level Layout
· This is the Overall Level Layout for the map.
Picture map
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