My aim with this project was to learn Unreal Engine and create a playable level for my web portfolio to highlight my creative skillset using an unfamiliar engine. In addition the aim was to have the project playable on this website to act as a sort of interactive showreel. As this level is not just a level blockout, it would require some level of art and mechanics to be implemented alongside it. My plan was to get an understanding of the entire game creation pipeline within Unreal Engine and not just those limited to level designer responsibilities.

Initially the project was intended to be a simple first person adventure game, however as the project developed, it became clear that I could do more with it and expand the initial concept. Considering that this was intended to be an educational piece for myself I let myself get a bit carried away with certain features, such as the true first person gameplay and puzzle solving mechanics. I learned a tremendous amount from the project, through failure and compromise mostly but also growth and small victories. Below I will go over the core components and processes of the project as well as outlining some problems I faced and solved whilst tackling this extremely ambitious first Unreal Engine project.

Concept

The original concept appeared as a Level Design task as a part of the Level Design Lobby Patreon community I am a part of. The specification was to create a subterranean environment with puzzle solving mechanics. I used this as a jumping off point to work on a whole playable level experience rather than a simple blockout level. Since this was my first real UE4 project I wanted something challenging that would exercise my entire skillset.

For reference I collected a series of images that pertained to the ideas I wanted to convey in the level: a forlorn prison complex with a large pit containing an endless abyss shrouded in mystery. Using this as my starting point I went off to collect as much reference material for the project, luckily I live in very close proximity to a museum with a medieval prison as its main attraction. While visiting the museum the theme that stood out the most was how the builders employed space to create an emotionally daunting and hopeless atmosphere. This was something I would have to also utilize to convey a sense of despair and panic.

AO: Reference

Planning

I began by immediately sketching quick layouts, usually spending about one minute per idea before moving to the next. Once I had a few layout possibilities I began drawing up the final design. I found this process useful as I was able to get all of the ideas down on paper, before dissecting them to get the best version rather than following a single refined concept into development.

Once I started drawing the final layout, I was sure to consider story beats, puzzle design, juxtaposition of confinement and freedom, linear/non-linear progression, and possibly most importantly the pacing, which would later prove difficult in conjunction with the implemented mechanics.

True First Person

In order to utilize space to create a sense of dread in the player, I began working on a simple true-first person character controller. The choice to not use a simple first person character controller was in hindsight not a particularly wise decision for what was going to be a simple playable blockout level. In order to make a true first person character controller work, you need the animations for all of the object interactions else it's going to look sloppy. Fortunately enough I was able to collect enough animations to make it work, even alongside the ladder climbing system I was planning to implement.

Object Interaction

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Climbing

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Falling & Death

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Vivamus porttitor eleifend tristique. In neque tortor, porttitor at neque eu, imperdiet elementum dolor. Sed tincidunt, tortor at venenatis fermentum, neque mauris eleifend libero, vitae faucibus lacus metus id arcu. Nulla malesuada justo a placerat condimentum. Morbi bibendum efficitur eleifend. Mauris dignissim lacus nec nisi imperdiet, condimentum pulvinar augue ultricies. Aenean vitae posuere mi. Donec quis dapibus massa. Cras turpis dui, pellentesque at tempor a, convallis vitae ligula. Aenean pharetra est vel mollis pharetra.

Story & Narrative

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