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PROTOCOLE HEDERA

You embody Hedera, a test-subject imprisoned in an inhumane experiment... Escape, free your comrades, use logic, control your emotions, and above all, harness your psychic powers in this intense action game!

CONTEXT

15 weeks

Unity Engine

3rd person - action adventure

Student project - Campus ADN

CONSTRAINTS

MY ROLE

  • Must take place in an Ivy-League University

  • No text on screen

  • 4 meters wide modules

  • Unity Engine & 3rd person controller

  • Lead Level Designer

  • Level Designer (level 1 and level 3)

  • Documentation (RLD, LDD, etc.)

  • Project tracking, version control

  • Assist the team in level iterations

LEVEL 1 

SUMMARY

Hedera wakes up in a cell and follows scientists instructions. Along the way, she finds an unexpected ally guiding her to unleash her first abilities. Our hero tries to escape the captivity and searches for other test-subjects.

REQUIREMENTS

  • Introduce doorlocks and fuseboxes

  • Introduce basic combat mechanics

  • Introduce the first enemy (melee)

  • Tutorialize puzzles (link to the test-subjects)

  • Give narrative context to the player

DESIGN PROCESS

In pre-production, we sat down and wrote down all the things we had to introduce and tutorialize in the first level of the game. We quickly realised that we needed to gradually expose them to the player so he can absorb all of that information and keep having fun.

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Time sequence

LDD level 1

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Flow chart

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Blockout

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Top down map

NARRATIVE

From the start, we wanted a level with strong environmental story telling to make sure the player unterstands the world he's in without the use of text. With the narrative team, we established a few things the Level 1 had to expose to the player.

  1. Hedera had to be controlled and restrained in some way

  2. Present the Scientists as the enemies (keeping you OFF the critical path)

3. Show the Director of the program as an ally (keeping you ON the critical path)

TUTORIALIZATION

In the first level we had alot to tutorialize so we worked with the UI\UX team. We also had several weeks of iterations to make sure players knew what they had to do.

  • ​Frame the objective

  • Improve guidance in  the tutorial areas

  • Show prompts in the player's HUD

  • Add prompts in the environments

  • Be mindful of the amount of inputs needed

  • Diegetic gameplay element for a deeper understanding (projectors)

FRAMING & PACING

Throughout the project, we realized that we had too much information for the player in the first level. We gathered as a team and decide to make some cuts and move two tutorials from level 1 to early level 2. This decision gave us a more breathable level design and a better pace. 

To ensure that the player could digest the information, we focused on framing future objectives with the use of windows. In the first playtests, players were overwhelmed with information and generally confused. 

This feedback shifted our focus and we worked hard to make sure players understood what to do and where to go while still having fun and get immersed in our story.

ITERATIVE PROCESS

With a team of two level designers on the same level, it instantly produced more iterations, we found solutions quickly and improved the level based on feedback every week. We honestly were not agreeing on everything but it created a dynamic where we had to convince each other and really work hard on our ideas. 

"When to use iterative development? You should use iterative development only on projects that you want to succeed."

-Martin Fowler

LEVEL 3

WORK IN PROGRESS

SUMMARY

METHODOLOGY

  • During the project, we used the SCRUM methodology to ensure productivity. 

  • The level design team had a daily stand up meeting and a weekly 1 hour meeting.

  • The different leads gathered at least once a week.

  • We assembled SWAT teams within the level design team

    • Camera\Controller​

    • Narrative

    • Enemies & Puzzles

    • UI \ UX

DOCUMENTS

As a leader,  it was my job to provide our team with a workflow that would help us create great levels with all the constraints. ​To make sure designers were fully focused on their levels, I created templates for their level documentation. I also took responsibility of Macro documents and overviewing the level design vision that we had set.

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RLD_v1.JPG

LDD macro

RLD

"Design is the beauty of turning constraints into advantages."

-Aza Raskin

Project tracking

IMPROVEMENTS

This project was packed with challenges but we delivered it as a team and I learned so much about level design, leadership but also about myself. Here's what I would do differently.

  • More communication in pre-production with the level art department to improve the collaboration and flag problems earlier.

  • Tighter scoping of the project and more aggressive cuts

  • Create a SWAT team for modules with level artists and level designers

  • Avoid adding new features or level modifications in the last week

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