One of the goals of the design team was to create arena style levels rather than corridor style levels. After blocking out levels and playtesting, we noticed players were getting lost in some spaces where they really enjoyed chaotic combat. Another problem players were expressing was a confusion regarding the progression of their objectives. We had a pretty busy HUD, so we needed a diegetic solution that fixed both these issues.

I came up with the idea to have lights on the floors and walls that act like breadcrumbs, creating leading lines towards objectives while adding to the death star aesthetic of the lab. These lights would be dynamic, and the color would signal to the player the status of the related objectives.

I created a simple 3D asset in Maya, and then started scripting. I got the system up as fast as possible so I could begin testing it, not worrying about optimization. Player responded well, so I began to polish the mechanic. This included utilizing the UE4 spline tool so level designers could implement the mechanic quickly, and optimizing the code behind the lights. I handled development of this mechanic from concept to polish which saved engineering and art resources. I only required quality checks from other team members to have a second set of eyes on the final implementation.

In the end, players noted that the lights helped direct them in the midst of chaotic combat and the colors helped clarify the status of objectives. One player noted “MORE WALL LIGHTS! They’re pretty and helpful.”

Level Design

Level Whiteboxing | Playtesting | Iteration | Collaboration

Revenge of the Killer Octopus uses a Hub and Spoke structure to the overarching level. I was tasked with creating a spoke branching off from the hub. We already had a linear level, featuring a series of rooms leading to an objective. The player would then backtrack through the rooms to the hub, completing the sublevel. We also had a spoke structured like a loop, with freedom for the player to enter on either side and find the objective halfway through the loop leading back to the hub.

I wanted to create a unique experience, so I structured my level like an arena. I thought this would compliment the chaotic, free flowing gameplay. I decided to use two floors that have several spots where the player could transfer between the upper and lower floors, and a final open area at the end combining both floors.

You can see the open area of the level in the concept drawings on the top right. In gameplay, I liked the feeling of an open area where the player could move around freely, but it was highly difficult for player due to the amount of enemies that could attack the player in this zone. My solution was a series of water tanks that block the threat of enemies without blocking the line of sight.

This proved successful but was highly suboptimal from a shader perspective. You can see red = suboptimal, and white = problematic. I came up with the idea of orbiting emissive spheres inside the cages. This added movement and life to the art in the level, while also not compromising the design or optimization.

While creating our core loop, players loved our possession mechanic but felt overall game feel was clunky. We had two states of gameplay. Possession was fun because it offered the player to access to unique power, but there was little reason for the player to engage in combat without possession.

I designed a grapple hook that tied into our possession mechanic seamlessly while providing smooth movement around levels. Players now had a choice to make- low mobility with great power while possessing, or high mobility with increased vulnerability while not possessing.

This mechanic went through quite a bit of iteration. It started out separate from the possession mechanic, and was not momentum based like it is now. I constantly adjusted based on feedback and collaboration, focusing on making the mechanic feel great and keeping attention on possession. This mechanic also proved difficult to implement, so I collaborated with engineers to script and bug test the mechanic. I am very pleased with the result.

I think the highlight of this mechanic’s design is how it accomplishes so much without busying up the core loop. It adds a fun movement set, higher skill expression, an interesting combat choice, and opportunities for level designers to expand upon while simultaneously simplifying the control scheme, maintaining focus on our core mechanic, and making the game feel great.