Anti-Virus
Project detail
Less than 3 Weeks of development
Unreal Engine 5
Blender
Unreal third-person shooter template
SoundTrack - EverBoy Data Unit - level3.mp3 by UlisesFreitas -- https://freesound.org/s/235583/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
Anti-Virus
Introduction
Third-person shooter level based in a sci-fi brutalist world filled with mega structure, this project is inspired by Blame. I took it as a challenge to depict the abstract world of endless structures, trying to balance between atmospheric walks and battles. This level is meant to be a small intro part of a bigger game.
Summery
A world overtaken by virus-infested robots, you're just another robot, but somehow broke free from the virus, now on a quest to destroy the corrupt database.
Focus area
Composition
Atmosphere
Level design
Worldbuilding
Level overview
Flow Chart
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1. Start
Thunnel to reveal.
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2. Reveal
Revealing the exit and a space filled with rubble.
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3. Introduce scanning.
Showing the player that they can scan bodies. to see what has happened to them.
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4. Reveal long term goal.
Revealing the Data base to the player and the player got a hold of a Pistol
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5. introduce jump dash.
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6. First enemy encounter.
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7. Second section of the enemy encounter.
Introducing new enemy.
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8. Exiting the shelter.
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9. Transition to new level
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10. The center tower
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11. The western shelter.
Combining platforming and shooting.
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12. Transition to a new section.
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13. Closing up to the destination.
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14. Bridge collapse.
The bridge to the destination collapsed. Ends in cliffhanger.
Design process
For this project, I was inspired by the world of BLAME! The brutalistic megastructure world presented in the manga was great choice for a level design rendition. So I wanted to replicate this feeling of a gigantic, abstract, endless world through my level design. I started with gathering references from the manga itself, just reading through it and trying to absorb the environment.
While gathering the references, I quickly realized some problems that could occur while designing the level, and that is the scale, scope, and pacing. I have to keep the scope really small while also depicting a big, endless world. When it comes to pacing, I want the player to absorb the atmosphere and the space they are in, but at the same time, I don't want it to turn into an atmospheric walking sim.
To make the space seem bigger than it is, I blocked out and set-dressed unreachable areas, but also to really show how small the player is compared to the world, I took inspiration from Nier Automata, where, for example in Abandoned Factory, they switched the camera angle from third-person to side scroller. I used side scroller camera angle as a transition between different sections. This way, the player can see the scale of the world compared to themselves while making the low-paced segment more interesting.
Sketching the level by pen and paper helped me get a quick overview of how the level flow will look. I decided to make the level as straightforward as possible to allow myself to focus on the environment and the atmosphere.
Blocking out with simple shapes helped me figure out how I could lead the players’ eyes towards their destination.
Design Techniques
Onboard jumping
Blocked off a path forcing player to jump, also letting the player feel how long their jump is.
Onboarding Dash
Creating a safe space for players to learn how to dash the first time and estimate how long they can reach. If they fails to reach to the other side they can climb back up and try again.
Goal of this section: encourage the player to move while shooting.
With all the mechanic in mind I designed my battle section so that the player can run and jump around and shoot enemies at different angles. To motivate player momentum, I created a clear path with blocks and platforms to create an alternative path.
At the curve turning right, the framed exit with the enemy acts as a point of interest, grabbing the players attention.
Goal of this section: introduce new enemy, show the player the enemys blind spot.
To achive the goal, I created a place the player can not reach but can see how the enemy can attack. The player can still kill 2 of the enemies but 2 of them are in a blind spot where the player cant see from the angel they are in. So they have to loop around the the stair forcing the player to go behind the enemy to showing the player the enemys blindspot. So exposing the player to 2 enemies in attack more and 2 that are in non attacking stage seperatly.
Section goal: Combine platforming and shooting.
This is the last combat encounter of the level. It’s short and straightforward. It’s meant to be a on boarding to the next section, where the rest of the gameplay will be a movement shooter.
Section goal: Sense of progress
Having space for the player to loop back but to a different rewards the player by showing their progress.
The goal is always visible in every section of the map to remind the player of their goal.
Enemies
Foot soldiers.
Weapon: Pistol
Run and shoots towareds the player
Turrets
Weapon: Rifle
Static enemy, fast attack and can only detect player at 180 degree angle.
Mechanics
Scanning dead corpses
To give the player more context to the lore of the world. The player can scan dead bodies and see what that person has experienced before death.
Jump Dash
Adding jump dash to the game made the game play added more dynamic gameplay.
Gallery
Reflection
The reason I chose to make this project was purely because I was inspired by the brutalist art from BLAME and wanted to make it into a level. But as I was working, I realized this project does not fit as a linear game with linear levels. To be able to properly depict the world of BLAME, it has to be an open world. Nonetheless, I still had to keep it as linear level for the sake of the scope.
Time was a big challenge in this project due to sickness. If I had more time on this project, I would want to plan in more level design techniques and add more alternative paths in the level. So my solution was to make this into a atmospheric experience with a little battle experience by the side. Other things I would like to change are the pacing of the difficulty. I realized the battles were too packed at the beginning instead of by the end, but that was because I initially planned to have 3 sections, but due to time the constrain I had to cut down the last section, which was planned to be the most difficult level. The consequence led to an imbalance in pacing.