ANNOUNCEMENT TRAILER
MY ROLE
On the Journey to Foundation project, my role has been to bring multiple levels from the gray block phase to a beta/shippable quality level. These levels include both the first and last level of the game, the latter I have brought from the ideation stage to beta.
On this project I have gone from creating design documents to blocking out multiple levels. From creating and tuning combat to implementing narrative design and building conversation scripts. I have been fortunate to work with a great team on a diverse project with many different opportunities.
ITERATION
During the production process on these levels, the key to finding what works and what doesn’t is in iteration. During the grayblock phase I worked to rebuild levels sometimes over a half-dozen times, with improvements occurring each time. This was not unique to the grayblocking phase, as even all they way up to hitting alpha quality we were still iterating when receiving feedback or playtesting our own levels.
SCRIPTING
Another major component of building these levels was scripting. The majority of functionality within the levels lives within level blueprints. Some things that I have learned to be critical when building a level are:
Always keep script organized and commented, especially for others that might take over your level
Communication between sub-levels is critical. Keeping separate sub-levels for interactions, characters and various other areas is crucial in making sure many developers can work in parallel
Using delegates and interfaces can be important to make sure contact is kept between actors and the level scripts.
Level sequences can be powerful when used for firing events at specific pre-determined times
COMBAT
MOMENTS
Building combat scenarios in a VR title has some unique and special rules that don’t apply to traditional titles in the same way. Some of these include:
Ensuring enemies always are spawned within the player’s view. If the designer wants to change the combat front, it is key to give feedback to the player that it is happening.
Limiting stimuli to not overload the player. When in virtual reality, it is easier for the player to become overwhelmed, resulting in frustration
Designed and implemented moments that are either directly tied in with the golden path or are extra pieces of side content. An example of the latter being a crate release mechanism that the player might use to drop on enemies to kill them, both creating extra cover and surprising the enemy.
