WHAT'S IT ?
Information :
The idea behind this level design is to design a level using a myth, while conveying various emotions to the player.
The Agartha is a city, a kingdom, or a mythical underworld. It is generally presented as an ideal world, depositary of knowledge or supernatural powers. Agartha would be an underground world where violence does not exist and peace reigns everywhere.
Some data :
1
I'm alone on the project.
10
Hours
Objectives :
My goal was to achieve a variety of emotions for the player, from exploration, amazement, claustrophobia, and a desire to learn more about this place…
I also set myself a time constraint — I wanted to make this map in less than a week, and I succeeded in my challenge.
To finish, I wanted to succeed in giving the sensation of discovery step by step, by the departure in the nature, the rock, into the cave. Then the appearance of the place of worship/sacrifice, followed by the vestiges of past civilizations, and finally the grand finale with the discovery of the city of Agartha.
Here is the moodboard I made to increase my inspiration and take visual references :
LEVEL DESIGN :
Timeline :
Level Design Intentions :
I made various screens with drawings to explain my level design intentions:
Here we are at the beginning of the level, I used Menhirs to guide the player, their inclinations also have the purpose of guiding.
Then the player will see a depression on the right side of the path, the rocks will hide his view until the last moment, to offer him the wow effect of the landscape.
The player will discover a landscape that was previously hided.
It allows him to have a very good point of view on the world around him and to become aware of his height.
Then the player discovers the access to a cave, in a triangular shape (a shape that represents potential danger, here the danger of discovery).
Arriving in the cave, there is no turning back, the player has to move forward to the bottom of the cave to discover what it hides.
Then he arrives in front of a passage flooded with water (by a waterfall). The player will have to cross it, without knowing what will happen there…
A new point of interest is offered to the player. It allows them to speculate on what is really in this cave. An altar in front of the orb shows a place of sacrifice.
Then the player comes across vestiges of ancient civilizations — but who lived here?
These two places are extremely conducive to environmental storytelling, allowing the player to learn more about this world.
The level ends with what I tried to make “grandiose” — the idea was really to surprise the player and raise a lot of questions about this underground city:
How to access it ? Who are they ? What happens next ?
SPEED CREATION :
GAMEPLAY VIDEO :
More Article(s) :
Level Design – Arena HQ
Example of an arena map for a fast-paced shooter. The arena features a central zone represented by a point of visual interest. As well as two point capture zones (A and B).
Star Wars Outlaws™
My work on the game, Star Wars Outlaws : 2 Main Quests (1 on the DLC and 1 on the main game).
Star Wars Outlaws is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective, with the player traversing an open world environment and engaging in various activities.