https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0XeUdS8vqU

Project Exhibited

First-Person Stealth | UE4 | 2020 | 8-Month Project | 33-People Team
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Research

1. Stealth genre level design research

  • Researching games in the Stealth genre and games with similar game mechanics
  • Analyzing spacial layouts of games in similar genre
  • Reading up on different level design structures we could use in our game
  • Ensuring that our chosen level design structure fits into the game setting
  • This helped us to create a macro game loop, so that all level designers on the team could create consistent work

Analysing different macro level structures and evaluating the best one for our game

Excerpt of my research on the level design structure of Dishonored 1 & 2

2. Architecture Research

  • Our game is set in a mediterranean palazzo in the 1960s
  • I took a Harvard architecture online course that was dedicated to mediterranean palazzos and their renovations
  • All relevant information I compiled into a presentation I gave to the level designers and environment artists
  • This helped us to gain a more holistic understanding of the space to remodel a more believable & immersive environment

Excerpt of my architecture presentation:
Palazzo floorplans, by architecture theorist Rudolph Wittkower

Planning

1. Modular Building Block System

  • After the 3Cs (Character, Camera, Control) were locked I took all the player character metrics in a gym level
  • Afterward I converted the metrics into a modular building block system
  • This system was used by all level designer and helped to establish consistency between us
  • Furthermore, environment artists took the building block metrics to create art assets
  • The building blocks received color coding, based on their gameplay functionality

Metrics Gym & Modular Building Block System

2. Directing game flow

  • The player must first go to the objective & can then escape through one of the 3 exits
  • This flow map is intended to fascilitate player agency, while also extending playtime
  • The flow of the map will naturally lead the player to the objective eventually, while also encouraging exploration
  • The beginning of the map is linear for onboarding purposes
  • The paths between the nodes can be connected and disconnected for each new mission in the area. That is how the level was designed.

Flow map for mission one; created by me.

Building & Iteration

1. Creating a blockout & iterating on it

  • I was responsible of concepting, building & iterating the gameplay for 1/3 of the entire games playspace. This included A.I. placement and ensuring their functionality.
  • During the art pass I made sure to maintain gameplay functionality and to make suggestions to what certain art assets could be in the areas

Iteration process of the garden house I was responsible of

Iteration process of the front garden I was responsible of

Iteration process of the exhibition room I was responsible of

2. Playtesting

  • The majority of playtesting was held during the quarantine of the COVID-19 virus, so level designers had to be creative
  • We used heatmaps, remote playtesting, streaming, video capturing and surveys to gather data with which we iterated on the level
  • As the level design supervisor I needed to pay close attention to the playability of the overall level and not just my area

Passive heatmap data gathering of players, including important actions they perform

University Evaluation

”"Ronny’s team values him greatly for his role as level design supervisor, He is pro-active and checks up on people and ask if he can help and is open to feedback. His work is of high standard, his presentation are as well and he regularly helps where he can and urges other to do so as well and organized the voice acting for the game. Small points of improvements can be seen, like better communication, but overall they think he is a great team member who actively tries to create the best possible game.
Ronny has done an outstanding job this Block and he is more than ready for his internship. Do keep an eye on your hours though, working because you like it is good, if you feel pressured by anyway to do so will often lead to a burnout. But really any company would be crazy not to hire him!"

- Year 3 Assessment Board, Breda University of Applied Sciences

9.7/10

Grade