One Way Out
Hero - A Lance Impaling Chaos
Level Design Focused Project
Project Pitch.
Experience Goal:
-
Create a break-in and rescue experience
-
Emphasize that the game world is changing
-
Create hero moments that amaze the player
This picture shows how I used framing, breadcrumbs, light contrastings, and landmarks to hint at the goal. I also used foreshadowing to introduce upcoming encounters to the player.
This is the first time the player can feel the intensive zombie invasion. The zombie is breaking into the factory guarded by the Combine Army. As a third party here, the player needs to hurry up.
This is the final challenge of the level. The player ruins the Combine Army's plan, and the factory has fallen. Both zombies and Combine Soldiers try to stop the player from leaving. To open the final gates, the player needs to ignite the whole factory to stop all enemies behind.
This picture shows how I used framing, breadcrumbs, light contrastings, and landmarks to hint at the goal. I also used foreshadowing to introduce upcoming encounters to the player.
Key Responsibilities:
-
Designed and built the level blockout
-
Documented and iterated level quality
-
Designed and Scripted combat encounters
-
Scripted a custom thermal sawblade that can ignite wood and gas
-
Decorated the whole level to shippable quality by available assets
-
Carried out the lighting pass to add aesthetic depth
Project Information.
One Way Out is a Half-Life 2 mod level with combats and puzzles developed with Hammer Editor of Source Engine.
The level is talking about a mission of retrieving a confidential document from a Combine Army Factory, which is under the invasion of zombies’ herds. The level features acting as a third party joining a battle between Combine Army and Zombie, retrieving a quest item, and making a way out to escape.
Engine: Hammer (Source 1)
Mod for: Half-Life 2 episode 2
Work Time: Oct 21, 2022 - Dec 1, 2023
Team Size: Individual
Play Time: 10 - 20 minutes
Features:
-
Customized thermal sawblade
-
Sence of a dynamic battlefield
-
Fantastic Combat Moment
Design Process.
Before starting to build a level, I wrote a level design document to help me plan all my creativity. I also drew a level map to illustrate the level's layout and the wow moments planned for the player.
After finishing the level design document, I quickly block out the whole level in the Hammer editor of Source 1 to test the space and scale. I had a hard time figuring out the idea of puzzles for my level mechanics.
After all, the gameplay, conveyances, and layout were fixed. I started to decorate the level to be aesthetically pleasing. Following my theme blueprint in the level design document, I made this place a forest factory.
Before starting to build a level, I wrote a level design document to help me plan all my creativity. I also drew a level map to illustrate the level's layout and the wow moments planned for the player.
#1 Clearness
Teaching, Feedback & Conveyance
Training Sequence - Because thermal sawblade is the gameplay in this level and it has never been used in the generic game. I design a small training sequence at the very begining
Conveyance
Conveyance & Goal - To tell the player the correct direction, breadcrumbs, signs, lighting, framing and landmark are used at the same time to reinforce the exit gate
Dynamic Feedback
Apply steam blur on sawblade constantly
Feedback - To reinforce how hot and powerful the thermal sawblade is, clear feedback of high temperature is presented to the player when the sawblade is held and thrown
#2 Dynamics
Dynamic Battlefield
Changing Battlefield - To reinforce the battlefield balance between invading zombies and Defencing Army is broken by the player, I implemented a couple of breaking on spots of zombies
Dynamics enemies - Enemies are spawned and attack the player's back if the player tries to rotate the valve to open the door. As long as the player reaches this area, both the Army Soldier and the Zombie will "hate" the player the most, while they "hate" each most in other areas
#3 WoW Moments
Dramatic Moments Reinforce Heroism
Elish Li - WoW Moments in One Way Out
Elish Li - WoW Moments in One Way Out
Defence of Invasion
Turn the field into fire inferno
A trap kill based on level gameplay
WoW Moment - Because Half-life 2's pillars reinforce the invincibility and unstoppability of the player. Three hero moments were designed to give the player a sense of power
Postmortem.
What Went Well?
-
Mixed Enemies Combat​
-
Good design of combining melee and ranged enemies​
-
Switching the target among ranged and melee enemies is enjoyable
-
-
Level Gameplay Engagement​
-
Thermal Sawblade as the level gameplay is useful for both puzzles, combats, and enhancement​
-
-
Intensifying Invasion of Zombie​
-
The player gradually feels the factory is fallen along with killing more and more soldiers
-
The WoW moment of igniting the whole level creates a strong feel of achievement
-
What Went
Wrong?
-
Segment of Puzzles and Combat
-
The puzzles and combats are not combined organically​​
-
Mechanics related to puzzles didn't contribute to the combat
-
-
Reuse of Space​
-
The level has very little reuse of space in total ​
-
Lack of reuse of space took a great amount of time in my production
-
-
Little Usage of Verticality​
-
The verticality is not used enough generally, which makes the level flat
-
What I
Learned?
-
Level Design First, Realism Second
-
Build up modules based on design goal and experience goal then consider how to adapt the decoration to the level
-
-
Layout and Sightlines​
-
Layout and Sightlines have to be narrowed down in the early block-out milestone to ensure the player has a clear vision of direction and goal
-
-
Do not leave a space too opened
-
Open space requires even more flow control, obstacles placement​s, and enemy spawning timings and spots
-
Gallery.
