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The VILLAGE

Level Design

Overview

The Village is a tutorial level which, after the tutorial is finished, will be used as a hub to connect different distinct areas of an open world.

I created this level for the last homework assignment for the Summer 2023 Level Design for Games CGMA course taught by Shane Canning. It was completed over approximately 2 weeks from planning to completion.

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It represents the first level in a game project where each area in an open world is the home of at least one dangerous creature from traditional Irish folklore. The player must thwart these creatures in ways that require them to think like a mischievous child who fears nothing and just wants to play.

Planning

I started with a sketch of the layout of the area, a list of what I needed to include in this tutorial, a list of the narrative elements I needed to set up, and an idea of what emotions I wanted to elicit in the player.

For the tutorial:

  • Basic movement (Walk, run, jump)

  • Drawing mechanic (get area map)

  • Interaction

  • Familiarization with the hub area layout

Narrative elements:

  • Introduce first creature: Cat Sidh

  • Establish the relationship between Dawn (player character) and Dusk

  • Set up idea that play can be used to avoid the dangers of the creatures

Emotions:

  • Cozy and familiar

  • Slightly cramped

When drawing the layout, I started with a basic design for the village. I then realized that it may be fun to play a game of tag with the cat, and added several paths to the plan to allow the entire village to be explored while chasing the cat(As shown by the black numbers in the second image).

TheVillageLayout.png

Original

With Cat Tag Path

Blockout

Creating a cozy village that encourages you to explore.

Distinct Exits

As there are three doors leading out of the village, each of which would lead to a different new area, I paid special attention to make sure each door felt like it would lead somewhere distinct.

Doors.png
Mood.png

Mood

The nighttime lighting and narrowness of the paths make the spaces feel small, creating a cozy and safe feeling, while also encouraging players to move toward more open prospect space.

Prototyping

Adding interaction, starting and ending dialogue, and changing from night to day.

While I have considerable game development experience, almost none of it had been in Unreal Engine prior to this CGMA course. As such, the prototyping for this project was an opportunity to learn a lot about Unreal's Blueprint visual scripting system while creating basic versions of mechanics. I relied largely on my broad programming skills, looking up Blueprint node names or details on how they function as needed.

Chasing the Cat

In place of a moving cat, I used a block out of a cat with an arrow to show direction, making sure that the next cat is visible from the one previous to it.

The Village Level Download

If you would like to try the level out yourself, click below to download it.

Level created by Kayleigh Shaw with:

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