Introduction
This level was the final project of the CGMA Level Design for Games Workshop. I was given a short prompt and a cadence for the level to follow.
My goal was to utilize these tools and complete a level that flows properly and builds tension as the player ascends a mountainous area. This project was a culmination of all of the things that I learned during this workshop and I really wanted to show it off.“L’or De Ma Mère” means “My Mother’s Gold” in French.
Project Details
Maya 2023
Unity
Level Design
Blockout
Scripting
Combat Encounters
Planning Phase
"Many years ago, the cowboy's mother was a prospector, and struck it rich. Unfortunately, her partner betrayed her and stole all the gold for himself. The cowboy's mom tracked him down, but he died before she could find out where he stowed all the gold. Recently, the cowboy happened upon some clues about the gold's location. But his sworn enemy overheard his plans to find it, and has gotten here first, with an army of desperados. They'll use any means necessary to keep the cowboy from his treasure."
This is the prompt that we were given, and this is the overall flow of the level that we were supposed to aim for.
References
Before beginning on a project, collecting references is a major key to the process for me. I want to collect two types of references: general references (architecture, inspiration, etc) and also references that help fill out the mood of the level like weather and lighting.
I wanted this level to be set in foggy mountains of an area where a lot of mining/prospecting took place like central/southern inland California, around the Death Valley area.
Inspiration was drawn from a lot of old mining architecture that I found. Silos, ore houses, and even mine shafts were useful for this. Also, I was really intrigued on the idea of having a bunch of beautiful vistas including trees and bridges.
Combat Encounter #1 Planning
For the first combat room, I wanted it to be underground in one of the mine areas. Whenever I can, I want to reward the player with a beautiful vista to enjoy. I feel like this is a chance to up the cinematic feeling of a fight scene and also give the player a little reward for making it there. Another goal I had was to establish two clear fronts for the enemies and player and also an important “kill zone” in the middle of the area.
With these two goals in mind, I started mapping out the combat encounter on paper.
This area changed a lot through the iteration process, but the main goals still prevailed.
I also wanted to focus on portraying what the enemies would actually be doing down in a deep dark mine. I think it is important to give the enemies life and to show that they are not just there to serve the player, and that they have their own goals to achieve. The enemies were in this mine to search for the gold of the player’s mother, and they split off from the rest of their group to hopefully find it first.
Combat Encounter #2 Planning
For the second combat room, I wanted to see if I could make it even more cinematic than the first. In order to achieve this, I was planning on building the encounter on the side of the mountain overlooking a river.
The enemies were meant to be positioned in front of the main mine entrance that had proved so fruitful for the player’s mother all those years ago.
I wanted to utilize a few different interesting combat cell architypes like a stronghold and clearing in this encounter. A stronghold for the player to try and hold the enemies back from; a clearing so the player can flow around the “kill zone” of this encounter without getting destroyed by the enemies.
This encounter changed a lot since the first mapping, just like the first encounter.
Goals and Theming
With the initial prompt in mind, I envisioned an old mining operation that was fairly hidden and very prosperous. The player’s mother may not have ever found the treasure her partner stole from her, but it was always hiding in plain sight. The treasure was going to be hidden above the player’s mother’s main mining operation. An “off the path” mining operation in the central California mountains seemed like an awesome place for a level to be located.
My main objective was to reward the player with vistas. I personally love this type of reward in games, and I wanted to reward the player with a nice view whenever I could.
In my planning phase, one picture in particular really inspired me. I loved the idea of this bridge over a waterfall that the player would stumble upon at the beginning of a level.
I wanted to take this one step further and try to reward the player with different tiers of this view. After some brainstorming, I thought it would be really interesting if the player came across the initial view, and then looped around onto the bridge at some point, and then finally viewed the bridge and waterfall from above at the end of the level.
Exploration Sequence #1
With my previous goal in mind, I wanted the initial waterfall scene to be the main focal point of the initial exploration sequence.
The player starts out on the shore of a lake, having just discovered the boat of his enemy on the same shore. He has been tailing them for some time now, assuming that they would lead him to his mother’s treasure before he found it.
In an effort to reward the player with views, I start them off with a great one, and quickly give them an even better one. After this, I transition the player into a tight mine corridor before the first combat space. This transition from wide open space into a tight cramped one is meant to really accentuate the cramped space that the player is entering.
Combat Area #1
As mentioned in my “Planning” section, I wanted cinematic combat areas. Luckily, this aligned perfectly with my goal of rewarding the player with vistas. One aspect that fuels cinematic combat design is the setting of the space. So, I set the space in an underground cavern with waterfalls coming out of the ceiling.
This space was designed around having three enemies inside of it. As you can tell from my initial drawing of the area, it changed a lot during the blockout stage.
The area is set up to have a strong initial combat position. The player can access cover almost as soon as they enter the area. In this initial combat position, the goal of the the next room is within the POV of the player.
I established a clear front for the player and the enemies, while also providing a nice flank route around the side and up to the raised portion of the space that enemies are occupying.
Exploration Sequence #2
I start the player off inside of a tight mine shaft. This decision was to give the player a cooldown after a combat space, but also it was designed to pinch the player and make the end of the tunnel even more gratifying.
Outside of the mine shaft, if the player goes left, they will see sunken mining equipment in another mountain lake. This was meant to fuel the players sense of mystery as to where they were. “Am I in a dangerous area that is prone to flooding? What type of structure is that in the lake?” These are the types of questions I was hoping to spark in their minds.
When the player goes right outside of the mine shaft, they head towards the second tier of the waterfall view. This tier is the tier above the waterfall that the player saw almost instantly when they started playing this level.
After the bridge, the road is washed away due to a landslide. This is meant to provide context as to the upcoming valve for the player and to set up the next combat area.
Exploration Sequence #3
This is where everything comes to an end. The player reached the mining operation that his mother had perfected and sees that it has seen better days. The main ore silos are leaning into the water and pointing the player towards their next objective: the main mine entrance.
This main mine entrance will lead the player into an elevator that I scripted to take them up to the third and final tier of the views that I had initially set out to design. This view overlooks everything that the player has gone through and was designed for the player to reflect on how far they have come.
Further along, they will find the treasure that their mother’s partner buried right above her mining operation. They will also see a small house that is beginning to fade off of the cliff into the vista behind it.
Level Design
Combat Area #2
In the second combat section, I really wanted the action to crescendo. This area was designed around five enemies.
This is the main chunk of enemies that landed on the shore of the lake, and they stumbled upon what they thought was the main mine entrance that the player’s mother was utilizing, although it was caved in.
Surrounding the main mine entrance, I ended up implementing the two combat cell architypes I had planned out. At the start of the encounter, there is a stronghold house that the player can take refuge in. In front of the mine entrance, there is a clearing that has a main kill zone and cover all around it.
With the lake as a backdrop for this fight, I really enjoy the cinematic nature of the encounter. It feels like the action is climaxing and setting the player up for a much needed cooldown.
Post Mortem
I learned a massive amount during this project. My favorite part of any project is all of the things that I learn about level design. One of the more important things that I learned was how helpful the initial planning phase can be when I add 2D mapping into my toolbox. This was the first project that I really relied on 2D mapping more heavily. It allowed me to plan out combat encounters and that sped up the initial blockout by a large amount.If I had to do this project over again, I would like to focus on more scripted events. For example, it would be really satisfying to have the player fall into the landslide at the end of the second exploration area instead of hopping down into the landslide.
Overall, I am really proud of this project and I think that it showed the culmination of my time at CGMA and that I can map out a plan and properly execute on it. I am looking forward to iterating more on this project.
