— Level Design —
The Hub
Summary
This project was made in collaboration with a graphics student at TGA, Oliver Andersson.
What initially started as a boss approach and arena evolved into a player hub instead.
This page is a showcase of the blockout process, and a detailed breakdown of how the project progressed, from ideation and concept to iteration and pivot.
Although the initial concept had to be adjusted during development, I am very happy with the final result.
Breakdown
- Created in 3 weeks (half time)
- All blockout models made in Unreal
- Unreal Engine 5.6.1 using the Game Animation Sample Project by Epic
Goal
- Create a refined blockout of a hub-level for an isometric, souls-like game
- Hand-off the blockout in a state that my collaborator then could utilize as a base for one of their portfolio pieces
— Pre-Production —
Ideation & Conceptualization
Conceptualization
Me and Oliver approached this project with an agile mindset, with continuous check-ins and space for adjustments.
We dedicated the first week of this project to pre-production, ideation and planning.
We also decided the project essentials, such as:
- The idea and concept of the level
- What our expectations and goals were
- What art-style and setting we wanted
- What camera perspective we wanted
The Idea
We initially decided to create an isometric boss arena and a short run-up to it, with two postcard moments.
Due to the narrow scope, we focused on a few features to let the environmental design be the main draw of the project.
— Project Setup —
Implementing Features
Before starting with the blockout, I implemented a few features needed to realize the levek.
Movement
The template we used for the project, GASP, uses a third-person camera.
I replaced it with an isometric-style camera system.
Camera System
To showcase more compositional work in the level, I made a system that blends between the default camera position and a target position.
World Curve
To further emphasize depth in the level, I made a material function that adds a isometric-style simulated world curve to the level.
— Rough Bockout —
Iteration & Pivot
We wanted to add more elevation to emphasize the feeling of depth, as it creates interesting composition and design.
I placed a camera actor at the lookout point so I always had a clear view of what the player could see from the lookout point. It also helped me to keep these angles in mind throughout the creative process.
Pivot
It became apparent that the scope and size of the level was larger than we initially thought. Because of the perspective we chose, the boss-approach had to be much longer than we anticipated due to camera clipping issues.
We had previously discussed having a bonfire checkpoint like the ones featured in the souls-games as part of the run-up to the arena. A thought popped into our mind…
...What if we pivoted and turned that checkpoint into a hub instead?
For the rough blockout, I prioritized the player path and main lookout point.
— Enter the Hub —
(Re) Designing the level
Hub Overview
We both liked the idea of the hub being a ruined keep so I did a quick blockout to define the general shape of the keep.
We did paint-overs of the blockout and the vision of the hub started to solidify in both of our minds.
— Hub Design —
The hub took inspiration from Firelink Shrine, with a main rounded area featuring the central checkpoint and bonfire.
We wanted the hub to make sense in its layout and shape as if it was a stone structure from the 15th century.
Vendors and NPCs
This hub is meant to be the main place where the player can level up at the bonfire NPC.
To increase the utility of the hub, I added two vendors. One item vendor and one spellmaker.
I added paths away from the main hub to serve as different routes the player could use to get around in the game world.
This turned the hub into a central point, akin to the hubcap of a wheel, with spokes leading out to different areas, always circling back to the hub.
— Composition —
Utilizing the camera system I made, I designed postcard moments that showcases compositional and environmental design.
Here, the camera angle is set to a steeper angle, to emphasize a greater sense of depth.
It also serves as foreshadowing for an upcoming area.
By lowering the camera position and angle, I was able to further emphasize the feeling of the player descending down into the unknown.
The camera angle stays the same, but the camera pans over the backside of the hub, to showcase how rough of a shape the keep is in.
— Closing and polish —
Final Iterations
With the main layout roughly blocked out, I started iterating on the shape of the keep, to make it look closer to the concept.
A shortcut was added that looped around to the beginning of the hub, so backtracking wasn’t the only way to get back to the central part of the hub.
I then added secondary and tertiary shapes to the blockout.
I created smaller secret areas to the hub, where hidden chests could be found.
This not only incentivizes player exploration, but also helps the player learn the layout of the Hub.
We had clear communication between the both of us to make sure the scope didn’t bloat too much.
It resulted in a much more condensed and tightly designed hub.
Having realistic constraints was great as I had to continuously balance the design between what would make it more interesting and what was feasible to realize.
— Final Result —
For an in-depth breakdown of the graphical part of the hub,
check out Olivers artstation
Overview
Walkthrough
— Reflection —
I am very happy with how the hub turned out.
Being able to discuss ideas and get feedback on the design was extremely helpful. I really enjoyed working together with Oliver. I firmly believe that a project stands and falls on how well the communication worked.
The agile mindset we embraced on this project made it much easier to take a step back and pivot when things didn’t quite work out as we hoped it would.
With that said, I believe we would have reached the same conclusion much earlier in the process by producing quicker and rougher blockouts before we decided the type of level we wanted to do.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this project as much as I enjoyed working on it!