Capstone Project - Unreal Engine

Equinoxe - The Archives (Level 2)

Created over the course of 15 weeks, Equinoxe is a 3D platformer produced in Unreal Engine by a team of 28 students at Campus ADN.

I had the role of Level Designer on the second level of the game : The Archives, where the player learns to master the mechanics of a second character : the Lady Of The Lake.

Summary

Morgane and The Lady of The Lake make their way to The Archives, where they hope to find hidden knowledge about the mysterious corruption that has overcome the castle.

Intentions

Teach the Lady Of The Lake character (Burrow and Glide abilities)

Introduce the player to switching characters mid-air
Script an exotic sequence & gameplay ingredient myself in Unreal Blueprints
Tie in the narrative’s associated knight (Palamedes) into the level through an exotic gameplay beat
Create a build up in intensity that culminates in the Dreamworld, then downpace when the player returns towards the Hub

Constraints

Unreal Engine 5.3
Max 84x84m of Gameplay Space (art limit)
Rational Level Design document to determine gameplay ingredients and level progression
Fully playable, from Main Menu to End Credits.
15 weeks of production in a school context.
28 students: 7 Level Designers, 5 Scripters, 3 Artists, 7 Animators, 6 Sound Designers.

Documentation

Miro Board

Pacing & Intensity Graph

Top Down 2D Layout

Rational Level Design Document (RLD)

One of my responsibilites at the start of the project was to establish a Rational Level Design progression of the entire game. The intention was to expose the player to new mechanics and progress the difficulty while sometimes removing certain Gameplay Ingredients (GPI’s) to retain a certain level of surprise and exoticism in every chapter of the game.

To make every level unique, we aimed to have at least one exotic, memorable sequence in every mission.

The focus of my level was to teach the Burrow and Glide GPI’s as well as the character swap mechanic while practicing the GPI’s introduced in the first level.

Gameplay Beats

Beat #1
Navigating the lobby halls

The first part of the level is aimed towards teaching the player two new mechanics available to them : Burrow & Glide. I made sure to introduce the ingredients in three steps to ease the learning curve.

1 - In a safe environment

2 - In an environment with a feeling of danger and lastly

3 - In a dangerous setting.

Intensity : 1

Beat #2
Entering the Library

After the player was introduced to the two mechanics available to the Lady of The Lake character, I wanted to have a section that allows them to practice them as well as combine them together. This section is a bit more open to create a sense of scale within the library.

Intensity : 3

Beat #3
Reaching the Chessboard Puzzle

To increase the intensity before the halfway mark of the level, I added a section where the player must switch mid-air. It is a key moment in the game, because it is the first time where you see the potential of the dynamic between the two main characters.

Intensity : 6

Beat #4
Completing the Chessboard Puzzle

Every level had an associated knight in the narrative, which was Palamedes for the Archives. Inspired by his chessboard emblem, I decided to integrate a platforming puzzle which included a small reference to his iconic emblem. He is the knight of Wisdom, so I wanted to make the player use their memory to navigate a space. It is one of the few puzzle moments in the game which make it very memorable.

Intensity : 2

Beat #5
Entering the Annex Room

As soon as the player enters the room, I designed the entryway framing to perfectly showcase the player’s objective and the path which they must take through the rule of thirds. I made this room with the combination of both Morgane and the Lady Of The Lake’s abilities in mind, so the player can practice while moving forward.

Intensity : 4

Beat #6
The Chain Gate Time Trial

To guide the player to the activation mechanism, I put vertical and horizontal chains linking the door to the pressure plate balcony. Once pressed, I scripted both the door and chain system through Unreal Blueprint to open quickly and close slowly with multiple feedbacks communicating to the player that the door is closing so they need to cross it quickly.

Intensity : 7

Beat #7
Entering the Dream World and retrieving the Eye of Merlin

After picking up the Forbidden Book, the Dreamworld opens, which aims to test the player’s skills at combining both characters, using all the abilities learned thus far. I wanted to create a short burst of quick platforming that felt like a shot of adrenaline compared to what the player had seen so far. I also wanted the environment of the Dreamworld to call back to the Library, so I added multiple meshes used in the level as well as floating pieces of the Chessboard Puzzle.

Intensity : 8.5

Beat #8
Returning to the Great Hall

Once the player has completed the Dreamworld and returned to the physical realm with the Eye of Merlin, I wanted to down pace the rest of the level since the Dreamworld was very high in intensity. I wanted it to feel like a victory walk, so I added a few short, simple platforming sections with glides and hook shots but nothing too hard. Lastly, the level culminates with a narrative-focused room where we learn about what happened to Palamedes, perfectly closing the book on the second chapter of the game.

Intensity : 1

Level Design Techniques

Framing - Communicates to the player the goal of the room through composition, lighting / contrast & VFX

Breadcrumbs - Paper sheets reinforce affordance and indicate which jumps are safe for the player to land to progress

Leading Lines - Added chains to the gate that guide the eye of the player towards the gate and the pressure plate, visually linking them together

Environmental Storytelling - Communicates the fate of the knight Palamedes without Dialogue, shows him being consumed by the corruption in his own study room

Unreal Blueprint Scripting

Chained Gate Exotic Gameplay Ingredient

The intention with this gameplay ingredient was to create a memorable moment that became a time trial, where the player must reach the other side of the gate before it closes.

Features :

Opens rapidly when the player steps on a Pressure Plate
A dynamic scripted event camera frames the door while it opens
The chains and rollers turn at the same speed and duration as the door
Once the Pressure Plate released, the door starts closing slowly
After crossing the door, the gate suddenly slams shut, adding emotion
VFX, audio and rumble feedback is generated while chains are moving and when the door closes suddenly