{"id":39,"date":"2025-10-19T11:57:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T11:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/?p=39"},"modified":"2025-12-05T15:11:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T15:11:34","slug":"sketchworld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/level-design\/sketchworld\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanctum 6"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A first-person platformer, set in a post-apcalyptic space. The player uses momentum to perform parkour mechanics to escape a multi-level bunker run by an AI overlord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsibilities:<\/strong> I was Lead Level Designer with additional responsibility for Environment and Sound design. I successfully performed the roles of scrum master and agile leader and was in charge of pitch documentation and presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team Size:<\/strong> 9
Development time: <\/strong>9 months
Tools: <\/strong>Unreal Engine 5, Soundly, Ableton live 11<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Play <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Level Design<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The areas I worked on can be divided into:
Design Objectives<\/a>
Flow<\/a>
Navigation<\/a>
Environmental Storytelling<\/a>
Scripting<\/a>
Tutorial<\/a>
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Design Objectives<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Clear level design to prioritise focus on mastering the mechanics<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Bunker feel- areas of the level constricted to create feeling of claustrophobia, expanding to contrasting open spaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Focus on speed-running and fast movement<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Ensuring tutorial simple and easy to understand (Use of player shadows and slowdown as you press keys, similar to racing games)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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    \"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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    Flow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Navigation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Game play requires the player to make precise movements at a high speed. My priorities were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    • Player line of sight to support level navigation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Linear levels to enable the player to focus on movement rather than navigation, while allowing the player some autonomy with two pathways.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • First pathway designed to be longer with simpler obstacles<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Second pathway shorter with more complex obstacles players skill level will determine duration. take more time. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Strategically placing props within the scene communicates the next viable path. For instance, in the whitebox\/greybox version of the level (top right), the blue rectangle shows a potential route for the player. However, in the finished version (bottom right), the path is obstructed by a prop (blue rectangle), drawing the player’s focus to the intended path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      I playtested a version with the props placed on aesthetic design, and one where the props were placed to guide the players line of sight. These playtests reinforced my argument that players could move through the levels considerably easier with the emphasis on line of site guidance. This reinforced my rational that line of sight was integral to the level design process and allowed my team to understand my rational and development process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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      Whitebox\/Greybox<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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      Environmental Storytelling<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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      I wanted to exploit every opportunity to communicate with the player. I directed the artists to create posters and banners to appear on throughout Level 1. These had a duel function, to both reinforce the narrative, and act as marketing pieces. Including the number 6 on the wall detailing enforced the immersion in “Sanctum 6”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      To ensure that there was no impact on performance I instructed the artists to produce these textures so that I could use decals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The artwork is positioned to allow viewing without slowing down or stopping. For example, in the first image on the left, the posters are the first things you see as you enter the Reactor Room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      • The player wakes from a coma in a cryochamber. I positioned other cryochambers around the tutorial and intro room to suggest there are other people in the environment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Environment props (spanners, scrap metal, phones, etc…) placed around the environment to reinforce the space’s history prior to the player being conscious.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Low-pressure sodium lighting (copper in tone) to suggest that the environment has a past, that the lights have aged and lost brightness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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        Scripting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        To make navigation of the levels more interesting, I created a conveyor belt system. This allows the player to speed up, along with objects that move along the conveyor belt the player can use to travel to the next area. For example, the ledge grab shown in the conveyor belt image below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        Conveyor Belt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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        During tutorial ideation, my main feedback was that players were unsure how each mechanic functioned and was performed. To resolve this I asked the programmers for a system to record my movement in game as an exemplar. We placed this within the level to show how each mechanic is performed (As seen below).
        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        Player Shadow<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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        Tutorial<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        Feedback from play testing revealed that players found the tutorial section difficult. Due to the games fast paced nature, the pressure of performing each mechanic lead to frustration and disengagement. To address this issue I presented an idea to my team (adapting a common technique in racing games) temporarily slowing the game down and displaying the required input for the next action. Normal speed only resumes after player presses the indicated button (see image on right). This addition significantly reduced player stress and pressure, allowing players to learn the mechanics more comfortably.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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        Slow Motion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        A first-person platformer, set in a post-apcalyptic space. The player uses momentum to perform parkour mechanics to escape a multi-level bunker run by an AI overlord. Responsibilities: I was Lead Level Designer with additional responsibility for Environment and Sound design. I successfully performed the roles of scrum master and agile leader and was in charge of pitch documentation and presentation. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-level-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":153,"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":641,"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions\/641"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}