{"id":89,"date":"2025-10-19T13:10:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T13:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/?p=89"},"modified":"2025-11-16T14:51:04","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T14:51:04","slug":"test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/level-design\/test\/","title":{"rendered":"Sketchworld"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A hand-drawn Third-Person puzzle game where the players actions effect the aesthetic around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsibilities:<\/strong> I undertook all aspects of design, aesthetics and worldbuilding. I developed the project in Unreal Engine 5 using blueprints where needed. Alongside this I documented my development and research process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team Size: <\/strong>1
Development time:<\/strong> 5 months
Tools:<\/strong> Unreal Engine 5, Blueprints, Soundly<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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

My focus for this project was in the following areas <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design Objectives
<\/a>Flow
<\/a>Navigation<\/a>
Scripting[Lift\/Elevator]<\/a>
Scripting[Cog Puzzle]<\/a>
Aesthetics<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Design Objectives<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Level structure is constant but the aesthetic changes<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Navigation is simple <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Level design to showcase the aesthetic capabilities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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    Flow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Level Layout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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    • Create an environment that feels intrinsically human and hand built. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • While the player explores they influence the look and feel of the environment. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Explore depth, perspective and tone to create a cohesive immersive world, both psychologically and physically.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Keep navigation Points of Interest clear and empty. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Ensure no visual barriers or objects on the floor disrupting player’s line of sight to make accessing the areas clear.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Make areas outside of Points of Interest less linear, with more interesting pathing allowing the player to access multiple areas. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Varing heights of level to reinforce design objective to showcased aesthetic capabilities – giving opportunity to view the environment from different perspectives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Areas of play below ground – constrictive and claustraphobic to contrast with the wide open spaces on the ground level.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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      Navigation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      The player revisits the same areas in the level, ensuring clear navigation for the player is vital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Multi-height areas are integral to the design. They allow the player the freedom to explore, while keeping the playable environment contained to prevent the player getting lost or confused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The multi-level space was accessed by staircases to indicate the height change (see image below). This is a familiar and real world experience that the player can draw on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      Heights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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      Library Entrance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      The library is the central building within the game. I made the entrance the focal point of the hallway so that the players line of sight is aimed directly at the interactable object (see photo below).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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      The design of the curb was intentional. Everything on\/above the curb is extra pathing that helps solve puzzles later. Everything below the curb creates a direct path to the points of interest, guideing the player to the intended path without spoon feeding the solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      This technique allows the buildings along the curb to subtly guide the player line of sight to the correct path.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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      Curb<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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      Scripting [Lift\/Elevator]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      Lift\/Elevator<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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      Workbench<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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      To reinforce the heights and levels within the game I created a lift system to allow the player to have an alternative movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      To make the lift mechanism simpler, it is activated by the players position rather than through a separate button press or lever (lift\/elevator gif).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      I created a movement script that adapted for everything that has linear movement within the game to ensure a simple and adaptable development process. For example the workbench in the library (workbench image).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      I made the script adaptable, specifically with the height of the lift, so it could be tuned for each object that has linear movement whether horizontal or vertical.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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      Scripting [Cog Puzzle]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The player explores the environment to collect cogs. Once all the cogs have been found, they are positioned on the main cog wall to open the door to the cave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      When developing this I needed to ensure the cogs interacted to create the correct rotation for the machine to function as it would in the real world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Before I began working in engine, I sketched the cogs (cog sketch below) to help me understand how cogs the cogs would interact and how to position them for visual interest. I wanted to use different sized cogs, but I didn’t want to make it so complicated that the player was unsure of how to solve the puzzle. I fixed the smaller cogs to the puzzle so the player had to collect the larger cogs, so that there is a clear visual of what is missing for the puzzle, and a clear visual once those cogs have been placed correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Once all cogs have been placed I utilised the linear movement script made earlier to move the rock wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      Cog Sketch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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      Final Puzzle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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      Aesthetics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The aesthetic design was integral to the success of the game, as the main draw to the project is the visual style. I needed to refine and ensure that the aesthetic choice was meaningful and impactful to the player during the game. Throughout the aesthetic design I was communicating with different artists explore opinions on how the style should be implemented, or techniques created through the sketching process and implement those within the game itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      • The aesthetic of the environment should feel human and familiar, with imperfect lines rather than straight edges. I asked my Mum (an avid sketcher) to send me a range of cross hatching and pencil textures at varying densities (images to the right).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • My Mum photographed pages from her sketchbook, and sent them to me. I chose the textures, cleaned them up in photoshop, and began to implement them into the design. I needed to ensure that the hand drawing was created as a seamless texture to ensure that when the shader is applied to the environment there’s no obvious repeating pattern that would distract the player from the game.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • I explored two iterations of this art style. The first was a cross hatched look with varying lines of thickness and depth (image below). The second a pencil shader look with the textures being made by using the edge of a pencil (pencil image below).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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        Pencil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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        Crosshatched<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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        • I decided on the pencil shader as the crosshatching one highlighted errors within the lines themselves, creating a moir\u00e9 effect. As the player moved away from the walls, the lines began to blur and wobble. The pencil shader had no errors at all and ran smoothly on the machines.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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          Along with the shader decision I needed to ensure that the environment that I set the game in fit the aesthetic accordingly. I had a few ideas but eventually stuck with a fantasy wizarding village, with elements of circular surfaces, along with more unique and branching trees to showcase the aesthetic on more organic substances. Furthermore, this art style aligns well with a fantasy world, as opposed to a photo realistic environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          A hand-drawn Third-Person puzzle game where the players actions effect the aesthetic around them. Responsibilities: I undertook all aspects of design, aesthetics and worldbuilding. I developed the project in Unreal Engine 5 using blueprints where needed. Alongside this I documented my development and research process. Team Size: 1 Development time: 5 monthsTools: Unreal Engine 5, Blueprints, Soundly Level Design and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89","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\/89","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=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":176,"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":648,"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions\/648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odessadesign.co.uk\/eddlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}