Alpha Mask Stiker Update 9: Level Design - Area 3: Alien Territory

Alpha Mask Striker 

Level Design: Area 3 - Alien Territory

Intention

- Continue expanding gameplay through introducing more items and powerups, stealth segments and navigational gimmicks (Jump Pads, Dash Panels etc).

- Provide more difficult challenges for the player to tackle

- Offer a round of play that satisfyingly concludes the game while also making the player want more.

- Give the player shortcuts back to the other two areas, Mystic Rooftops and Downtown Invasion to be able to locate secrets they may of missed

Objective

1. Same objective, further expand gameplay to keep player engaged

2. Provide a large task for the player that allows them to explore many different areas of the alien territory before reaching the final segment of the level.

3. Have an end level boss to conclude the game (Only a possibility, if I have time to implement it)

Map Design

The Alien Territory will all take place in an interior environment. The player will move through many different rooms, some rooms will be locked, be hidden away as a secret, or will go on lockdown once the player enters, meaning the player must complete a certain task to be able to unlock the room they are trapped in. Towards the end of the level the map design will split off at an intersection into 3 separate paths. The player must reach the end of these pathways to locate a key. They require all 3 keys to reach the end of the level. These pathways will loop back on themselves, providing shortcuts back to the intersection.

Walkthrough Screenshots

Top Down Overview

Area 3 Setting

In the Alien Territory the aliens have set up strange buildings where they plan their attacks as well as perform experiments on whatever creatures they abduct. Expect to see magic, technological machinery, laboratory equipment, storage rooms and clone pods. This area should be weird, dark and creepy. The player should be discovering narrative elements through gameplay by observing their environment.

13.

After dropping down the hole in the ground from section 12 the player will land in a large, castle like room. Aliens will inhabit the area and will immediately ambush the player once they arrive in the room. An Alien Lockdown wall will be blocking the way to proceed, to open this door the player must locate the switches around the room and activate them (general areas of switches highlighted in red)

14.

The next room contains 3 pathways the player can go, the red arrow leads to a room where the player gets trapped inside and ambushed by aliens. Defeating these aliens will reveal a treasure chest and allow them to leave the room. Following the black arrow leads to section 15, the aliens in the room must be defeated before being able to go there though. Just next to the door leading to section 15 is a window that the player can see through, showing a special item. Below the bridge leading to section 15 is green poison gas. If the player falls into it their health will begin to slowly deplete. They can quickly jump back up to prevent dying. However there is a secret area in the gas cloud that leads to the special item behind the window.

15. 

Getting past the poison gas room leads to a spiraling stair case that connects to section 16. On the way down the stairs there will be a secret wall that the player can walk straight through. The wall will stand out with a different texture, making this secret stand out more to players.

16.

At the bottom of the spiral staircase is a corridor leading to this room. Aliens will be around this area and will attack the player once they notice them. This room will look like a cave, with flowing water streaming through the middle. Advancing through this cave leads to a staircase that goes up to section 17.

17.

Section 17 is a rounded room with a large door as it's center piece, the door has 3 large padlocks on it and requires 3 keys to open. Transparent unbreakable windows reveal the large mothership behind the locked door. Beside this door will be another shop for the player to buy items. The room has 3 routes that the player can take, with each of the routes having a key at the end of them. The player can take these routes in any order they like, but for the sake of documentation we will go through the left red pathway first, then the green pathway to the right and then onto the blue platform that takes you through the roof and into an upper area.

(Section 18 for Red Path)
(Skip to Section 21 for Green Path)
(Skip to Section 27 for Blue Path)

18.

The left pathway at section 17 will lead to a large room with a dark pit down below, the player must jump across the platforms and avoid falling into the pit. At the end of the room is a jump pad that shoots the player through a tunnel and into section 19.

19.

After shooting out of the tunnel the player will arrive in this area. Aliens will be placed around the area for the player to defeat. There are 3 directions the player can head towards. The bottom route and the high route both lead to section 20 but at different vantage points. The route on the far right leads to a secret room.

20.

Section 20 will have a large corridor with aliens hiding behind walls that will attack the player from afar. Heading down the corridor will lead to the large room you see in the screenshot above. A treasure chest rests on a podium in the center of the room. As the player heads towards the chest aliens will smash through some walls on the left and ambush the player. After the aliens have been taken care of the player can open the chest and obtain a key. After the key has been collected a door will open revealing a room with a teleporter that teleports the player back to section 17 with the triple padlocked door.

On to Section 21

21.

Heading right from Section 17 leads to a dark room that goes on lockdown as soon as the player enters. Aliens will attack the player and must be defeated to enter the lift mechanism shown in the screenshot above. Inside the lift will be 2 large buttons, one pointing up and one pointing down. Shooting the buttons will cause the lift to move in that direction to another floor. Shooting the down button leads to a secret room, whereas shooting the up button leads to section 22.

22.

Exiting the lift will lead into a large room with multiple staircases, the player must defeat the aliens blocking the way and ascend the staircases to reach the next section. If they continue going up past the entrance to section 23 they can find a hidden item way high up.

23.

After ascending the stairs the player will reach an area with a dangerous pit down below with poison gas, they must stay on the narrow platforms and not fall off.  If they do fall off they must quickly rush back to the steps that take them back to safety before their health is completely depleted by the poison. While crossing the narrow platforms aliens will try to push the player off, defeat them to open an alien door and progress to section 24.

24.

After getting past the alien door a jump pad will shoot the player through a wall and into a room with aliens. The aliens will attack immediately. There will be another small room that connects to this one nearby, in that room is a window that reveals a secret item from another room. The glow of the item can be seen through the window, attracting players towards it. To get the item the player must break through the secret wall shown above to loop around and enter the secret room through another pathway. After defeating the aliens a switch must be pressed on the high ground to allow 4 platforms to emerge from the ground. (Switch and platforms highlighted in red) These platforms are then used to jump on and get to section 25. 

25.

The player enters a large room with another dangerous pit down below. The player must avoid falling and get across by jumping across the spinning platforms nearby. Flying aliens will bother the player and attempt to push them into the pit. After getting across the pit, follow the pathway to section 26.

26.

Following the pathway leads to a treasure chest with a key inside. After obtaining the key a nearby vent can be smashed through, which leads directly back to Section 17.

On to Section 27

27.

Jumping on the blue highlighted platform in Section 17 causes the platform to fly up towards a hole in the ceiling, leading to a new area. After arriving in the new area the player will find an empty square room with the words "Lift Stop" on the wall. They can't do anything here yet so they can leave and carry on to the large room on the right with the 4 squares. A door blocks the way to section 28, a switch is guarded by a large alien in the top room. After defeating the alien the player can activate the switch which opens the door leading to Section 28. If the player looks behind the back of the room a very small lever can also be found, pulling this lever opens another door that leads to a secret room on the right that will contain a lot of useful items.

28.

Section 28 introduces a stealth segment where the player must avoid spotlights, security cameras and huge beast aliens to be able to get by. If the player is spotted, then a horde of aliens will attack the player and a secret item will be locked away. If the player gets by the security without being detected they can obtain the secret item easily. If they do get detected then they must locate a hidden switch to be able to retrieve the secret item. This area will contain alien clone pods and a pool of green ooze with strange creatures inside. These creatures will stare at the player as they navigate this section. Jumping up and around as shown above will lead to more platforms to jump up, leading to section 29.

29.

After ascending the platforms and stairs in this room the player will reach an intersection. One path leads to a treasure chest being guarded by an alien beast. While the other takes the player over a narrow pathway above the green ooze mentioned before. The creatures inside will continue to stare at the player. Alien machinery will be operating around the narrow walkway and can get in the player's way as well as push them into the ooze down below. If the player falls into the green ooze the creatures go crazy and kill the player character immediately. Getting past the narrow walkway safely will lead around a corner and to an air vent. Breaking through the air vent will lead to section 30.

30.

After breaking through the air vent the player will be at the opposite side of the room from section 28. An alien door blocks the way to section 31. If the player hasn't alerted any enemies the player can sneak into a nearby security guard room, silently kill the guard inside and pull the lever to open the alien door. If the player has alerted enemies the guard will be waiting for the player and will attack immediately as they enter the room. After opening the alien door they can head through and will enter a lift that will automatically close the door behind them and take them upwards to section 31.

31.

The lift takes the player to a large circular room with a treasure chest at the end of the room. When the player tries to open the chest it is revealed to be a trap, the door to the lift is locked and they are ambushed by a horde of aliens that fall in from holes in the ceiling. After defeating all of the aliens the real treasure chest will appear with a key inside and the lift door will reopen. After the player obtains the key a button will flash green inside the lift. Pressing this button make the lift take the player back to the lift stop described in section 27. From here they can jump back on the platform that leads them back to section 17.

32.

Now that the player has all 3 keys the large door can be unlocked. A cutscene plays of the door being opened and the player can finally enter.

33.

The door leads to a long, final corridor that leads to the abduction beam of the alien mothership. The player heads directly towards the beam and floats upwards to enter the mothership.

One of two things could now happen here...

Cutscene: On the way up to the mothership the main character is advised to set the charges for explosives. After a brief pause the character emerges from the alien mothership and lands in a nearby area. The mothership can then be seen exploding in the distance. Mission Accomplished.

Boss Battle: Preferably I would like there to be a boss battle with the alien leader inside the mothership which will be a large round battle arena. After defeating the alien leader the character then places the charges and blows up the mothership, then it's mission accomplished.

The game will most likely be ended with the cutscene, however in an ideal world I know it would be much more satisfying to end the adventure with a climatic boss battle. I would take gameplay over a cutscene any day.

End of Game


Current Plan of Action

Gameplay Elements to Level
Now that the level design is documented I can go back into unreal engine and start to add the gameplay elements to the level such as jump pads, traps, shops, pickups, enemies etc

First Playthroughs & Feedback
After that, the first playthroughs of the game can be played by testers, I will receive feedback and then change, improve and alter the game based on feedback.

Animations & Enemies
During these tasks I will also be modelling some very simple enemies and animating them as well as touching up player character animations where I can.

Adding Colour, Last Minute Polish
Lastly I will add some colour to the level and try to make it look as good as I can. I'm no artist though so this is lowest priority, gameplay comes first.

Essay...
Oh yeah, I've also got my essay to finish, will work on getting that done this week.

Alpha Mask Striker Update 8: Level Design - Area 2: Mystic Rooftops

Alpha Mask Striker

Level Design: Area 2 - Mystic Rooftops

Intention

- Offer a more challenging round of play by introducing different enemies and adding dangerous obstacles such as traps and pitfalls.

- Expand upon the available items and power-ups the player can use

- Teach the player how to open colour coded locked doors with secret colour keys

- Give the player puzzles to solve in order to progress, find secret locations and obtain collectibles.

- Supply the player with a shop, where they can buy useful items with the currency they have collected

Objective

1. Expand gameplay to keep the player engaged

2. Tell a narrative story through gameplay with the game environment, colours and setting

Map Design

More open environments leaving room for more combat scenarios. Different heights of elevation for the player to make use of their movement and jumping abilities. Multiple branching pathways and secrets to discover.

Walkthrough Screenshots
































8.

Area 2 Setting

After climbing the stairs from Area 1 the player will see a change in the surrounding area. Colours of walls will change and various alien devices will be seen around the area. Parts of the terrain will float in mid air, almost as if the planet is being abducted by a strange force.

When the player reaches this area they will have two ways to go. If they head to the right they can use some nearby objects to bounce to a higher balcony, once on the balcony they can head inside the building to discover some useful items.

Head back and go up the stairs to come to an intersection, if the player heads to the right they will go straight to section 10, if they go left they will head to section 9.

9.

When heading left from the stairs the player follows a path to get to a large combat area where the door will be locked down as they enter the room. Defeating the enemies in the room will reopen the door. There are two other rooms that the player can get to from here. On the right will have another small section with aliens to defeat to exit the room as well as a shop that the player can purchase useful items from however the shop doesn't open until nearby enemies are defeated.. On the left you can see a window with a secret item behind it. To get to it you must locate a secret key in the area and return to unlock the door blocking the entrance to the secret room.

After the player is done here, they will head back and continue to section 10.

10. 

The player will enter a large area that will be plagued by aliens. The path ahead is blocked by an alien lockdown door and will open once enemies in the area have been defeated. If the player jumps up across balconies on the right they can find the berserk power-up which heavily increases the players gun fire rate for a short time. 

11. 

After getting past the alien lockdown door this area contains more aliens to defeat to progress forward. Floating buildings move around slowly around the area, splitting this section off into islands. Players can time their jumps to jump on these buildings to get to different locations where they can find useful items as well as enemies and secrets. To progress through the level the aliens must be defeated to open up the alien door that leads to section 12.

At the beginning of the area there is a secret passage that can be opened by hitting a secret switch in the area. Going through the secret passage leads to section 11A

11A

Entering the secret passage leads to a small area with many targets hidden around the area. If the player shoots all of these targets the blue walls will smash, revealing a secret item. One of the buildings in this area will have some useful pickups hidden behind it.

12. 

After getting to section 12 the player will approach a large building that can be entered after activating a nearby mechanism. Entering the building will cause the room to go dark, the player is ambushed by glow in the dark aliens and the room will be on lockdown by a magic purple wall. After defeating the aliens a glowing switch will appear from the ground. Hitting this switch opens a door that allows the player to move onward and drop down a hole to get to Area 3 - Alien Territory.

Move to Area 3 - Next Blog Post

Alpha Mask Striker Update 7: Level Design - Area 1: Downtown Invasion

Alpha Mask Striker

Level Design

Settings:   Area 1 - Downtown Invasion

                Area 2 - Mystic Rooftops 

                Area 3 - Alien Territory (Interior)

Area 1

Intention

- Familiarize the player with the main characters movement and basic techniques 

- Offer a gameplay segment that introduces the rules of gameplay and give the player a taste of what the gameplay experience will be like. 

- Show the player different types of pickups and how they can be used

- Introduce the Alien threat, firstly with the underlings. Easy to defeat.

- Offer a round of play that is easy to complete

- Allow players to discover the value of secret areas, rewarding them for exploration with upgrades and power-ups.

Objective

1. To offer an opening that is exciting and draws the player to the game

2. To hook the player with fun gameplay, so they desire to continue and accept the challenge of eliminating the alien threat.

                             

Map Design

Simple and straightforward until eventually branching out to multiple pathways for the player to choose. No death pits or difficult challenges. Introduce mechanics in a safe environment for the player to learn at their own pace, then add more danger as the player progresses.

Walkthrough Screenshots

• Each screenshot will have a circled number, the numbers indicate the general area shown on the next screenshot.

1.

Downtown is a city filled with skyscrapers, many areas of the city are on fire. Nearby UFO's can be seen flying around and blasting buildings in the background.

The level begins with the main character landing in a cool pose after jumping from a building. The player then gains control and can progress forward to learn how to perform various actions. Tutorials will appear as button prompts with an image on the hud and will not stop the gameplay. The first couple of jumps don't pose any danger, if the player falls they can simply jump back up.

2.

Progress down the path, learning how to double jump and melee attack along the way. The melee attack tutorial will have breakable objects for the player to destroy.

3.

The player reaches the first branching pathway, they can continue to the left where they will learn how to dash and pick up their first health and armor pickup as well as advance through the game. There is a secret off to the right, jump across platforms to reach the top of a building where a treasure chest awaits. They can then jump off of the building and back to the branching pathway.

4.

The player reaches their first large combat area, teach the player how to switch between Haste and Strike Style. Teach player how to shoot and aim. The first instance of alien enemies will appear, once they are defeated, teach player about alien lockdowns. They cannot progress beyond the green alien door until the nearby alien threat has been eliminated.

4A & 4B (Top Down View)

The center area is where the player just first encountered the aliens. In order to progress forward they must explore alternate paths and defeat the aliens in other locations. Once the player has defeated all of the enemies the alien door will be shown opening, showing the player they can now progress forward.

5. 

After going through the alien door the player reaches an area where they are shown alien UFO's abducting humans in the distance, directing the player towards the large mothership. Upon dropping down they can find 3 pathways to follow, pickups are located on the right, while a secret tunnel is on the left. To progress they must enter the narrow alleyway (6) shown in the screenshot, jump across balconies and avoid falling into the city flames down below.

5A ? Route

If the player goes left they will find a secret tunnel that they can walk through to get to an area with some minor platforming. Moving platforms and elevating platforms can be found here. After jumping up to the higher area aliens will appear on the floating platforms. After taking care of them the player can take a route that leads them to a treasure chest and back to the area in screenshot 5.

6.

After jumping across balconies the player lands on the top of a building where flying aliens will attack from the front and the sides. After dealing with them, the player can jump onto a balcony near a large window to be able to jump over to the next part of the level.

7. 

The last part of Downtown Invasion consists of a combat arena with many different heights and elevations to tackle the various aliens that will be inhabiting the location. They can take the high ground that loops around itself, they can cross the bridge and jump to the various platforms around the area. They can also fall below to locate a passageway that leads to a jump pad that helps the player get back up to where they fell from. If the player falls to the alternate passageway they can find a secret tucked away in a corner behind a destructible wall. After defeating the aliens the player can progress up the stairs to reach the city rooftops.

Move to Area 2 - Next Blog Post

Third Person Shooter Update 6: "Alpha Mask Striker" Level Design & John Romero Research Material

Been a while since an update, exactly a month actually! but "Alpha Mask Striker" now has a complete Level Design and is now fully white blocked. It took a while but the level is pretty large, and ranges to around 20-30 minutes of gameplay, possibly more dependent on the player. "Alpha Mask Striker" is the game's new title by the way, came up with it so I had a more interesting name than Third Person Shooter Project.

The feedback I got from my 3D platformer was that the level you play around in didn't feel like it was actually designed as an actual level. For the most part this is correct, I ran out of time so I used what I made for the test level and connected it to two platforming challenges, which were rushed. So this time around I was asked to properly design a level for the game. 

I already know how to design a level for a game, but before I began I decided to check how notable level designers in the industry go about designing levels. What I found was a whole video series of game industry legend John Romero, where he discusses the creation process behind the original Doom including reasoning for his level design. John Romero if you haven't heard of him is the co-founder of id software and a designer for many of their games, including Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake. All three of which are exceptional games for their time and led to establishing the first person shooter genre. 

You can watch the video series for yourself here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV6HlBa88js&index=2&list=PLF-Nf60AUpykRCzGVGwt8Bt5JnQA8Qz8N

As for documenting a level design, I will show in engine screenshots of the block map while annotating them, explaining what is happening in that area in terms of enemy placement, navigational choices and directions, secrets and narrative. With the level being quite large I'm going to separate the level design screenshots and annotations into another blog post. I have all the screenshots I need, about 35 of them. I'm just in the process of annotating them and formatting them for the blog posts.