Personal Projects
FPS Game
Color Wars
Rafael Pineiro
Level Designer
Game Details
Role
Level Designer
Development Time
2 Month
Game Engine
Unreal 5
Team Size
Concept
Crossfire is a third-person shooter. In the crossfire, you must retrieve illegal data from an evil corporation once you have retrieved the data You must escape. You have a number of weapons to use against enemy AI the AI in the game is able to use cover and any other items it can pick up just like you.
Solo
Genre
Third Person Shooter
Gathering References
I have gathered many different references from video games and concept art to help get a better feel when I am blocking out and set dressing. This gives me a better idea of the kind of space I want to develop.
Paper Design
The rough draft of the level design is something I do for every single game I have made. It allows me to rapidly prototype ideas and certain aspects of the level before I even go into the game.By looking at this and the level map you can quickly see what was kept and changed in the final process
Blockout
For the blockout process, I used Unreal Engine 5's modeling mode. I have some experience with Maya and this allowed me some familiarity with the tools in the Unreal Engine 5 modeling mode. I was able to create many different shapes for the blockout process which helped me Envision the kind of level I wanted to make. As you can see from the before and after shots. The main concept of each shot was kept the same but the only thing that was changed was the better textures and models
Before and After
As you can see from the before and after shots. The main concept of each shot was kept the same but the only thing that was changed was the better textures and models
Walkthrough Gallery
Navigate the slideshow using the numbers below. The numbers correspond with the locations noted on the map above.
1.After the player has watched a short couple of cutscenes the level begins. The Player only has a pistol to defend himself with
Level Sequencer
The level sequencer in Unreal Engine 5 allows me to make cinematic. With the Cinematic cutscenes, I can give information to the player about certain aspects of the level for example. This cutscene sets up the beginning of the story it will give you a shot of the control room that you must go to to recover the data and another shot of the player going inside the building through the vent.
Denying Affordance
Every door in the game will tell you if they are locked or unlocked by the little icon on the door handle this is a great example of divine affordance
Textures
Many rooms on the level will have signs they'll direct the player to where to go. Each time we'll have a number on them to tell you which room you're in. There are two different signs in the game blue signs which are the main rooms and black signs which are the side rooms
Gates
There'll be doors in the levels that are locked the only way to open them is through some button or computer. This tells the player to backtrack to find the right kind of computer or button to open the door
Leading Lines
You'll find many of these kinds of rugs throughout the level I use these rugs as a leading line to help the player to the main objective
Visual Language - Color
There is a movable cover in the game that the player can interact with this movable cover has blue outlines to by doing this the player will recognize any of this movable cover from a distance
What went well?;
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The block-out process went well thanks to Unreal Engine 5 modeling mode I was able to create many different shapes and have a better understanding of my level
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Because I used an asset-packed Third Person Shooter Kit v2.1.I didn't need to code anything so I could focus more on the level design aspect of my game
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Because I used an asset-packed Third Person Shooter Kit v2.1.I didn't need to code anything so I could focus more on the level design aspect of my game
What went poorly?;
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I have too many level mechanics in my game. The asset pack provided me with many different level mechanics. Some mechanics did not get their time to shine as much as others or some were used only a tiny part of the level.
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This was my first time using the level sequencer for Unreal Engine 5. Well, I was able to create some cutscenes, but I would say I don't have enough experience to create the ones I wanted.
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The level is difficulty is something I believe I needed more time doing. The damage variable for many of the enemies is something I still need time to tweak. I feel that the enemy is sometimes too powerful and players might find that they are dying too easily.
What did I learn?;
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I learned a lot about the level sequencer for Unreal Engine 5 . Since this is my first time doing it I saw many tutorials on how the system works.
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The asset-packed that I used was a Third Person Shooter Kit v2.1.Gave me many great ideas for level designs that I can use in future projects.
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I learned about Unreal Engine 5 modeling mode which helped me create the block out for this game. This mode is similar to Maya and because I have experience with that software I was able to create many different objects for my block-out process
What I would do differently next time?;
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Instead of having many different level mechanics for one level, I believe next time I would have simply two so that the player can learn and then Master them when he reaches the end of the level
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Next time when I do another project I will play around more with the level sequencer in unreal before I start my next project so that I can learn and master all of the features for that system.
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Another thing that I would do differently next time is. I would give myself more time to tweak around with the damaged variables for my next project. The dad's variable for certain projects is something that requires extensive playthrough and time. Giving myself more time than I did for this project would help me with other future projects