Technical Game Level Designer
 3D / RogueLite element / horror
2024

My missions :

Game design (3C) : 

• Character: A humanoid character with a camera.

• Controller : Mouse or joystick 

• Camera : FPS to increase the sense of tension and horror.

Why ? : The aim of this project was to test a mix between the horror and roguelite genres. I also  wanted to integrate NPC's such as the merchant, it was a good way to learn how integrate all the animations, and how triggered them.  
 
Goal : Our character is chased through a labyrinthine mansion. 
The player has to listen carefully to the feedback around him, because only then will he be able to guess where the monster is. 

The player must continually decide which path to take. 
So, in each lane, he has to pay attention to what's around him to make the best decision. 

Every decision the player makes and every move he makes earns him a currency "Boo". 
If the player takes too long to choose his path, he will panic and make random decisions. 

The rogue lite dimension comes into play because the player will be able to buy tools/powers as they die, enabling them to better locate the monster and thus avoid it, while solving the puzzles in the story.

• USP: The player only has a certain amount of film at his disposal. Each photo taken allows the player to know the position of numerous elements in the game, such as the position of the merchant, a dead end or even the monster if it is close by. 

​

​

​

Level design : 

• The idea is to be able to offer a procedural level based on something the player knows.
  First of all I made a paper level design that allows you to place an initial base so that you know the plans for the overall level.
  From this I created 4 zones, which are 4 different biomes for the player to visit. 
  To keep a progression curve for the player,i had to keep in mind the difficulty with my design elements . 
   

• I made an initial block out with simple meshes to set up the first and second biomes. First i start by a level design draw . Then i bring it into UE5 as a Material / texture.
  Thanks to that i directly used my draw to drop all the meshes in my level. 
   

• As some of the objects would be placed procedurally, I had to follow a few placement rules. That's why I created the ruler tool, which measures the optimal distance between two blueprints. 
  The player moves from point to point on a grid. So certain objects had to be placed at exact locations for it to work. 
   

• This constraint forced me to create a challenging level by following precise points and paths.
   

• After setting up the Block Out, I started using level straming to optimise my level. The main level is split into 4 sub-levels to save resources.
   

• To create a challenge and a fun level, I had to offer several possible paths for the player that wouldn't be too long if he made a mistake and not too fast to be able to follow without paying attention to the scenery. I had to find a fun way  between labyrinth and logic to keep the player focus. 

​​​

​​

​