FPS Halo Inspired Map
A First Person Experience
Introduction
This is my Halo Map project.
This level was designed to showcase my skills as a Level Designer. I utilized Halo Reach as a frame of reference to create combat encounters and fight area sizes. Some functionality was also implemented from the Halo games like the sprint funktion and behavior as well as grenades.
Summary
Individual solo project spanning 4 weeks working 4 hours a day.​
Project made in Unreal 5
Scripting
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Functionality First
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Simplicity for Design implementation
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Enemy AI
Design
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Create a fully playable level
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Blockout level of detail
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Keeping level open, while limiting sightlines
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Making each area feel unique and serve its purpose
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creating memorable moments of gameplay
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Using natural structures to guid player
Level Overview
The Walkthrough
The level starts in an isolated zone on the outskirts of the quarry. The player then moves closer to the edge of the quarry and moves in a circular way as they descend to the middle and lowest level of the quarry. Each area of the quarry serves a purpose. The first is the outskirts, an area yet established for living and therefore filled with Bismuth crystallization. The second area is the current excavation, due to this there are a lot of enemies present with a decent amount of cover. The third area is the landing zone and residential area. The last area is the center, with the massive door leading to their underground factory.
Design Principles
Establishing Shot
Early in the game there is a view showcasing the entire quarry, some objects are obscured to allow for more discoverability but the initial shot is made to establish a proper end goal.
10-Seconds of Fun
The level is designed to throw something new at the player every ten seconds and at times give moments that leave the player in awe.
Covers and No-Mans Land
A basic staple in First Person Shooter games are covers and no-mans land. Controlling the flow of combat and rewarding the player by pushing their luck to get to better positions such as the highground. In the scenario on the right, No-man's land is in the middle of the map and the player is incentivised to take the high ground and move across and then move down.
Gating
I am using a series of one way drop-offs to prevent backtracking and force the player forward. Since Halo is the reference game, these dropdowns are to ensure the player has collected all they need before moving forward and losing the excess ammunition and guns.
Design Chalanges
Shapes
With the main material being Bismuth working with and establishing a pattern to follow with the walls and floor created the first challenge. The only way to overcome this was testing and iterations. I tried a variety of versions for the wall and decided after comparing responses from feedback.
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Colors
The source material Bismuth shimmer in a variety of colours and as such I wanted to incorporate it into the level. However after creating a material that showcased a lot of colours and placing it on the walls it quickly became hard to see the depth and the colours stood out so much people mention it hurting their eyes to look at. The colours had to be limited and a solid gray to let the eyes rest and lead the player was needed as well. As suchthe refracting material was limited to covers and small objects as well as the outlining of the top of the quarry.
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Pathfinding
The floor in the level is also made to resemble Bismuth to a smaller degree. This was to give the level a bit of natural elevation, however, with crisscrossing staircase models overlapping easily made some tall edges where it was meant to be flat. As such the Nav mesh could not properly tell the most natural path. All floors were therefore carefully placed to ensure the navmesh did not break but still create the natural formations.
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Coding Design Tools
Launch Pads
Launch pads are a staple of the halo series and are used to travel long distances fast. For the ease of use I created a launchpad that used a spline to move the player along it and set up variables for the developer to manipulate the time spent in it.
Spline Mesh
I created a spline mesh tool to allow some pipe-like structures to be created. This is useful for a variety of reasons. Creating tunnels or pipes to connect levers and elevators are just some of its uses.
Elevators
Similarly to the launch pads, I designed the elevators with another spline. This decision was made to make the elevator BP a lot more modular as it can now easily adapt how far it goes and with another simple variable to control speed, the elevator was easy to use as a developer.
Playthrough and Reflextions
What's Left
There is still a lot of things to upgrade and things to do diffrent.
here is a list of things to still work on or change.
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Smarter AI​
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Enemy spawners
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Granades
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Crafting more dynamic areas
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Pickups​​​​​
This challenge was to create a map using the Bismuth metal as a reference to craft a playable and enjoyable first person shooter experience based in the Halo universe. I decided to create a massive quarry that the enemies had dug out and settled into as a base of operation, as such the end goal was easy to make as it is the deepest part of the quarry. The hardest part of this was balancing the level design aspects with the scripting ones. To create all the functionality of a functioning FPS game requires a lot of work, while the general concept of Bismuth as base material of a level could easily lead to something that is hard on the eyes. To ensure that the level was in fact playable I had to let go of some time scripting as such, there are a lot of functions missing from the level design as well.
In spite of some setbacks in design it was incredibly challenging and I learned alot and am already looking forward to redesigning it and making it even better.