My Process
Planning
My goal for this project was to gain experience designing meaningful encounters that challenge the player and test their ability to execute upon targeted mechanics and skill themes. I further made use of lighting, framing, and verticality to influence and guide their approach to the level.
LEVEL PROGRESSION
Construcing a Flow
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To set the stage for the encounter series, I begun with an introductory encounter that makes use of layered enemy placement. By putting tankier, ranged enemies at an elevated distance, while allowing melee enemies to run at the player freely, I created a space that teaches players to make use of environmental cover and methodically consider the order in which they defeat their foes.
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Between major encounters, I made use of hallways to introduce new concepts without overwhelming the player. For example, I created a hallway where players have an elevation advantage to tutorialize how to attack enemies with shields that protect them head-on.
Introductory Encounter
Tutorialization Hallway
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I built upon the hallway encounter in the following encounter, where players are ambushed by three shielded enemies upon pressing an integral button. The prior tutorialization makes this counter feel manageable, which I expanded upon by introducing a new weapon that is effective against shields, allowing players to develop a new strategy. I also designed this encounter as the first multi-wave encounter, creating a balanced challenge.
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Expanding on these ideas, I used the next hallway to introduce sniper enemies, granting the enemies an elevation advantage this time to prompt players to carefully consider how to approach powerful ranged foes. The box and item placement allows methodical players to continue utilizing environmental cover.
An Ambush!
Sniper Introduction
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To test players on all of the layered concepts introduced so far, I created the next major encounter as a culmination. It makes use of a multi-layered environment where snipers hold the high ground and players must jump across platforms to reach them while managing weaker flying enemies. By making strategic use of pillars, cover, movement techniques, and various item pickups, players may tackle these challenges effectively
Layered Elevation Encounter
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I used the next level to combine the previous skills with the full range of enemy types introduced thus far, pushing players to alternate between different types of weapons to deal with shielded versus regular enemies as they navigate cover to deal with ranged and melee foes.
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For the final level, I focused on creating an all-out combat test with three waves. I made use of a square shaped room with a filled out center to push players to consider how to utilize the tight space, while carefully placing enemies and pickups across different elevations to align with their movesets and bonuses effectively. It ends with a final boss fight as one last challenge to top off the experience.
Test Gauntlet
Finale
I Learned About:
1
Battle Arena Design
The core skillset I focused on refining with this project was my ability to create spaces that produce stimulating encounters that push the player to engage with specific mechanics and skills in evolving ways. By centering themes of spatial awareness and verticality, while using lighting and framing to guide attention, I gained experience building cohesive and engaging arenas.
2
Diagetic Tutorialization
This project pushed me to introduce and tutorialize different enemy types, item pickups, weapon types, and movement options without using text or popups. Instead, I learned to focus purely on level design to create scenarios that push players to intuit and adapt to these concepts on their own without feeling overwhelmed.
3
Genre & SoftwareAdaptation
Building these encounters in the DOOM SnapMap editor pushed me to rapidly adapt to an existing intellectual property in a genre different from much of my prior experience. I learned to code in the new engine, and pushed myself to think critically on how to design encounters around a new type of player character and combat.