Ellie Tsamouli
Level Designer
ECHOES OF RUNES
INTRODUCTION
This was a solo project aiming to create a blockout level that:
supports the theme
reinforces the mechanics
3 Weeks
Solo
Unreal Engine
GitHub
Pre-Production
A fire bender has a mission to steal the sacred flame from the Eastern Temple, but she must not get caught. At least not before she reaches the flame. Once she does she needs to use her new found power to traverse through the rest of the village and escape.
Due to time restrictions we will only talk about the making of the stealth part.
Narrative
Location & 2D Map
It's essential for me to understand not just the basic gameplay mechanics but also the story and thematic objective before jumping into any kind of blockout. From there, we can identify the location and its distinctive characteristics to begin drawing the top-down map.
The fire nation inhabits in warm climates, usually near deserts. For that reason, I chose Egypt as a reference country.
The exact location should be somewhere that has both prosperity and poverty to convey the economic differentiation that takes place between the two sides of the same village.
One side would be looking at the desert and the other at the Nile. A by-water of the Nile would separate them, where the temple would be standing.
The housing is inspired by mudbrick architecture, practical for desert environments.
The houses are short with many open windows to let the air flow. Due to poverty, some don't have roofs.
The alleys are narrow creating unsymmetrical angles.
Temple of Khonsu, was the inspiration behind the Eastern Temple. It stands tall with its imposing thick pylons and open ceiling roof.
Reference Board
More specifically for references I usually make a board with all the observations I had on the locations and their characteristics, in order to use them later down the process.
2D Map
Wholistic Map
This is the map of the city. The player starts at an elevated point. They have a clear view of the end goal and the path ahead.
They need the blending in mechanics to infiltrate the city.
Public spaces such as markets and squares were good places to support stealth.
Positioning them strategically for the player to have a safe space to explore their options was essential.
This is the map of the temple. The rune is located in the middle of the temple. Guards are in a rotating watch, so the player can have a good chance to get inside, without breaking the tension.
Praying stands are surrounding the rune, where people would be praying, a good hiding in plain sight spot.
The temple would be located higher than any other building to provide a sense of importance.
Production
Workflow
Grayboxing
The first step to my process is using 2D maps to create a layout, getting a general shape. During this process is when I usually pin down the metrics, to achieve consistency.
I start from resarching the real life sizes and gamefying them later on based on the mechanics, camera view etc. Testing distrances, time and angles will later on help me decide on encounters and positionings.
Scripting
Before doing the blockout, I need a clear demonstration of the mechanics and all the tools I have for level design. In a different scene, I started working on the mechanics, making:
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Simple AI patrol and chase
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A crouch
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A ladder
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A haked blend-in zone
Once I had all the components down, it was time to get to the blockout.
Blockout and Iterations
After the mechanics and metrics have been established it is time to blockout the details. Iterations happened on both a bigger and smaller scale.
General Layout
Defined Spaces, Enemy Placement
More enemy patrols, bugs fixed, improved paths
Landscape and Lighting finalization
Making It Fun
The most challenging aspect of this project was creating an engaging level with such simple mechanics and only one objective. So, how did I tackle this challenge?
1. Reveals
Reveals help create a sense of curiosity, reward the player and give a sense of direction.
I used angles and elevation to create both bigger and smaller reveals.
2. Tension
Tension makes choices seem meaningful. When players sense that their decisions could lead to failure or success, they feel more control over the outcome.
Sneaking behind enemies and reaching a safe place creates this tension and release that keeps the game balanced and the players engaged.
3. Guiding Lines
Guiding lines are an excellent way to direct the player. To achieve this I used a variety of rotation with walls and housing positionings.
4. Elavation
Different elevation points offer different opportunites, to either gain an advantage, evaluate a situation and eventually make a decision.
Roofs were a big part of that. They offered the upper hand, offering optimal information about enemy positioning while being "invisible".
For that reason there were limited amounts of roofs the player could access to support balance.
5. Choice
The rule is not to get caught, other than that the path is up to the player. Choice is incredibly important to sustain the emersion during open levels.
It was quite challenging designing around player freedom and offering many different routes.
6. Framing
Framing is my absolute favorite thing about level design.
It makes navigation and puzzles that much easier for the player.
I achieved framing with many different ways during this project like using windows and house walls.
Reflection
This project was one of the hardest I have done so far, there were a lot of parameters to consider in order to make the blovkout with just simple mechanics and one objective. If I had more time I would expand it, use more houses, roofs, add some shops the player could enter to buy things etc, broadening the environmental storytelling. The biggest take away was the importance of following the level design rules. They made me a better level designer, elavating my designs and solidified my reasonings. Ever since this project they are my "guiding lines".