The Last of Us
(Inspired Level)
Level Summary:
The idea behind this project was to create a level that could fit into the world of The Last of Us. A level that would enable me to learn more design techniques while creating a level for a popular franchise and see if I could achieve the feel of that world through a blockout.
Idea Summary:
On their search for the museum Joel and Ellie lose each other in a chaotic fight. Joel climbs into a building and finds himself within view of the museum. Hoping that Ellie will be there he explores the streets ahead hoping to find her.
About the Level:
- Used assets from the Blocking Starter Pack (Xavier Loux), Industry Props Pack (SilverTM).
- Character and character systems from Advanced Locomotion Systems V4 (LongmireLocomotion)
- Developed using Unreal Engine 4
Video Demo
Moodboard
The moodboard above shows where a lot of the inspiration came from when designing the level in the editor. The biggest help I found was to look at architecture maps of city streets from around the world, it allowed me to create a space with a more realistic feel to it that gave the player a good illusion of space. I feel this is an essential aspect of the design process going forward when I'm making levels based in a city/streets.
Level Design Methods
Sight Lines & Composition - The player starts with a view of their goal through a window, giving them an idea of the direction they must head in. The composition of this also gave the illusion of space, making the world feel bigger than it is and that there is much to explore, this makes the player feel smaller in comparison to everything else, lending itself to the survival horror genre.
Leading Lines - These helped to give the player a push in the right direction by making them look in the correct places. At the start of the level there are broken walls and floors to guide the players view to their path, this is used several times more further in the level too. Using the leading lines allows for the player to naturally move through the world without having to think too much when navigating as their eyes are drawn to where the lines are taking them.
First Encounter - The first enemy encounter is there to teach the player the basic mechanics. The first enemy is trapped and the player can creep up on them behind cover and decide if they want to eliminate them or not. The second enemy is then facing away to give the player a bit of extra time to learn. This allowed the player to learn the mechanics with confidence.
Alleyways & Puzzles - These help to make the exploration more fun and breakup the level more. This came from a few playtests where I found the level to be too straight so the sight lines weren't being broken resulting in some not so fun gameplay. The alleyways have several turns in them to keep the player on their toes and to not let their guard down. There is also an enemy encounter and a puzzle to solve to progress through the level to the next area.
Leading the Player - In The Last of Us the color yellow is used to guide the player to their destination, this theme is used in several areas to assure the player they were on the correct path. Areas like the alleyway and underground path use this most.
