Combat Islands - Level Design
Key Things I Worked On:
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Implemented the level design of the islands from graybox to the final stage
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Helped implement a shader that uses multiple channels of a splatmap to draw a Dirt texture on top of Unity's Terrain system
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Effectively used tools provided by the programmers to connect the combat islands to the main area, dungeons, and the training room
Level Design Process
After finalizing the first iterations of the cosmic hub island, we wanted to implement combat into the game. With this in mind, we didn't want to show the combat on the main hub island, instead, we wanted to make an island specifically for combat and for training the basic combat mechanics. After receiving the initial concept art and feedback from the graybox design, I started building and setting up both of the islands with the assets and the concepts provided by the artists.
Combat Islands - Initial concept of the first island
Combat Islands - Initial concept of the second island
The main goal of the player on this first island is to interact with the Training Room building, so they can then lower the bridge and follow it to the first dungeon in the game. After a few iterations and tweaks based on feedback given by testers and developers, I decided to place the Training Room entrance on the left side close to the exit. The reason for this was so that the player could explore while following the path and enjoy the environment before reaching its objective.
Combat Islands - Level Design of the first island
I also managed to implement an interaction event in the bridge, with a tool provided by the programmers. This interaction activates VFX feedback, an animation of it lowering it, and an audio queue. This gives the player a sense of accomplishment while receiving a visual indication of what happened and what changed in the level.
Combat Islands - Level Design of the second island
On the other side of the bridge, the player can explore the environment in order to find the first encounter with a dungeon portal. In these dungeons, the player will be able to loot, practice with their loadout, and put their skills to the test. I wanted the encounter of the player with these portals to be meaningful, so I added a simple path so that the player doesn't get lost while exploring, while adding to the environment asset props symbolizing an arena or a fight ahead. These portals will serve as bridges to teleport the player to multiple locations around the island.
After receiving multiple feedback from the designers and artists, I decided to iterate some of the stuff in the islands. I implemented various NPC characters, new animations to the environment, a new portal for the dungeon tower, additional visual feedback, and some polish to the environment. Using the tools provided by the programmers, I scripted and implemented the dialogue of these NPC characters using Unity Visual Scripting.
Gallery
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