OTHER PROJECTS
NAILED + Project X (personal project)
Specifications
Engine: UE 4
Perspective: First person
Gameplay: Single player, linear levels
Inspiration: Quake, Dusk, Amid Evil
Assets: UE 4 starter content, sounds from soundsnap.com, two music tracks by Meatboot on newgrounds.com
Intent
These are the two final assignments for a scripting course. For the first one I wanted to create a game in the style of Quake, and because the last assignment involved making a first person singleplayer experience I chose to use the weapons, enemies and other objects and features from the previous project as a base for the second one.
Our second-year scripting course at The Game Assembly required us to create many blueprint scripts in Unreal Engine 4, and for one assignment we were given very few restrictions (as long as our ideas were deemed to be of an appropriate scope and level of challenge), so I chose to create a game in the vein of Quake (1996).
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My focus was primarily on creating a set of weapons, and then enemies and a level to use them in. I was inspired by the nailgun in Quake as well as the "riveter" in Dusk (2018), and decided to make three weapons that would fire glowing-hot nails; specifically, an automatic rifle, a shotgun and a grenade launcher. Additionally, I created a melee enemy and a ranged enemy, ammo and health pickups, keys and doors, as well as scripts that handled things like damage, UI and HUD, dying and respawning, and kept track of the amount of enemies killed, secret areas found and play time, and displayed these stats at the end of the level. Also, I created a main menu and added sound effects and music.
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For the level itself I wanted it to feel like a Quake level in terms of progression and pacing, and for the different areas to be distinct from one another. I rewarded curious players with secrets and extra pickups, but to keep the main path from feeling tedious I made sure that each area had a clear view of adjacent areas and that it was easy to loop back to a locked door from the spot where the player picked up the corresponding key. In terms of the visual aspect I took more inspiration from Quake in how that game features a combination of technology and dark fantasy architecture, as well as how it embraces the technological limitations of the time and uses simple geometric shapes, sharp angles and repeating elements to create a sinister atmosphere. I also included some retrofuturistic elements to match the somewhat cartoony robot enemies.
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As mentioned in the "specifications" section, the following assignment, Project X, involved making a first person experience, so I chose to build upon what I had made previously. The goal was to create a level in which the player would explore a seemingly empty facility at their own pace while avoiding security or solving puzzles, travel away from the facility to trigger some event in a separate area, and then make their way back through the facility which would then be full of enemies to fight. This time I also took some inspiration from Half-Life 1 and 2 with large cables and pipes to follow, power generators, the train and the barren surrounding landscape as well as sections where the player would navigate through vast maintenance areas and crumbling infrastructure.
A simple overview of the level "Cathode Cathedral".
The tower to the right is a clear guiding landmark.
Early view of the main facility in Project X, before the balcony was added to the right as a more dramatic location for the yellow key.
A section of a blueprint created for the project. This one controls the face icon on the HUD, as inspired by Quake and Doom.
Thorwald's Lament
Specifications
Group members: 14
Engine: TGA2D, LDtk (level editor)
Perspective: 2D, top-down
Gameplay: Single player, action adventure
Inspiration: Hyper Light Drifter, The Legend of Zelda series
Intent
The "Zelda-like" project was about making a top-down action adventure game with all the trappings of games like Link to the Past. We wanted it to be dark and moody, and full of secrets and mysteries.
The first thing we decided on as a group was to make our game dark in terms of story and setting; a more gothic twist on the typical Legend of Zelda game. The story we decided on tied into the project requirement of having unlockable abilities, as our character would lose his arm trying to save his dog from an otherworldly demon, and subsequently his arm was replaced by a demonic creature that could gain new powers. This decision was also made because we wanted the abilities to be useful both in and outside of combat, so a shapeshifting weapon of sorts made sense.
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For the game world, we allowed the player to tackle the three main areas to the north, east and west of the hub in any order before reaching the final dungeon. I worked on the mountains to the north and the swampy forest to the east. At the end of each area the player would unlock a new power, and so one of my main points of focus in my design was making sure that any order would lead to different scenarios, while still keeping the difficulty balanced.
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The way I did this was to have the main path be mostly linear, but connected to and criss-crossed by other paths. For example, having the ice ability when entering the swamp allows the player to freeze rivers and lakes in certain places in order to take shortcuts, and many secret treasures (gold coins used to buy upgrades in the hub) would be visible atop cliffs or across chasms so that the player would notice them and know to return later with their new abilities. Additionally, each time the player got a new power the path would be blocked off so that they were forced to use their new ability, which would open up a shortcut back to the hub.
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This project was a big challenge as levels could not be designed in isolation like in previous projects, where they could be scrapped or moved around depending on how fun or difficult they were. It took a lot of planning and talking among us level designers and across disciplines, but in the end it turned out great, in no small part thanks to gorgeous sprites, tiles and animations by the graphical artists and the fantastic work the programmers did to make all the abilities work like intended not just on enemies, but on all kinds of features and objects in the game world.
Early on in the forest area the path is blocked by a river. A cave entrance serves as foreshadowing as to how the player will get across, but for players who already have the ice power at this point, I added the path and collapsed bridge to hint that this is a good place to use it, as they can then walk right across the water.
Immediately after receiving the lightning power, the only path forward is blocked by a box on rails and a strange device (and a sign with a tutorial just in case), forcing the player to learn how to power the rails. In an otherwise largely open-ended game world, this is an example of a funnel.
A
B
C
The first section of the same area. In a case of bait-and-switch, cave C actually leads to cave A instead of the nearby cave B, making the player wonder how to get past the box. After going through the cave in the picture above, they emerge from C with the power they need, creating a shortcut and a level loop.
Another thing I wanted to achieve was to make the layout of each area make for a different experience. The forest to the east has the player turning around in all directions like they're getting lost in the woods, with the type and density of the foliage indicating how deep into the forest they are. By contrast, the northern area is stretched out to make the trek through the mountains feel more dramatic. In reality, all three areas, including Alexander Berg's snowy ruins area to the west, have roughly the same amount of space to cover, secrets to find and enemies to kill. The hub and final area, which is underground, are unique, yet equally interesting to explore, and were designed by Paul Svahn Moore.
Credits
Level design: Alexander Berg, Bo Steen, Paul Svahn Moore
Programming: Anton Liivak, Emil Nygren, Oliver Dahlin, Perry Ivic, Theo Björkhem, Tomas Granlund
Graphics: Felix Rahm, Johanna Liw, Kei Mak, Malin Sandred, Nikola Praizovic Hedström
Forknight
Specifications
Group members: 11
Engine: TGA2D, Tiled (level editor)
Perspective: 2D, side-scrolling
Gameplay: Single player, platformer
Inspiration: PokeyPoke (demo on Steam)
Intent
This project was about making a side-scrolling platformer. We wanted to make a game with tricky jumps and a unique traversal mechanic, that could be played both slowly and with the intent of speedrunning.
For this project, our group came up with the fork-wielding character first as we felt it would allow for more unique movement, and then we were inspired by the game demo for PokeyPoke with the way the character can cling to or bounce on different surfaces.
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I created the "garden" and "pantry/wall" sets of levels, and my focus was on making levels that seemed linear initially, but would allow for faster routes once you learned the mechanics more. The garden, which is the second world, is relatively open and makes good use of the recently introduced grappling hook power-up, which can be used to pull yourself across vast distances. To fit the theme open-sky theme of the level, I had the primary obstacles be moving platforms powered by propellers. This was an idea I got from watching this video in which game critic Mark Brown discusses a level design philosophy often used by Nintendo that involves focusing on just one or two primary stage elements in each level.
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The pantry/wall world is the final part of the game, and here I decided to have much more narrow and cramped spaces with deadly pits, both to increase the difficulty and to fit the theme of the tiny protagonist climbing around inside dusty cabinets and crawlspaces in the walls. To get through these levels as quickly as possible the player must use all the advanced movement techniques in our game: clinging to walls, bouncing up, across and diagonally, and climbing on the ceiling.
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Forknight was a ton of fun to work on, and it was immensely rewarding to see classmates speedrunning the game afterward, both finding new strategies and discovering "skips" which were actually fully intended. It was a challenge to get the movement just right and required a lot of communication (not to mention clever programming!), but in the end it was very satisfying, much more so than it would've been to settle for just running and jumping.
Early on in the game the more difficult moves are mostly used for getting optional collectibles. This stamp, for example, is intentionally placed off to the left of the main route to make it clear that the player doesn't need to pull off this jump to continue.
Later on, the challenge level increases, but thankfully checkpoints are frequent as the emphasis of the design is on "solving" each section almost like a puzzle, rather than attaining the type of "flow" associated with faster-paced games like Mario and Sonic.
To avoid overwhelming the player, and to make each area feel unique, the different worlds mostly feature one or two level gimmicks. The pantry doesn't have any of the moving platforms seen in the garden level, and instead focuses on unstable floors and toxic goop, in narrow spaces reminiscent of shelves and crawlspaces.
Credits
Level design: Bo Steen, Martin Larsson
Programming: Anton Liivak, Benjamin Glodeck, Emil Nygren, Jimmi Elderyd, Leo von Ahn
Graphics: Adam Törn, Felix Rahm, Natali Arvidsson, Patrik Idnert
Spite: Serpentide
Specifications
Group members: 11
Engine: UE 4 (level design) and Katastroganoff (in-house custom engine)
Perspective: Top Down
Gameplay: Single player, mouse-oriented
Inspiration: Diablo III
Intent
The goal of the project was to create a game in the vein of Diablo III, except without randomly generated levels. Some specific requirements included having unique boss-type enemies and spells/abilities accessed with the number keys.
The sixth project at The Game Assembly was to make a Diablo-style game, and even though it's a genre I'm mostly unfamiliar with, it was a lot of fun to create levels for it.
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Our group was given the Aztec theme to work with for our environments and story, and so we decided to set the game in, around and above the mythological mountain city Aztlán. We wanted to feature a lot of verticality as we were inspired by the many vistas in Diablo III where large pits and narrow walkways would put the player in front of grand, scenic backdrops providing a great sense of depth.
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I focused a lot on foreshadowing by putting the player above, below or across chasms or walls from areas they would visit later in the level, which was also a way to help the player orient themselves. Additionally I had a hand in designing the enemy behaviors and spells, so I tried to build my levels around that as well. For example, fast enemies with a self-destruct attack were sometimes placed behind trees and rows to surprise less observant players, mages were placed on platforms to the sides of larger combat spaces to encourage the player to use their long-range attacks, and the arena where the beam attack is introduced featured narrow corridors where the player could make good use of the spell.
View from the first area of level 2, the underground city. The feathers on the ground serve as environmental storytelling, showing how the final boss has rampaged through the area, destroying the bridge.
The entrance to the temple grounds in level 3. An enemy surprises the player from behind the trees to the left, but they can be lured into one of the many spike traps nearby.
Credits
Level design: Bo Steen, Hannes Gille
Programming: Benediktas Vilkelis, Emil Nygren, Perry Ivic, Theo Björkhem, Tomas Granlund
Graphics: Gustav Svensson, Kei Mak, Nikola Praizovic Hedström, Sixten Augustsson
Music: Benediktas Vilkelis
StakeOut
Specifications
Group members: 12
Engine: TGA2D, Tiled (level editor)
Perspective: 2D, side-view
Gameplay: Single player, shoot 'em up
Inspiration: Geometry Wars, Gradius
Intent
This project was about making a typical "shmup" game. For our game we took inspiration from very different types of games to create something unique, with a focus on arena-type levels instead of the more common scrolling ones.
For the third project, our group looked into all kinds of games for reference and came up with many different pitches, from samurais with jetpacks in space to vampires protecting a caravan. In the end we settled on the idea of having many shorter levels resembling arenas from games like Geometry Wars, with an upgrade system inspired by Gradius that allowed the player to choose different abilities, some of which could be upgraded several times.
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As level designers for a game with such a heavy focus on constant shooting, we took on a big part in the design of the enemies and upgrades, and thanks to a strong cross-disciplinary effort we had a lot of game features in place and working very early. This gave us a lot of time to balance every encounter and make them unique.
As each level was divided into many short stages all of us had a hand in all parts of the game, but the parts I worked the most on where in the beginning and end of the game. We worked to make sure each new enemy was introduced in a way that allowed the player to easily learn their behavior and that also established a steady pace in terms of difficulty and the introduction of enemies.
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Working very closely with the programmers, we were able to implement features that allowed us to make wildly varied levels, such as being able to chose not only where each enemy would spawn, but also whether they would appear right away, slowly and continuously, in waves, or a combination of the above. Some especially exciting encounters made possible thanks to this were a stage on a bridge where the player would be encouraged to push forward only to later be flanked by enemies from behind, and a late-game stage where the player would initially fight a slow stream of weak enemies, only to suddenly be surrounded by a circle of laser-shooting monsters.
Credits
Level design: Goliat Eldh, Bo Steen, Hannes Gille
Programming: Elia Rönning, Leo von Ahn, Axel Melkersson, Denise Bröste, Perry Ivic
Graphics: Adam Törn, Kei Mak, Theodor Rönnudd, Alireza Vaezi
Pitfalls - Portal 2 level (personal project)
Specifications
Engine: Source
Perspective: 3D, first person
Gameplay: Single player, puzzle
Inspiration: Portal 2
Intent
For this assignment we were tasked with making a singple player level in the Portal 2 level editor. In terms of difficulty the goal was to create something moderately challenging that would fit roughly in the middle of the main game.
The first thing I did for this assignment was to decide on a theme to focus on. Because the most exciting thing in the Portal games, to me, is using momentum to fling yourself across a room, the design element I settled on was deep pits. Additionally, I wanted to keep each segment of the level fairly small, giving the player a clear overview of everything they need to access when entering a room, and focusing on having to use the same hole in the middle of the room several times for different steps of each puzzle.
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I split the level into three sections; a short intro that would simply remind the player of how the main mechanic works, a room where they need to use the pit twice (once to reach a platform and then again to launch a box into a tractor beam), and then a final challenge with a similar solution but with a twist, and a larger and bigger pit for dramatic effect.
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There ended up being one section where the players could get stuck and be forced to reset, and it required looking carefully at the angles of that area to provide an escape without players being able to use it to skip the puzzle. Otherwise, I received mainly positive feedback, both from my classmates, teachers and Steam users, with the one complaint being that some found it to be too easy. Given that some people who played it had a whole lot more experience with advanced Portal 2 levels, that didn't feel like the worst complaint to be given.
The intro section forces the player to approach the pit, turn around and look up to find the surface they need to use.
In the second room, the first "proper" puzzle, most things are presented to the player right away, but again they need to turn around and look up to figure out the purpose of the pit.
The final challenge features the same elements, but in a larger room, more spread out and requiring a different solution.