Planet Unknown - 3rd person Puzzle game Level DesIgn
SOFTWARE TOOLS
• Unreal Engine for Level Design and 3D Blockout
• Blueprint for gameplay interactions and scripted events
• Advanced Locomotion System for 3rd person character controller
• Photoshop for documentation
RESPONSIBILITIES
Level Design: Designed and blocked out and implemented level from concept to fully playable state.
Gameplay Design: Designed, prototyped and iterated game mechanics using scripting within Unreal Engine 5.
Puzzle Design: Crafted both challenging logic puzzles and traversal platforming puzzles.
INTRODUCTION
Planet Unknown is 3rd person action/puzzle game level with a strong focus on exploration and traversal puzzle solving.
Main goal is exploring the mysterious deserted planet and solving puzzles along the way. In order to finish the level, players must reach the capsule shaped building at the other side of the map.
Gameplay Design
LOGICAL PUZZLE DESIGN
In order to force the player to look around and think outside the box, I designed and scripted a challenging puzzle. I tried making it a complex but simple by using few and clear elements as possible. I also made it a minimalist experience as possible by designing the plain environment and blocking players backtracking to prevent loosing focus on the puzzle area. The trick in this puzzle is to place the box on top of the elevator to bring it up to the roof window.
PLATFORMING PUZZLES
For the purpose of make the player feel clever and in control of gameplay, I implemented couple of platforming puzzles. These puzzles helped to keep gameplay engaging and challenging enough to keep players on their toes. These puzzles mostly based on timing, positioning and movement.
SCRIPTING GAMEPLAY INTERACTIONS
I implemented a couple of gameplay mechanics in order to get indented realistic physics interactions feels just right. I tried to achieve challenging puzzle solving gameplay with seamless platforming sections while encouraging the exploration. I used Unreal Engine and Blueprint for visual scripting.
Elevator puzzle document
Goal of this puzzle is climbing the exit on the third floor by placing box below the window. However, the stairs are broken and the elevator only moves up to the second floor. In order to solve the puzzle, players need to think creatively. Solution steps and walkthrough video are listed below:
Gameplay Areas
Gameplay Areas divided into three main areas. Each area has a specific purposes in the level gameplay in order to deliver engaging level flow. This allows to control the pacing of the level and keep the player in focus of the intended experience.
Level Design Techinques
In order to keep smooth gameplay flow in the level, I followed lots of level design tecniques to improve the experience such as:
• Positioning landmarks carefully to help players navigate around the map without getting lost.
• Using Framing to lead the eyes to important points.
• Placing Breadcrumbs to guide the players to intended locations.
• Environmental storytelling to improve intended atmosphere and provide desired mood in the level.
Research & References
Before I begin designing this level, I researched the mining factories and their work process in order to improve realism in the layouts. This increased the cohesiveness in the atmosphere and helped me to come up interesting traversal puzzles. I also gathered references from similar medium such as similar games, concept arts and documentaries.
