– Genre: 3rd Person Western/Horror Co-opetition Shooter
– Engine Used: Unreal Engine 4
– Target Platform(s): PC, PS4
– Duration: 6 Months
Fortune is a game that takes place in a Western setting that takes some inspiration from elements of H.P. Lovecraft. Set in a small crossroads town called Fortune, Players will take the role of an unlawful renegade that must serve their sentence by delving into a cursed mine to collect rare artifacts in order to be released from their sentence.
The overarching goal for Fortune is to scavenge as much loot as possible from the depths of the mine and then safely return to the town of Fortune. However, each level within the game will support multiple goals, both small and large, that will ultimately lead a Player towards the main goal of collecting awesome loot to make themselves stronger as well as work towards becoming free.
In this level, Players must infiltrate Undercity (a forgotten city discovered in the depths of the mine) by traversing through a series of expansive caverns full of horrific monsters and traps in order to reach a rare artifact. Their infiltration starts in the Undercity Chasms, a burial ground of sorts that lies far from the gates of Undercity.
– Level Designer
– Combat Designer
– Scripter (Blueprints)
– Created and maintained the level design document(s) that all disciplines of the team worked from.
– Worked closely with the programming team to prototype and implement core features and enemy AI behaviors.
– Placed navigation nodes and spawn points to create fun and engaging AI combat encounters.
– Blocked out the first level of the game that served as a glorified tutorial to introduce the Player to core mechanics, story and gameplay loops.
– Implemented level streaming to ensure level remained performant throughout a gameplay session.
– Constantly iterated based on playtest feedback from the team.
– Provided qualitative and constructive feedback to the programmers, artists and writers throughout pre-production and first deliverable phases of development.
Development of Fortune was done with the same team I worked on Left Behind with. The Fortune project started shortly after the team abandoned the core idea of Left Behind and stripped the battle royale ideas from the game, leaving us with a co-op survival experience similar to the Left 4 Dead or Warhammer: Vermintide games. However, we wanted to put our own spin on the genre by giving Players the option to work together, this resulted in a level with multiple paths and secret areas that could either be overcome as a group (to get more loot) or as a solo Player (to get higher value loot).
Creation of the level started with documentation, collecting reference images, and drawing some 2D maps. I wanted the level to be paced similar to the Warhammer: Vermintide levels, so I included 4 different areas a group of Players would traverse before reaching the boss/large enemy encounter at the end of the level. This allowed Players to have a lengthy play time in a single instance as well as learn the ins-and-outs of a level so they can perform better then next time they play.
I started with blocking out the first chunk of the level, the Chasm area. This piece of the level serves as the start/spawn point for all Players and gives them some time to learn the ropes of the game. My original idea was to have Players separated across 5 different rooms when they spawn in, then have them all connect in a larger room before entering the Chasm section of the area, but I felt that didn’t really sell the idea or size of the level. As a result, I created a large open area with a portal to serve as the new spawn point for all Players and the multiple rooms were re-purposed as alternate paths Player could take after collecting their equipment. With the slight redesign, Players now start together and must traverse a winding bridge over a large, open cavern before collecting their equipment. This allowed me to use scale and negative space to help set the mood for the level before gameplay really began, as well as give Players a chance to get accustomed to the basic character controls.
The next step was to start blocking out the Chasm section of this area. Upon entering the Chasm/Fissure area, Players will see 2 large land masses housing a burial ground, makeshift fortress, a winding cave system, and a large crystal that appears to be providing some sort of power/resource to the area. Players must traverse these islands and survive the hordes of Enemy AI that have made these land masses their habitat in order to reach a pathway by the large crystal that leads them up, towards Undercity. Players have an option to stick with the group and eliminate all enemies in the area in order to gain a firepower advantage for later parts of the level, as well as the chance to loot the resource-rich area. Players who decide to speed through this area and avoid the enemies won’t have the aforementioned advantages, but they will get a head-start on looting the next area, claiming some of the best loot for themselves.
With the general layout of the Chasm complete, I spent another chunk of development time on fleshing out the space and giving it a bit more character with structures/areas to explore as well as complete a first pass of Enemy AI placement. One of the more obvious additions to the Chasm section was the large burial ground building/temple that houses a large monster’s skeleton. This eye-catching set piece was used in a variety of ways within the space, allowing Players to utilize the bones as cover to hide from or lure Enemy AI around, as well as be used as platforms to let Players reach some valuable loot hidden throughout the burial ground or pick off Enemy AI from a safe distance.
Due to the size of the Chasm section, a lot of Enemy AI needed to be placed to keep Players on their toes as they explored the Chasm. To ensure the pacing was fun and not too overwhelming, I decided to implement 5 enemy encounters throughout the Chasm section. This allowed Players to catch their breath and resupply between large combat encounters as well as present them with multiple options to improve their combat skills in hectic situations. I kept the waves of enemies relatively small so that Players weren’t immediately overwhelmed at the start of the level and want to stop playing before reaching the end.
Please see below for a brief explanation of each combat encounter/space:
1. This is the first combat encounter Players will face. The area is littered with health and ammunition pick-ups to encourage Players to keep moving during combat as well as expend their ammunition without risk of immediately using all of their ammo in the first encounter. Roughly 15 enemies would spawn here in waves and rush all Players in a group. This gave Players a chance to work together and overcome a challenge right away for an almost instant sense of comradery.
2. This combat encounter is triggered when Players emerge from the caves of the left/west land mass. This encounter is more intense than the first as the area is rich with resources and loot for Players to find. The area is bountiful with cover and elevated platforms to provide Players with a fun and unique space to move around to gain an advantage against the Enemy AI.
3. This combat encounter is focused around the makeshift fortress. As players approach the fortress, Enemy AI will begin to spawn and rush towards them. Players must fight through the first wave of Enemy AI to reach the interior of the 2-floor fortress and eliminate the rest of the hostiles. A couple of ranged enemies were placed in watch towers or platforms sticking out of the fortress to encourage Players to use the cover provided as well as quickly rush inside the fortress to avoid any more damage from the ranged enemies. Additionally, these ranged enemies marked the location of valuable loot.
4. This is a short and sweet encounter meant to catch Players off-guard after the fortress encounter. Only a few enemies spawn here and force Players to think twice before moving into a new area without caution.
5. The most intense encounter of the level. Waves of enemies spawn at the top of this spiraling path and work their way down towards the start of the path. Players must work together to fight through the hordes of enemies that rush towards them from above. Upon eliminating all enemies on their way up, Players are presented with a cache of ammunition and loot before a short resting beat leading towards the Caves.
The next section of the level I built was the Caves. After ascending up the path from the Chasm section, Players are able to take a bit of a breather at the entrance of a medium-large cave system. This cave system has 3 different paths that all intertwine as Player’s move forward. While progressing along one path, Players can catch glimpses of other Players in their session through large gaps in walls or higher/lower platforms within the caves. Players will need to overcome this area by avoiding the various traps and unique enemies hiding in wait for them (this section has larger emphasis on horror elements) in order to reach a colossal, demonic gate.
Players are presented with 3 possible paths to enter the Cave system.
The first section of the cave is a simple traversal section, a relatively calm experience in order to have a resting beat after the intense encounter at the end of the Chasms section. At the start, Players can choose 1 of 3 paths available to them in order to advance through the caves. All paths lead to the same location (the gate at the end of the cave system) but provide Players with an option to choose their own path and have a slightly different experience than Players, in terms of loot, amount of enemies encountered, and general geometry of the cave.
The most difficult and exciting section of the caves is in the middle section of the system. Once through the traversal/maze-like section at the start, Players are presented with a large, open room filled with colossal monsters trapped within the rocks that make up the cave. These are the monsters that were hinted at/showcased at the very start of the level when Players spawn in, but they’re now able to reach out and grab at Players as they navigate through the area. Players need to be constantly aware of their surroundings as they traverse through this section as not every monster is visible and any gap or hole they pass may result in being grabbed by one of these monsters if they’re not careful. In addition to these large hazards, Players can also discover higher rarity loot if they take the time to explore this section.
Near the end of the Caves section, Players emerge out into a destroyed temple-like structure that reveals a small glimpse of their next challenge, a colossal, demonic gate. Beyond this gate is a nightmarish bridge that leads to the depths of the dark, decrepit dungeon that lies beneath the Undercity. However, the Gate and Bridge are both fully raised, preventing Players from advancing right away.
Players will need to find 4 switches in the area around the gate, and activate each simultaneously in order to begin lowering the Gate and Bridge. As soon as this is triggered, a small horde of enemies can be seen advancing towards the other side of the Gate and begin climbing. As the Gate lowers, enemies on the other side will climb up and spill over the top of it, plummeting in the Player’s range. Additionally, less difficult enemies will begin flowing out of small tunnels surrounding the area to keep Players on their toes while they wait for the gate to lower.
As soon as the gate has lowered, Players are able to move forward into another small area surrounding the Bridge where they will continue fighting the waves of enemies. Enemies will either be all defeated, or cease spawning once the Bridge is nearly lowered. However, as soon as the Bridge hits the ground, Players will notice a small army of enemies charging across the bridge and directly towards them. Here, Players will choose whether to work together and charge the army of enemies (richest, most ammo-consuming path) or find the alternate route below the bridge and climb across the demonic adornments to reach the Undercity Dungeons (quickest path, but harder enemies will be present on this path).
Once inside the Dungeon, Players will be encouraged to explore the environment, allowing them to find rare items/enemies. This area will be more horror-themed as the dark tunnels and dungeon-unique props allow fear to lurk around every corner.
The Dungeon started as a relatively flat space, but I added some small towers in order to implement some verticality to the space. The towers are connected to other higher-up areas/cells with narrow bridges in order to encourage exploration of the area and help the towers stand out as landmarks in the space since a lot of assets have been repeated to make up the dungeon. Players are able to ascend these towers to find additional resources, loot, and reach areas they normally wouldn’t be able to in order to, and avoid alerting some enemies.
After progressing through the first half of the Dungeon, Players will be presented with a linear path that leads them towards a makeshift gladiator arena where Undercity prisoners fight for fame and fortune within the prison. Before entering the arena and starting the boss fight, Players are presented with a small altar room where they could catch their breath and replenish supplies during a short down beat.
No enemies here! Players could catch their breath and prepare for the boss monster encounter that lies ahead.
In this arena, Players will face the boss monster, Bakol, Nightmare King. Everyone will need to work together to trigger environmental hazards, distract, and almost empty their ammunition supply to defeat Bakol, as it has been King of the Arena for centuries and is the toughest foe they have faced yet.
Once the Players have defeated the boss, a gate at the end of the Arena will lower and reveal the path to the outskirts of Undercity. Players will find a nearby Altar that will teleport them back to the Social Hub once all surviving Players have crossed the threshold of the Arena.
What went well?:
– I was able to work with and contribute to a small team of passionate developers with similar interests and together, we were able to quickly create and iterate on the project by constantly reviewing and evaluating our work.
– I built a level/space that can support multiple types of objectives as well as encourage Players to use different playstyles.
– Constructive feedback was often provided to me, allowing me to iterate based on the team’s thoughts and ideas so I could create a level that everyone envisioned.
– I worked closely with people that could mentor me and help me build my skills with Unreal Engine 4.
– I got a lot done in a short amount of time.
What went poorly?:
– Our team lead had a big vision for the project and we weren’t able to keep on top of scope creep. This caused our project to ultimately fail as we quickly bit off more than we could chew.
– New ideas quickly snowballed into giant tasks that the team didn’t want to give up right away.
– Balancing enemy placement for a 4-player co-op experience was difficult to do by myself. I had to set enemies to a very low amount of HP to simulate how quickly they would be eliminated by a full team, but that didn’t translate well when enemies were given full HP during the team’s playtest. We quickly became overwhelmed, even when 6 players were in a single instance.
– It was difficult to schedule everyone for playtest sessions due to the team being spread across multiple different time zones.
– The project lead suddenly left the team without warning.
– The project ended before it could be finished.
What did I learn?:
– How to work with a small, 10 person team and communicate effectively between different disciplines.
– Became more comfortable with building vertical spaces and utilizing the available space within a level’s bounds.
– How to properly set-up AI, Navigation meshes, interactive objects, and level streaming for a game running on a server.
