Project Velocity was a prototype first person parkour platformer, built in Unreal Engine 5. My directive was to design a tutorial level set in the warehouse of a junkyard. This area of the game would serve as an introduction to the protagonist as well as the core gameplay mechanics of crouching, sliding, running, jumping, wall-running and ledge mantling.
A lot of collaboration and iteration went into concepting and building this level out. Given the lore of the environment (rundown slum-like industrial region), I started by using factories and warehouses from the industrial revolution as inspiration. However, this changed to a more run-down modern design to fit the theme of the game's futuristic dystopian setting.
The original concept took place entirely within the bounds of the warehouse with a short introduction starting at the front door and the level ending as the player exited the warehouse on the other side.
After a few block-out iterations on the original concept the team and I felt the level was too short, cramped and lacked replay value for a planned additional game mode. So, I took what the team liked and got to work on expanding the level.
The new directive was to take what I had and spread it out across the level so it didn't feel so jammed together. This would give the player some space to learn the mechanics and practce them. I wanted to use this as an opportunity to integrate Nintendo's "Learn, Practice, Master" approach into the level's design. This new concept felt a lot more robust and brought a lot more interesting scenery to the level.
Forcing the player through the center of the map felt too predictable and linear, so during the expansion process I altered the player's route to snake aroudn the facility more. This would add more variety and teach the player that as they're trevling through levels different events may require them to alter their paths while running. Additionally, to add some life to the world I began adding some trigger events and interactables that affect the way the player travels through the level.
What I Learned
The iteration process of designing this tutorial level taught me a few things.
1. You can never get too much feedback from the team. Bouncing ideas off the team to find what works and what doesn't is an important part of game development and finding the fun in the game. The constant flow of feedback from the team really helped me reshape and improve this level from its original concepts.
2. Using the Learn, Practice, Master appraoch especially in tutoral levels creates a great interactive environment for players to learn and play.
3. Adding dynamic elements to levels like interactables or trigger events helps make the world that the player is experiencing more real, interesting and exciting.
