defilement

Fan-made level for God of War (2018)

UE4 - Solo

Play on itch.io

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Responsibilities

RESPONSIBILITIES

Level Designer

- Blocked out level

- Scripted all puzzles, gameplay elements, and events, excluding the axe-throwing

Process: Overview

PROCESS OVERVIEW

RESEARCH

- Compiled metrics for God of War

- Researched Norse mythology to find stories and ideas for inspiration

- Collected visual reference

PLANNING

- Created level design documentation to plan level pacing, puzzles, and combat scenarios

- Sketched a few sketch drafts of 2D layout

- Created clean version in Adobe Illustrator

BLOCKOUT AND ITERATION

- Blocked out rough shapes of level to test scale

- Imported God of War axe-throwing from this project

- Created puzzle elements (scorn poles, vines, blue crystals) with visual scripting

- Implemented puzzles and rough combat beats

- Sent project to new players to get feedback

- Implemented sound effects, lighting, and basic cinematics

- Reiterated and tweaked

Scroll down to see each of these steps in more detail in my DEEP DIVE

Design Deep Dive: Research

DESIGN DEEP DIVE

RESEARCH

Research on God of War and Norse Mythology

For this project, I wanted to stay true to the design philosophy and metrics of God of War. Fortunately, I was able to find this GDC talk:
Level Design Workshop: The Level Design of God of War

(sorry, it's only on the GDC vault), which basically had everything I needed to know. I took notes on their design philosophy and metrics.

From there, I started researching Norse mythology to find inspiration--both visual and narrative--for the quest. I decided that I wanted somewhere dark and brooding, and I liked the idea of a corrupted forest, something like Ironwood in Norse mythology. (I still think this location and story could yield a whole main story section of a God of War game).

I originally thought I wanted to create a main quest for the story, but after I realized this would be a massive undertaking if I really wanted to do it justice, so I decided to scope back the project to make a 15-20 minute side quest.

Here are the main things I noticed about side quests in God of War:

- Always come between main story beats

- Can only be accessed using some new ability or mechanic you've learned

- Usually about 15 minutes of content

- Use mostly existing assets, rather than proprietary or new assets

- Tie in narratively and provide character moments

I focused on the Wayward Spirits questlines, and decided to combine my Ironwood idea with the idea of a defiled graveyard. I studied Norse funerals to inform this idea.

Design Deep Dive: Planning

PLANNING

Level Design Document

Once I had an idea, I created a level design document to test out some ideas, plan the puzzles, and pace the level. Here's my level design document!

I made sure that the level increased in intensity and puzzle complexity, while having rest periods for character development.

Mapping

After I had an LDD that I felt good about, I went into the sketching and mapping stage, starting with digital sketches and ending in an Adobe Illustrator document

(This version is primarily puzzles, so the enemies are hidden)