Level Design: Non-Linear Dungeon
Planning
Starting this project I wanted to create a Dungeon Level that had a story to tell but allow the player to slowly uncover that story in their own way. I grew up playing the elder scrolls game starting with Morrowind and wanted the dungeon play to feel similar. I also have been studying and watching conferences on Non-Linear level design and wanted to go through the process of development as an exercise.
I started with a linear concepts of a story and then worked through the plan on how to allow the player to hit key story points but in their own order. First I brainstormed on what aspects I though would be cool in my dungeon, a list of restrictions, and some game mechanics I though the level would use for my thought processes. I then grouped my ideas together into story scenarios and ordered those scenarios into a linear story. For each scenario I tried to jot down ideas of how different types of player may be able to accomplish each scenario. Finally I broke apart my idea into primary and secondary objectives, with no linear component to the story. Now I had a list of Items I needed to incorporate into my level to be discovered naturally by the player.
Next, I wanted to sketch out my ideas and start to get a feel for how the story could unfold in a non linear fashion, as well as think about setting choices in the different parts of the Cave system leading to my dungeon. I knew I wanted to create the feeling of a maze of tunnels (A recent caving trip with the family pointed out they are rarely linear) with multiple intersecting paths that lead into “Chambers” where my main story points would be. I found a Gaelic Knot with 5 main points of visual interest and used it as a template. From there I split the Knot paths apart into separate dungeon floors and intertwined the floors following the path. I also added and blocked paths as necessary to shape the layout of my dungeon. Finally, I collored over my sketches and split them into combined and by-floor views.
Initial Block Out
For the Block out I am making my own assets, so this process is taking longer than I initial anticipated but the experience has been a great learning opportunity. I started by making the modular assets I would need to craft the cave, and then began putting the most basic of block out together. after crafting a cave system according to my sketches, I ran through the level in unreal engine to get a feel for scale, where paths took too long with no points of interest, and see if I wanted to make revisions to the initial concepts I outlined in my plan.
Before Moving past this part I took the time to look at each Chamber as an individual story, and think through how a player might choose to play it, and give each of the standard playstyles possible paths. I tried to think about balancing the play styles, “How can I make this easy for “X” but what is a unique difficulty “X” would encounter by doing it this way.
Once I understood the individual sections of the level a little better conceptually I started to work with what I wanted these chambers to look like. My Initial Look development consisted of creating custom insets for the shell chambers I created. I started with rough block in’s that I could run through in engine and test sight lines and scale while quite frankly seeing if the environment felt “Cool” or not.
To be Continued…
I will post updates to the block out here as I complete the assets and begin my work on visual navigation for the player (No one likes being super lost)
