Mixing parkour with a third-person parkour hero shooter. Blow up in style.
Game Overview
- Third-person Parkour Hero Shooter
- High mobility, fast-paced, action
- PLAY THE GAME (WINDOWS)
Work Overview
- My Work: Level Designer
- Created exciting gameplay spaces that utilized the game’s unique hypermobility.
- Reworked existing levels that did not live up to design direction.
- Analyzed playtest feedback to create new iterations of map sectors.
- Worked with game designers on parkour integration.
Project Details
My first task on this project was to rework a map that had player density issues that bled over into our spawning system. In short, the resulting chaos did not match our design philosophy. Players were shot from all angles with no real flow to the map.
Methodology
My first step was to figure out what exactly is wrong with this map, and why. I started talking to those longer on the team than me, as well as players from our community. Based on these conversations, I set on the following goals for the map:
- Allow for more controlled gunfights
- Reward using the game’s mobility mechanics
- Create medium-long sightlines
- Create spaces where players can just have FUN with their parkour abilities
I started with a simple blockout using the original as the foundation. After some playtests and iterations, I felt that the section was in a good spot and could safely be extended. I then added sector transition lanes inside the cave system that would connect to more open areas. While in these caves, players would have room to use BulletVille’s wall-running and the grapple hook to move around faster. Players now had a space that was tailored made to use all mobility options to their fullest; unlimited swinging on the cave’s ceiling, wall-running on all walls and grinding the edges of sharp rocks across the cave. The caves also provided lots of combined modes of combat. Snipers and rockets could be shot from high vantage points, whereas the rock formations facilitate close-quarter combat.
As each individual cave area was taking shape, I saw it as a good opportunity to engage the community in the process by holding a Level Design Contest to create the third smaller cave section. The winner had their design implemented by me.
Next up was the task to rework Frozen Post, a map that felt too cramped for the game’s mobility. I again started by figuring out what worked and what didn’t with the old map. The minimum requirement I was given was that the game needed two castles instead of one. Using that as the map’s foundation I set out on the following goals:
- Create both long-range and close-quarters gameplay sections
- Reward high-skilled gameplay
- Free up space within the castle, to prevent camera issues
- Create spaces for FUN that highlight the hypermobility
I opened up the inside of the castle and to prevent camera issues and allow for less chaotic gunfights where you don’t know where the enemy is. While throughout the map I focused on fun by adding secret passageways if the player utilized their parkour mobilities well, the biggest star here is the middle section. This was a large body of frozen water, that could only be traversed if the player utilized their parkour abilities well. Players could now swing from sentry tower to sentry tower, feeling like Spiderman as they timed their grappling hook perfectly. The community responded extremely positive and had a create time doing trickshots and falling to their death. For those that weren’t skilled enough, there was a somewhat hidden teleporter on each castle that took you to the enemy’s closest sentry tower. Parkouring over the water was always faster, thus rewarding skilled players.
During development we felt the need for our players to have something to do while waiting for new updates from us. We wanted to make a game mode that players could enjoy by themselves, and also create community engagement from it. I settled on a linear parkour training map, inspired by CoD Blackops 3’s FREERUN and Titanfall 2’s Pilot Training.
We would record the time it took players to get to reach the finish line and how many times they died in a run. Besides being a fun game mode to brag about in Discord channels, it would also serve as a training ground for new players. Each section had a focus on one or more mobility mechanics, teaching players how they worked as they played.
MADE IN: UNREAL
Robbin Lieverse 