Level Design Pre-Production

Patrick Sharpe
Oct 29, 2021
7 min read

Ulster University

Level Overview

Level Title

The Escape

Level Brief

The plot consists of the player trying to escape prison by finding useful items, taking out guards and most importantly breaking out. In terms of backstory, Jack Magee is a middle-aged married man who was drugged and woke up in his bed beside his wife who bled to death due to a knife wound that happened during the night. The cops were called and arrested was Jack due to his DNA fingerprint on the murder weapon. The police threw the book on him for life in prison for something he didn’t do. Now, After two years sitting in prison, he has fed up rotting in his cell and wants to find out who framed him.

Location

The location of the level is set in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.

Level style (Exploration/Combat/Narrative Mix)

The main focus of the level is narrative with some combat and exploration.

Level Mission/Objective(s)

Talk to Aaron at Prison Yard
Defend Aaron from prisoners
Picking Up Litter Job
Distract guard with litter item to reach guard office
Find Keycard from guard office
Reach personal cell and hide key card
Find pen and paper in open prisoner cells
Defeat prisoners
Create the map of the prison in your cell
Hide paper escape route
Speak to John (Officer Guard) in his office
John (Officer Guard) asks you to kill Aaron in return for prison release
Find a Knife in one of the prison lockers
Speak to Aaron (Cellmate)

Escape Plan - First Kill

Save/Kill Aaron (Cellmate)
Defeat all enemy prisoners in the prison hallway
Choke out the guard to obtain a pistol
Use the key card to open the prison hallway door
Explore the hallway
Kill all enemies in the hallway
Explore the guard offices
Kill all guard enemies in the guard offices for John to arrive
Kill John to end this once and for all
Explore the hallway to locate the exit of the building
Kill all enemies in the hallway
Go to the exit point door and open it with a key card
Locate food Van using the paper escape route
Steal Van keys from driver's body
Enter Vehicle
Escaped Prison

Win Condition

Escape the prison

Lose Condition(S)

• Get beat up by guards/prisoners by failing an objective

• Getting caught by a guard when you’re scouting the prison too much

• Getting caught snooping around other prisoner drawers

Research and Concept Vis

Location Scouting

HM Prison Maze

I ended up looking at local prisons around Northern Ireland because it hasn't been focused much on games and it would feel fresh for a start. I found a prison in Lisburn called HM Prison Maze which was closed back in 2000, so trying to find images inside the prison was quite difficult. Not only that, the majority of the prison has been demolished as it began decontraction back in 2006 and ended in 2013 with only a few buildings remaining. Even with these issues, I knew something was interesting about this prison and found out that it was one of the hardest prisons to escape in Europe. However, there was a prison escape in 1983 of 38 IRA prisoners which so happens to be the main goal in the level which is to escape the prison. I also found a movie about the same prison escape called "Maze" which shows similar events of what happened in 1983 which can give me an idea of what the prison would look like inside and objective ideas to escape the prison.

HM Prison Maghaberry

I continued to research other prisons around Lisburn that were still open and came across HM Prison Maghaberry which wasn't too far from the other prison. This prison caught my attention by how the design of the prison was made and can help with designing my prison level. I found out that there were two convicts who escaped from this prison in January of 2018 and by reading more into this article, it seems like they haven't been found. I've researched images inside the prison to get a good idea of how to layout the inside of the prison, prison cells and front gate to the prison.

Mood/Atmosphere

Example 1 - A Way Out (Game)

Image Reference Link: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/R1YkA

Here are some references I can use to create the mood, lighting and atmosphere of my level. Considering the level I'm developing is set in a prison, I looked for set images in A Way Out and found that the mood of this game changes a lot because there is a lot of opportunities for the player to experience tough decisions in the level as well as gradually unveiling the whole story of character's they play as. These images also show lighting that presents the player with a new path to take or a locked area to break into. Either way, the player is persuaded by lighting to take the next step in the level. In terms of the atmosphere in the game, it is very dark as the players are stuck in prison and very isolated from the outside world which motivates the players to work together and escape the prison.

Example 2 - Maze (Movie)

Movie Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaGKiLEaZxg

Here are 6 screenshots of the movie that can help with references, in order to create the mood, lighting and atmosphere of my level. The mood of this movie shifts drastically from calm to all-out chaos due to the movie being based on a true story. This would help with the pacing of my level to make sure it has some high and low moments to keep the player engaged. The lighting of this movie is a good reference to how the lighting can be used on my level because it is changed depending on the events that are being played out. For example, the screenshot of the protagonist asking for a job has bright lighting to make the protagonist and the guard officer visible to the consumer's eye. However, in contrast, the last screenshot has direct lighting only from above the protagonist and the guard officer which shows the shift in lighting. The atmosphere in this movie is mainly Drama and Biographical as there is a lot of tension between the character's in the movie and along with it brings in references to real-life events.

Game Research

After analysing a contemporary level from Portal 2 by pointing out level techniques, it has allowed me to develop better ideas on how to structure a level. For example, I spoke in my blog about how the level in portal 2 guided players through the level by the use of push and pull techniques. These techniques are very new to me as the last level that I made wasn't built around these techniques which made the player's experience feel clunky and I was just hoping the player would be able to win. Now that I've learnt these push and pull techniques, It has given me good advice on how to layout my level and to improve player experience. Another example from my blog that has helped develop ideas for my prison level would be using Environment Narrative. A High environmental narrative could mean adding a news report based on the main protagonist, giving more information on "Jack The Wife-Killer" and "How He Murdered His Wife". Considering there is somewhat of a story to the level, audio dialogue and written text would be a must to add. There would be medium environmental narratives in the level with locations in the prison such as:

Prison Cells
Guard Offices
Prison Hallways
Food Van Delivery Placement
Outdoor Area
Guarded Gateway of Prison

Low environmental narrative in the level could be adding the theme which keeps the player engaged with the level built around them to feel like a real prison.

Scenario ideas

Scenario ideas on how elements of the level may play out or challenges that might confront the player. Use sketches here to illustrate your points.

Game Mechanics

Dodge and Roll

The Dodge and Roll mechanic is used to allow the player to avoid enemies when they are trying to attack. However, the stamina of the player would eventually run out due to the excessive use of this mechanic. This means that the player would need to dodge an enemy at the right time to keep their energy refuelled.

Melee Attack

The melee attack is a mechanic that is used at the very start of the level so it is important to get the animation and flow of the attack right which is why I'll be looking at tutorials to improve the gameplay. The mechanic would be used to fight against Enemy AI via Prisoners and Guards by using your fists or legs. Fists would be used to attack enemies within close distances while you can kick with your legs to attack and push enemies away from you. This is helpful when two or more enemies are approaching you.

Picking up items

Picking up items is one of the core mechanics in this game as the player has a job set for them in prison which is to pick up rubbish. This mechanic allows the player to pick up items in the game that can be helpful when trying to escape the prison. The player would have to look down at the item and press E in order to use the mechanic properly. With Added animation for picking up items from the floor and on desks, the gameplay of the level would look more realistic. Without this mechanic in the level, the player wouldn't be able to progress as there are some objectives that the player must pick up an item to use later. However, I could use a simpler mechanic which would just have the player move into the collision box of the item which would pick up the item but this way is not very intuitive as there wouldn't be any animation and it would feel very old standard.

Distracting Enemies

Distracting Enemies is how the player can get past an enemy to reach the current objective without getting caught. This is done by the player having a disposable item such as a rock that can be thrown away from the door that you need to get past. This would alert the Enemy to investigate where the item has been thrown. While this is happening, the player can sneak past the cover to the door in order to successfully complete their objective. Without having this mechanic built into the level, some objectives wouldn't be possible and it would rely on timing for the player to get past the AI Enemy. This may result in player frustration as it would be too difficult to play.

Level Design Layouts

Level Design Layout Draft 1 (Top Down)

This is the first draft of mine that I made for the layout of the map using a spider diagram method. Although I have outlined from start to finish what location the player would be at as well as why they were there. I had come up with two ways to escape the prison, one being where the player has to escape by themselves while the other one was with Aaron. However, I decided to change to only one way to escape. This decision has made it easier for me to program the level. Not only that, I have added an updated version of the level layout that goes more into detail about how the player moves from one location to another.