Level Designs

Although my main focus is character design and writing, I have learned a variety of skills in college. I took two game design classes, both of which not only taught me the basics of game design, but also specifics such as level design.

Here are some examples of level designs I made for class.

College Quad Level

For this project, we were tasked with taking the layout of the Quad (an area outside in the middle of the school's buildings with trees and walkways) and turn it into a level. I decided to go for a cybernetic look and have the level take place in a laser tag arena.

Inspired by games such as Portal, I aimed for a dystopian first-person puzzle level. I imagined the main game mechanic as a cybernetic glove. Players would collect different abilities for the glove throughout the game. For this level, the main mechanics would be to use a newly-acquired laser ability to activate switches, as well as a grappling ability (obtained in earlier levels) to reach the second floor.

We also had to create concept art for the environment. After studying what laser arenas look like and how they're structured, I created the concept art and a more polished level design.

The final outcome was this design, where players would navigate a maze-like laser tag arena in order to collect points. I did not have time to fully flesh out the mechanics, which is why some notes are unclear or unspecific, such as the "points". I imagine the "points" would be key items in lore, though since there is no overall game in actuality, I left it vague.

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Game Design II: Draw a Level

One of our first projects for my Game Design II class was to create a level concept from scratch. I decided to create a level based on an RPG game idea I've had for a few years. The level itself is puzzle-horror, where the player must escape an abandoned concert hall by reaching and defeating the boss.

I have also created a game design document for the level:

Game Design II design doc.pdf

Download PDF • 76KB

I started by researching and designing what a concert hall looks like. I went for an older style of furniture and props.

Next, we were tasked with drawing more specific concepts for individual spaces. The top is the admission booth, and the bottom is the lobby/concessions area. Since I imagine an almost isometric view for my game (akin to Undertale), I drew the environment accordingly with a top-down view.

The final outcome was a level design for the concert hall that details level progression. The player would start at the entrance, and would need to solve a small puzzle to open the doors that lead to the shifting rooms. Pressing certain buttons in the shifting rooms would cause them to rotate either clockwise or counterclockwise. The player's goal would be to line up the doors from the shifting rooms to the boss arena door, all while a monster would be roaming around.