A.I.D.E.N in Space
Developed by: Harvey Yeo, Jon Tai, Sean Ng, Adrian Lai, Jarvis Hu
Project Roles: Level 2 Co-designer
Game Preview
A.I.D.E.N in Space
'A.I.D.E.N in Space' is a third-person platformer where players control a rat-sized robot attempting to traverse a human household to get back to its spaceship. To progress the levels, the player will have to conquer puzzles and obstacles laid along their path.
This Unreal project was developed for the Unit 'IGB321 Immersive Game Level design' at QUT using the Unreal Engine's Stack-O-Bot project preset as a base.
Details of contributions
I worked with my team to come up with the narrative and setting for the game.
I designed half of the 2nd Level of our game with a teammate (Jon). We worked together to streamline our puzzles in the environment our level is set in, while ensuring the experience is fluid.
My Development Process
This project served as my first introduction to working with Unreal Engine while focusing on level design. We used 'Stack-O-Bot' as the base game and built the level using assets downloaded from Unreal Engine Asset store 'Fab'.
The narrative was to have the player character 'A.I.D.E.N', traverse through a common household trying to reach the rocket stranded on the roof of the house. The game consisted of 3 levels in this order - Kitchen, Bathroom, Attic. I was working on the 2nd level - the bathroom with and group member (Jon Tai).
Puzzle Design Philosophy
Our design philosophy was to create puzzles that make the player feel accomplished. Inspired by the 'Portal' series, we structured our puzzles by to teach the players the basics before gradually increasing the challenge, often reintroducing them in a following level with a twist. To further assist and guide the player, we placed collectables that served as visual indicators for players to move towards that direction.
Level design was also designed around the functionalities that Stack-O-Bot came with. The player character was able to run, jump, fly for a limited time and interact with several platforming environmental objects.
Unreal Engine Blueprint Revision
The default blueprint for Stack-O-Bot would respawn Stack-O-Bot when the player inputs a specific key. This would respawn the player at the last checkpoint and leave a copy of their body behind. We wanted have a fail state for our game such as falling out of bounds. Therefore, we revised the Unreal Engine blueprint to adjust the mechanic into a "kill the player on collision" function, using it to kill the player when they fall off the map or collide with dangerous objects.
Building the level
I designed and built the second level with Jon which was set in a bathroom environment. The player would begin this level from the top of the shower head and complete it by exiting the bathroom door. Before beginning our design, we referenced bathrooms from showcases and movie sets, incorporating furniture and props to make our level believable and therefore immersive.
We concluded that simply using a household bathroom would make the level design space too small and took some creative liberties to make the level a huge 'playground'. However, playable areas were restricted to furniture surfaces to create consistent terrain leveling. As a result, falling off furniture will result in the player character to "die".
Puzzles in Level 2
I designed the 'Bathroom Vanity' and 'cabinet' areas of the level. For the player to get from point A to B, these areas contained the following obstacles to challenge the player: Fans that pushed the player in a certain direction, "water surfaces that "kills" the player character when stepped on, moving platforms, and scalable surfaces.
After introducing these elements, they were combined with the previously introduced mechanics such as adding buttons and pressure plates that activated fans. These additional steps were added to raise puzzle complexity and placed at specific level locations to have players explore as much of the level as possible.
The attributes of the puzzles - such as the distance of water surfaces, or elevation of a higher platform, is designed after considering and accounting for the numerical values of the mechanics, such as jet pack flight duration. This would ensure players would be able to consistently and confidently conquer the designed puzzles.
When designing the cabinet areas I focused on the basics of platforming - jumping from surface to surface. Due to using props placed at odd angles, I had a fun time setting up the collision boxes for the environment. To preserve the intended challenge, I had to place invisible walls in some areas to prevent unintended shortcuts.
Outcomes
This unit introduced me to Unreal Engine and its capabilities. I was impressed by the difference in graphical prowess, and lighting system it has compared to Unity. After understanding the fundamentals, I am able to approach future Unreal Engine projects with confidence and look forward to transfer my Unity skills into future Unreal Engine projects as well.