MAGNO DORIAN
TECH LEVEL DESIGNER
DorianMagnoPortfolio
GRIM
REAPER'S FALL
DESCRIPTION
Grim was our end year project for our third year at Gamesup Lyon.
I worked with a talented team of 6 game designers and 5 game artists.
It was a challenge to design a short level that could meets the scope of a III or a AAA action-adventure game with beat'em all elements.
DOWNLOAD PROJECT
My Roles:
-
I made moodboards with level artists.
-
In collaboration with Romain Belly, I designed the layout of the level.
-
I made the blockout of the level following the layout and in communication with the level artists.
-
I implemented the level elements and debugged the collisions and the navmesh.
-
I rigged and animated enemies and the boss.
GENRE
BEAT'EM ALL
DURATION
1 MONTH
GAME'S CONTEXT
Grim is a beat'em all where the player can use a toxic substance to enhance its attacks, but with side effects. The world of Grim is ravaged by the substance and violent creatures.
DOCUMENTATION
6 FEET UNDER
Gigantism was one of the main keyword for this project. With a short time and a small time, it was quite challenging to meet this intention.
We chose to place the level inside a canyon where a giant skeleton lies above.
This setting was useful to lead the player toward its destination and restrain its vision toward the objective.
The ambiance varies in the canyon, with a cave, a tower and scaffolding made by the goblin.
Moodboard of the level
Before and after of the blockout of the canyon.
The cave with its bioluminescent wildlife.
FLOW AND MOLECULAR
The objective was to make a level with a 10 minutes lengths for the presentation. It was quite a challenge to manage to showcase the combat system and the perk system in a short span of time.
For the level we planned a vista to start, a tutorial, an arena, a short puzzle section, a second short fighting section and finally a boss.
We placed the tutorial in the cave to restrain the movement and reduce the cognitive charge. With the bioluminescent flora we could led the player to each bits of tutorial.
The flow of the level
The molecular of the level.
LAYOUT AND BLOCKOUT
With the core idea of the level finished, I began working on the layout. After the validation of the first draft, I worked on the blockout, I tested the metrics where goods and if the line of sights worked.
After a retake to polish the blockout, we discussed with the team to remove a part of the LD because it would take too much time to art. We removed a small indoor section between the first stake and the second one.
After finishing the blockout, I stayed and checked with the artists to place assets and props in the scene.
The different major iterations of the level.
I worked on placing the level elements, changing the lights, polishing the navmesh and placing collisions.
The level elements, collisions and trigger box I placed in the level.
INTERESTING PART OF THE PLAYTHROUGH
The first vista; it was shown after a short cinematic setting the mood of the game. With this vista, I wanted to clearly show the objective of level. The goal of the orange lights is to show the main path and contrast with the purple-ish color of the game.
The cave tutorial; it's a straight forward area that supposed to teach the player the finishers and the perk system.
The trails and the light show the way.
After the cave, a second vista show the area where the player will spend most of its time. The centre is the arena. On the right, the path that lead to the boss is broken.
The giant bone above the broken bridge move slightly to show that
it's an interactible element.
When breaking the first stake, the pit is clearly visible and the bone is visible above.
After the first stake, the player is led to the second one.
Stakes are linked to the bone by giant chains.
After the second stake, the player is above the second small arena. Pillars and props lead the player toward the stake that is in a unobstructed location.
A second perk can be found in this small arena.
After destroying the third stake, the player is looking toward the boss room, showing the bone falling and creating a bridge. The player has only to walk toward the new bridge.
To defeat the boss, the player has to destroy 3 stakes.
For our "puzzle" we wanted an element that could also work with our combat system.