Heritage
This was the first level I made for my teams Capstone project, it was loosely inspired by our projects reference game which was Destiny 2, a lot of features and mechanics from this level were improved and used in most of the other levels.
Level Overview
Level Start
Heritage Base
Collapsed Structures
Trap to Lower level
The Pit
Cave Entrance
Enemy Ritual
Jumping Puzzle
Boss Room
Pre-Production
Mood Boards
Level Start
The player lands near the base since he was tasked with checking on the base since they went radio silent, when the player lands he notices that all the rovers were abandoned, the player reaches the base and see that its abandoned, when they make their way inside they notice that its all destroyed, like as if it was attacked by something or someone.
Focal Point
The player keeps investigating trying to reach the control center, in order to see what happened here, as they make their way and unlock a closed door, they see that a lot of the structures have collapsed in a sinkhole and they have to jump through the debris in order to cross; they jump through at the debris but at the last jump the structure collapses and they fall into the sinkhole.
Level End
The player wakes up and sees parts of the debris laying around and an entrance to a cave, as the player walks into the cave they notice some mining equipment belonging to the station, the player progresses further into the cave and spots enemies performing a ritual and stops it, the player progresses further into the enemy's territory and reaches the leaders room which is full of the stations scientific gear and an open portal in the back, they slay the leader and close the portal, ending the level.
Information
The level was made during month 2 of Capstone for the course Game Systems Integration.
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The level was created and finished in 3 days and it was only worked on by me.
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The parameters for the level were that it had to be at least loosely based on the reference game, it had to have a win-loss condition, a mechanic that ties in with the level.
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Attached is the Level Design Document
Inspiration
Destiny levels/mission that served as inspiration for this level:
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The Dark Beyond
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The Sword of Crota
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The Wakening
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Crota's End
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Destiny 2 levels/mission that served as inspiration for this level:
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A Mysterious Disturbance
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Essence of Fear
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Pit of Heresy
Level Design Analysis
Heritage Start
The level starts with the player landing near Heritage base, all the rovers are facing the base and have their lights on illuminating the way forward, one has been crushed by some falling rocks near a gap between the rocks, the player can spot a radar and some parts of the base from here.
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This area is meant to be empty and desolate, setting the mood for this portion of the level.
After the player crosses the gap they get a better view of the base and see that its equally as desolate as the beginning, in this section the player has to destroy 2 turrets and find a way inside the base.
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The turrets have been placed in strategic places and the player is given ample cover to hide from them, the rovers and radar dish are facing the objective acting as breadcrumbs.
Heritage Inside
The player gets inside and they notice that its dark and the emergency lights are on, indicating that there is no power.
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This portion consists of computers scattered across the room, some pieces of rock that have penetrated the structure, and locked doors.
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The lights lead the player deeper into the base.
The player follows the lights and drops down the collapsed stairs and as they turn the corner they are introduced to the melee enemy.
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The player eliminates them and sees the way forward is blocked by debris/rocks, but there are two doors unlocked giving the player the ability to choose.
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One contains enemies and the other has the way forward.
The player goes downstairs and sees more computers scattered around and an emergency light in the back, indicating them where they need to go.
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This portion serves as the calm before the storm since the next portion is where it ramps up.
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The player is taught about lights guiding them in this section.
After the player finds the correct door they see that there is a gap in one the walls where they can cross.
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This area is meant to be dark encouraging the player to use the flashlight.
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This portion is another calm before the storm and for the player to rest/relax after fighting.
Once the player crosses they are confronted by more melee enemies and are introduced to the exploding enemy.
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They eliminate them and follow the lights once more until they find a door that they must unlock.
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The player has to look back and will spot the lever in one of the sides of the door.
Collapsed Structures
The door opens and the player notices that a sinkhole has swallowed most of the structures and some structures from the base that are being held in place by the support beams.
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The huge crystals illuminate the area and are the main focus of this section.
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This section tests the players ability to jump.
The emergency lights return to guide the player, but they flicker this time indicating the lack of structural integrity and power loss.
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There are no enemies in this section, its a player vs himself section.
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Once they reach the last part a loud sound plays and the floor collapses dragging the player down with it.
The Pit
The player awakes surrounded by debris and enemies, they are introduced to the shooting enemy here, they have ample over and can see a cave entrance in the back.
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The entrance of the cave is surrounded by debris to attract the attention of the player and debris points towards the cave entrance functioning as breadcrumbs.
Cave/Cave Entrance
Once the player enters the cave they can see alien structures and some digging equipment belonging to the Heritage base.
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When they walk towards the alien structures, a hole in the cave that was previously closed, opens up.
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The player is introduced to the fading door which opens when the player gets close to it
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The Ritual
The player goes through the hole and sees more alien structures and notices that the hole has closed, forcing them to keep moving forward and acting as a valve.
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The player sees enemies performing a ritual and they interrupt it by eliminating every enemy.
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After they eliminate the enemies another hole opens up leading the player deeper into the cave.
Jumping Puzzle
The player crosses the hole and spots a crystal floating on the right, they also spot some platforms in that direction.
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The player jumps on the first platform and are given a glimpse of the scale of the jumping puzzle.
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They are introduced to the disappearing platform which disappear after standing on them.
The player makes their way through the platforms and spot some holes in the walls while jumping.
There are three holes, two contain death pits and one contains a reward, I wanted to give the player choice once more.
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The player is tested once more in their jumping abilities.
Halfway through the jumping puzzle another type of platform is introduced, the fake platform is a sort of curve ball to throw off the player and make them doubt their next move
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The player is presented with two paths, a short one and a long one, the short one has the fake platforms and the long one has the true path.
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It punishes the player for being lazy and complacent.
Boss Room
After the player completes the jumping puzzle they have to face the enemy leader, the room is small compared to the size of the boss so that the player cant stay in one place.
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The room has ample cover in the form of scientific equipment, rovers, and computers from the Heritage base.
The room has a portal in the back which is initially covered by the boss.
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After the player kills the boss they can close the portal and finish the mission.
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I wanted the player to feel unprepared while fighting the boss I achieved this by introducing him so suddenly and reducing the space they have to work with
