Link to mod: https://bethesda.net/en/mods/skyrim/mod-detail/4265318

As GAM230 draws to a close, I want to take some time to reflect on the new skills I have developed and how I have grown as a designer over the past eleven weeks.

The biggest challenge I faced when undertaking this project was learning an entirely new engine. I had previously only worked in Unity, so I wanted to use this module as a way to prove that I can step outside of my comfort zone and develop within a new context. I feel that I succeeded in this endeavour, as I now feel very familiar with the Creation Kit, and would even like to pursue further modding within the engine. Furthermore, the process of learning this engine led me to re-tread a lot of the fundamentals of game development and design, consolidating a great deal of what I have learnt up to this point. In the future, I would like to extend myself into more game engines, possibly experimenting with Godot or Unreal.

I feel that I largely succeeded in my attempt to create a level that promotes exploration and backtracking. Acquiring gold is essential to the player’s progression, and gaining enough to sufficiently upgrade weapons and equipment requires the player to thoroughly search every area of the level as loot is often well-hidden. The interconnected level design also requires that players open shortcuts back to previously accessed areas, with the level become more easily traversable as the player does so. Additionally, I feel that the inclusion of ‘strongboxes’ greatly promotes backtracking, as players may be compelled to revisit rooms to attempt to unlock them after reaching a Crypt of Refuge and purchasing lockpicks.

On the whole, I am satisfied with the amount of modifications I was able to make to Skyrim‘s (2011) systems. By stripping the player of their belongings and requiring them to engage with the Crypt Mechanisms in order to improve their weapons and equipment, and purchase resources, I feel that I largely changed how the experience is played in comparison to the base game. Their inclusion also means that the level has a self-contained progression system separate from the rest of the game. I am happy that I was able to get the Crypt Chests to work, however as I was unable to find a way to limit the player’s carry capacity, they have little use within the level. If I develop this mod further, a priority of mine will be to figure out how to greatly reduce the player’s carry capacity so that engagement with this system is required. By implementing these systems I learnt more about programming, and learnt the fundamentals of Papyrus, Bethesda’s scripting language.

Prior to this project, I had very little experience of working with lights in 3D spaces. The process of lighting this level taught me a great deal about the principles of lighting. In particular, I was very surprised at how effective lights are in drawing the players attention to salient areas and guiding them along the critical path. The brightness, hue, and size of a light can also have a great impact on the atmosphere of spaces within levels, and can be leveraged to evoke certain emotions from the player to great effect. This emotive potential is further accentuated when lights are used in conjunction with volumetric effects such as fog and mist.

In order to ensure I was making the best possible design decisions, I undertook a great amount of research into level designs over the course of this module. I feel that through doing so, I learnt a great deal about effective level design, and reporting my findings here on the blog ensured that I consolidated this knowledge. This, coupled with the research undertaken for my GAM210 essay into level design and navigation, means that I feel I now have a firm grasp of the topic and I am confident in my application of these skills. Because of this, if I were looking to specialise in the future, level design could well be the route I choose to go down.

One element I sadly was unable to implement was the inclusion of narrative and world building. Originally, I wanted to include collectable text documents that the player can find and read to gain a greater understanding of the location, its residents, and its history. I feel that this would have greatly elevated the experience and made the player feel more connected to the space. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to write these documents and implement them due to other aspects of the mod taking longer to complete. During the cluttering stage of development, I tried to mitigate this somewhat by including elements of environmental storytelling, however the exclusion of explicit narrative can certainly be felt during a playthrough. If I take this mod further in the future, I will be certain to include these elements as a priority.

Overall, I feel that the production of this project over the course of this module has taught me a great deal. By learning a new engine, and engaging with new areas of game development that I had little prior experience in, I was able to extend myself and grow as a designer. While there were certainly challenges faced throughout development, I feel that each of them served as useful learning experiences, and through overcoming them I was able to learn and apply new skills in a variety of contexts. I am very proud of what I was able to produce in eleven weeks, and I would like to further develop my mod to become a more enjoyable, ambitious experience. Furthermore, regular research and reflection, alongside weekly reflective blog posts have pushed me to critically reflect on my progression, and my role in the industry as a whole. I will take this knowledge and experience forward with me into the final year of my degree, and beyond, as I endeavour to become the best designer I can possibly be.

References

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. 2011. Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks.