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. 

Lighting

As of last week, I finally had a fully functioning level that the can be played through from start to finish. However, without the presence of lighting, the atmosphere felt flat, and there was little guiding the player through the space other than architectural forms. Due to this, I knew it was important that I made time for a lighting pass as it would greatly elevate the experience. I was unprepared for how much it would change the final product for the better.

First, I re-watched Bethesda’s tutorial video on lighting within the Creation Kit (Bethesda 2012), to reacquaint myself with the tools. After refreshing my memory, I set about lighting my level space, starting with setting the level’s ambient light by selecting from a list of templates. After some experimentation and trial and error I found that the ‘BleakFallsBarrowMedium’ template fit the atmosphere best, creating an atmospheric fog with a slight blue hue. I feel that this contributes to an otherworldly atmosphere, and creates a sense of mystery as some elements of the level are shrouded in fog (fig. 1).

Next, I set about lighting the scene by placing individual lights in the level space. This was relatively straightforward as many of the light sources had been placed last week while I was cluttering the level. Wherever I had placed sconces or torches, I used a bright, warm point light, as they are often used to signpost the critical path, and draw the player’s attention to doorways and exits (fig. 2). For the candles I decided to use a slightly colder light, mainly to differentiate them as they are often drawing the players attention to loot or the entrances to Crypts of Refuge (fig. 3). Any time I placed a light, I was able to control it’s scale (s + mouse) and brightness (ctrl + alt + s + mouse) for maximum control over how it lights each area.

As the Crypts of Refuge are intended to be a safe haven for the player, I wanted to light them appropriately. In order to achieve this, I decided to make the entire room bright and well-lit with warm, inviting point lights that invoke feelings of comfort and safety (fig. 4).

I have found that lighting works particularly well in conjunction with the use of atmospheric effects. This is because within the Creation Kit, any effects automatically inherit the colour of the nearest light source. In many areas, I used the ‘FXMistLow’ effect, which I feel adds an element of mystery to the atmosphere, as well as adding some dynamic movement to the level space, making it feel less static (fig. 5). In the various cave spaces of the level, I have also used ambient beams of light, emitting from gaps in the ceiling (figs. 6 and 7). This not only allows for a natural method by which to light a cave, but also means that I can signpost salient areas of each room. In an early area, I was even able to alert players to an easily missable hole in the ground by using an ambient beam of light (fig. 8), which has since helped playtesters become immediately aware of its presence.

Overall, I am very happy with how much the inclusion of lighting has improved my level’s atmosphere and navigability.

Final touches and bug fixes

As the deadline for submission draws ever closer, I have spent a large amount of this past week polishing the level, adding final touches, and fixing various bugs that have occurred during playtesting.

One feature that I am very happy I was able to implement is a way through which the player can regain the items that are taken off of them when they initially enter the dungeon. Now, when the player has their items removed, they get sent to a chest located at the end of the level, rather than disappearing forever. There are still stakes to the experience, however, as the player must defeat the final boss and loot the chest key in order to access these items. This functionality is great as it means the mod can now work within an actual playthrough of Skyrim (2011), as the player can now enter and leave the level with their items intact.

I have also added in some more tutorial messages that pop-up when the player enters particular spaces for the first time. Using the same triggers system I created back in week six, the player is now tutorialised on the first Crypt of Refuge they enter (fig. 9). This was important to include, as they are a central pillar of the dungeon’s design, and are required for progression so it is crucial that the player understands how they work. There is also a final message that is presented to the player when they enter the final Crypt of Refuge, alerting them that they are about to confront their final opponent and they may want to make sure they are well armed for the conflict. Similar messages appear in many other games, giving the player the opportunity to make any final preparations and experience any optional content they may have missed before ending the experience.

I have also made the difficult decision to remove one of the shortcuts within the level. This decision has come as a result of multiple playtesters giving feedback that the extra pathway adds more confusion for the player, rather than benefitting them with usefully interconnected level design. Often, players would walk past the door that advances the critical path to unlock this shortcut, before realising that they have arrived at a previous location, and being unsure of where to go next. It is a shame that I had to remove this element of the level, but a good designer must take playtesting feedback seriously, as the player is who we are ultimately crafting this experience for. If I had more time, I would likely try to implement better signposting and navigational aids to help the player in this section, but for now it seems this can be chalked up to another example of design by subtraction.

Research

As part of my research this week, I watched a GDC lecture discussing tips for lighting 3D level spaces (Yang 2018). The talk touched on many foundational and intermediate elements of the topic and greatly benefitted me in lighting my own level. Yang discussed four different types of light (ambient light, directional light, spotlight and point/omnidirectional light), as well as how they can be used in conjunction to light a level that guides the player and creates the desired atmosphere. He also drew attention to the importance of lighting the critical path as a priority, before moving on to use lighting to highlight NPCs and set pieces.

References

BETHESDA. 2012. Creation Kit Tutorial Series [YouTube tutorial series]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDKivlGmia4 [accessed 28 March 2022].

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

YANG, Robert and David SHAVER. 2018. Level Design Workshop: Blockmesh and Lighting Tips [GDC talk]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09r1B9cVEQY [accessed 1 April 2022].

As the deadline for this module draws closer, I have been making a lot of progress on my project. This week has largely been focused around adding enemies into the level, as this is a crucial element of the experience that has been sorely missing until now.

Navmeshing

Before I could create and place enemies in the level for the player to encounter, I had to first set up the navigation mesh, or NavMesh, so that the enemy AI would be functional. NavMeshes allow developers to designate which spaces pathfinding AI can and can not occupy. Without it’s inclusion enemies would not know where to move, and many bugs would occur as a result.

Other than the small amount that I had undertaken for a project in first year, I have not had much prior experience with creating NavMeshes, much less within the specific context of the Creation Kit. In order to better prepare myself for the task, I re-watched one of Bethesda’s tutorial videos on the subject (2012). The tutorial was dense with information, teaching me the many hotkeys and tricks to creating NavMeshes, as well as how to search for and replace any ‘warning triangles’ that could cause issues for AI.

Creating the NavMesh was relatively straightforward, although time-consuming. Placing each triangle by hand was made much easier thanks to the many shortcuts that the Creation Kit affords the player, and once I understood the basics, I was able to NavMesh each room with ease. There were some areas that I purposely did not NavMesh, including the Crypts of Refuge, as I feel that blocking enemies from entering these rooms adds to the sense of safety and relief they are intended to give the player. If a player is in a particularly hard fight that they need to back away from, they can choose to return to a Crypt of Refuge to allow their health to regenerate or manage their equipment. In total, once I was finished creating the NavMesh, there were 2484 NavMesh triangles present in the level (figs. 1 and 2).

Enemy creation

With the NavMesh created and functional, my focus was now moved onto enemy creation and placement within the level. I have been entirely working with static objects and level assets up until now, so it was time once again to learn a about a new area of the Creation Kit – Actors.

I knew that I wanted to create three tiers of enemy (with each subsequent tier dealing more damage and having more health than the previous), a spider mini-boss, and a final boss. That meant that five unique enemies would have to be created for this project.

Starting with the low-level enemies, I duplicated a Draugr actor from the object window, and renamed it to ‘SJCEnemyLVL1’. From here I was able to access the actor’s settings, changing their health, textures, inventory, and in-game name. For each tier of enemy, I duplicated the previous one, renamed the actor and then edited their settings from their. I named them ‘Lost Blight’, ‘Wandering Blight’, and ‘Wrathful Blight’ respectively. Similarly, for the boss I duplicated a DraugrBoss actor and renamed it to ‘SJCEnemyBoss’, before tweaking the settings and giving it the name ‘Blight Lord’. I also set each enemy’s patrol route using ‘PatrolIdle’ markers which give them set points to move between (fig.4).

References

BETHESDA. 2012. Creation Kit Tutorial Series [YouTube tutorial series]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDKivlGmia4 [accessed 22 March 2022].

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

Level design

This week saw me completing the full layout of my level, creating the boss area and lead up to the exit. Taking inspiration from Bleak Falls Barrow, a classic Skyrim (2011) dungeon, I decided to make the final boss fight take place in a huge cavern with a large amount of prospect space (fig. 1). This creates an area that feels largely different to the rest of the level, which has been claustrophobic and labyrinthian. This is by far the largest space in the whole level, and so took a long time to complete, while making it feel like an authentic and believable natural space. In the lead up to the climactic boss fight, I created a large hall filled with candles to create a rising sense of tension. I am really happy with the effect that this corridor has, as it gives the impression that the player is approaching the climax of the experience.

During this week’s GAM230 workshop I was able to get some great play testing from my fellow designers. On the whole, feedback was largely positive, with my friend Steven praising the interwoven nature of the level’s topography. When Jeff played the level, he pinpointed the Crypts of Refuge as my ‘key selling point’, going on to say that I should endeavour to make the time between the player encountering them minimal. Following this advice, I have placed a one immediately after the mines, and preceding the large temple area. This way, it is only a couple of minutes of playtime before the player encounters their first Crypt of Refuge. Furthermore, this also gives the player ample time to have the opportunity to equip themselves with equipment and resources before they first encounter combat.

Cluttering

With the entirety of my level space created and tested, it was now time to begin decorating the rooms to feel more lived in and dynamic. While I was happy with how the level felt to move through from a pacing standpoint, I was certainly becoming tired of seeing large empty rooms and repeated art assets, so I was looking forward to getting underway with this stage of development. As my level has become so large by this point, the job felt quite daunting to embark on, and I was unsure of where to start, or what to place. Luckily, by looking at some of Skyrim’s actual dungeons (which are also accessible through the Creation Kit) I was able to find inspiration and get the ball rolling. Below I will list some of the common items I placed, and their various use cases.

Rubble

By far the most common piece of clutter I used were the ‘rubble piles’ and ‘rubble pieces’. Not only do these add to the believability that this place is a crumbling Crypt, but they also help to add some irregularity to the structure and shaping of the rooms. My placing them in corners, or jutting out of walls, I was essentially able to change each room from a cube to a dynamic, winding location. Their placement was even used frequently to guide the player along a particular path.

Furniture

Various pieces of furniture have been used to bring the spaces to life, and make them feel more believable. By placing tables, chairs, shelves, and statues I was able to make each room feel distinct and varied. I also had to think critically about where each piece of furniture would logically be placed, were they would most likely need to be accessed.

Candles

One prop which I ended up using a lot were the ‘candles’. Not only do I think that these look very atmospheric and add some light to the area, but they are also used to signpost salient areas in most rooms. In particular, I have place them outside the doors to Crypts of Refuge, as well as surrounding various chests.

Sconces

Alongside candles, I have also been placing ‘sconces’ at various points along the critical path of the level. My goal has been to use them to guide the player through each space, by placing them near entrances and exits to rooms, drawing the player’s eye to these elements.

Urns

Urns have been placed in hallways and rooms. These add visual intrigue, as well as serving as another container in which the player will be able to find gold if they are searching for it.

Natural clutter

There are multiple areas in my level which use “natural” kits such as ‘caves’ and ‘mines’. Cluttering for these areas has been quite different to the man-made ones, requiring placement of completely different assets. By placing rocks, pillars, vegetation, and wooden planks, I was able to make these rooms feel more natural and flowing, like they would in real life.

Platforms

In some of the larger rooms, I used ‘platforms’ to create some height variation, and guide the player’s eye to particular areas. I think that their inclusion makes each room feel more dynamic and arranges objects in a more intriguing way to the player.

Loot placement

Alongside the cluttering of the level, I have also placed loot within the level, using the chests that were made a few weeks ago. I also renamed each chest to make them more unique. The low value chests are now named ‘Rusted Chests’, the middle value chests are named ‘Carved Chests’, and the high value chests are called ‘Gilded Chests’. As would be expected, the value of each chest is commensurate with the challenge the player must face to reach them. For instance, the trap rooms all contain Gilded Chests, as they are meant to be a challenging piece of side content, whereas Rusted Chests are more likely to be found on the critical path.

To ensure that the player is constantly finding loot that they can spend on upgrades, I have also placed ‘CoinPurses’ in lots of locations throughout the level. I used a script to ensure that each purse contains a random amount of gold between 5 and 15. They do not award a lot individually, but if a player is being attentive during their play through they can gain a large amount of gold through these items.

Strongboxes

While I was placing loot throughout the level, it occurred to me that, aside from those found in trap rooms, all the chests are easily accessible and provide the player near-instant gratification. While this is desirable and keeps the player engaged through frequent rewards, I also wanted to add some more challenging loot, that the player will have to work for and risk resources to access. In order to achieve this, I created a selection of locked chests, that I have named “strongboxes” (figs). These will require lockpicks to open, and have varying difficulty (‘Apprentice’, ‘Adept’ and ‘Expert’), with the loot inside being proportionate to the lock’s strength. I then added an option in the Resource Mechanism that allows players to buy lockpicks for gold. Because players have to spend their hard-earned gold on these lockpicks, another element of risk vs. reward has been added to the experience, as the player may end up breaking numerous lockpicks, and ultimately spend more money replacing them than they find in the strongbox. The inclusion of these chest types also adds an incentive for backtracking as players may spot one on their journey and endeavour to purchase lockpicks at the next Crypt of Refuge and come back for it later. Overall, I am glad that I took time to include these strongboxes and feel that their inclusion elevates the game and gives the player even more choice in how they engage with the level.

Research

As my work this week has been largely focused around loot and item placement, I decided to seek a relevant GDC lecture that could provide insight into this topic. I found a lecture delivered by Leah Miller about the importance of rewarding exploration through useful items (Miller 2019). Leveraging her background in MMO development, Leah discussed the various contexts in which item obtainment can occur. She drew an important distinction between collectables (objects with a finite number and set location), and gatherables (fungible resources that are theoretically infinite). She then went on to discuss how their placement can be used to enhance and enrich a gameplay experience within a variety of contexts. In particular, her slide on ‘platformers and non-linear action’ games seemed most relevant to my current project. She states that here, collectables and gatherables can be used to “alert players to alternate paths”, “reward memory and backtracking”, and “challenge skills”. As previously discussed, I feel that the inclusion of strongboxes rewards memory and backtracking, as attentive players will be able to purchase lockpicks and backtrack for the strongboxes later for extra loot. The inclusion of optional challenge rooms in my level (see Week Six for description) are also designed to challenge skills and reward players commensurately. The player will be able to see the high-level chest through the door, but also know that the loot inside will likely not come without a fight.

References

MILLER, Leah. 2019. Rewarding Exploration with Collectibles and Gatherables [GDC talk]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlvGeiw3TDQ [accessed 16 March 2022].

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

Pivoting

Now that I have been working on this project for six weeks, I feel that I have a good understanding of what the finished product will look like. As happens with almost any creative project, the idea has grown in areas and changed focus in others. This means that the what I am currently making is slightly different to what was laid out in my statement of intent.

To begin with, I have pivoted focus from crafting items at workbenches, to instead using the various machines that will be found in the Crypts of Refuge. Instead of the player obtaining crafting materials and using them to craft new equipment, they will instead spend the gold they have obtained through exploration on linear upgrades to their equipment. My intention is that this will streamline the experience and mean that the player is not required to spend unnecessary time interacting with the game’s crafting systems when they could be progressing through the level. It also gives me another excuse to do some scripting in the Creation Kit and create a unique system. Please see below for a more detailed breakdown of how these upgrade machines work.

Level design

I have made a lot of progress on my level design this week, creating almost the entire layout, minus the intended boss area. Initially, the level was created to loop back on itself more, involving a heavy amount of backtracking (fig. 1) However, upon playtesting this design and experiencing it from the first-person perspective that Skyrim affords, I came to the conclusion that the experience was more complex than necessary and there were multiple instances in which a player would likely become lost. In response to this, I slightly reshuffled the layout of the level. While the resulting level is certainly still interconnected and involves backtracking sections, the overall design is more continuous and hopefully the player will have a firmer understanding of where they are required to go (fig. 2).

Leading on from where I left off last week, I created a cave area that the player must pass through (fig. 3). This area will provide a change in scenery for the player and is intended to house a ‘mini-boss’ in the form of a large spider that will ambush the player once they step inside. Upon killing the spider they will be able to loot its corpse and retrieve a key that allows them to unlock the catacombs.

From there, the player is able to unlock a shortcut that leads them back around to the initial Crypt of Refuge where they are able to access the catacombs using their newfound key (fig. 4). Here, they descend downwards and eventually back up into another Crypt of Refuge, where they can unlock another shortcut which crates a greater level of interconnectedness. They then traverse through some larger rooms which feature more platforming, similar to that which has been previously introduced to the player, but with added complexity. This path then leads them to a room in which they obtain one final key which will unlock the final boss room and eventually allow the player to escape.

Crypt machines

Following my slight pivot in focus this week, one of the major mechanics I had to begin implementing were the Crypt Machines. As touched on before, these are interactable objects that the player can use to spend gold and upgrade their existing equipment. Before jumping into this blind, I decided to create a flowchart detailing what each machine would do, and how they would advance (figs 5, 6 and 7). I knew that I wanted one to handle weapons, one for armour, and one for resources that the player may need.

With the flowcharts established, the idea was much more concrete in my head. Below is the finished script that handles the resource purchasing system (fig. 8). It took a while to get it working, but I feel that through a great deal of trial and error, I was able to learn and grow as a programmer. I feel somewhat accomplished in the fact that I can script in a brand new syntax outside of my normal environment in C#.

Once I had the scripts working, it was time to create the objects that players would interact with to initiate them. Looking through the variety of models that are used in Skyrim, I came across the “Dwemer button” model which fit my vision of these machines quite well. I created three variants of these buttons, titling them “Resource Mechanism”, “Weapon Mechanism”, and “Armour Mechanism”, before placing them in my previously created Crypt of Refuge (fig. 9). I then added the appropriate scripts to them and tested them out in game. I am really happy with how these turned out and I feel that their inclusion adds a level of complexity and nuance to the project that elevates it past just being a level mod. Now, not only is the player granted with a feeling of spatial progression as they advance through the level; they are also afforded progression in capabilities and power. It also gives the player more opportunities for meaningful choices, as they may only have enough gold for one upgrade.

Research

Initially, my level was intended to be heavily inspired by Resident Evil (1996), utilising crafting and featuring a limited carry capacity which encouraged careful item management. While it has since moved slightly away from this singular focus to become it’s own experience, the use of the franchise’s cleverly interconnected level design remains at the forefront of my design considerations. When discussing this during this week’s GAM230 workshop, my lecturer Jeff recommended that I read an article about Resident Evil‘s map design (Pruett 2011). The article discusses how, through a term he calls “recursive unlocking”, the Spencer Mansion slowly becomes more interconnected and traversable to the player, as they pick up new items and backtrack to previous areas to unlock previously inaccessible rooms. He even goes on to say that  recursive unlocking is “used to control the pace of the game, the flow of the narrative, the progression of enemies and weapons, and even to force a change of scenery on the player, all while maintaining a non-linear feel” (Pruett 2011). Although I had not heard the term before, my level certainly adheres to the rules of recursive unlocking, with many areas beginning as inaccessible to the player until they have explored enough to find an item such as a key that enables further progression. While it may not feel like it, the first time the player moves through the space they will be guided through a linear path as they gradually unlock shortcuts and exits that reveal the non-linearity of the level over time.

I have also recently started playing Bloodborne (2015) for the first time, thanks to many recommendations from fellow designer Steven. It is a fantastic game filled with many fascinating design decisions in all departments, but the area that has intrigued me the most is the game’s genius level design. The game feels like it opens up in a spiralling fashion, with many paths taken unlocking shortcuts through areas for later use. A well-versed player who has unlocked these shortcuts could traverse the entire map in a matter of minutes. I think that this level design philosophy has certainly crept into my own, as when looking at the topography of my level, it similarly spirals into itself, with the player taking paths that eventually lead them back to previously accessed areas, through the use of shortcuts. I suppose you could call this project “the Dark Souls of Skyrim”.

References

Bloodborne. 2015. FromSoftware Inc., Sony Interactive Entertainment.

PRUETT, Chris. 2011. ‘Recursive Unlocking: Analyzing Resident Evil’s Map Design with Data Visualization’. Chris’ Survival Horror Quest [online]. Available at: https://horror.dreamdawn.com/?p=81213#:~:text=In%20Resident%20Evil%27s%20case%2C%20the,maintaining%20a%20non%2Dlinear%20feel. [accessed 10 March 2022].

Resident Evil. 1996. Capcom.

Level design

This week I have made a large amount of progress with the level space for my project. I have created a series of connected rooms that lead on from the initial Crypt of Refuge. These rooms will give the player space to explore and engage in combat. I also wanted to use the opportunity to include some light platforming and verticality too, as these are elements of Skyrim (2011) that are under-utilised in the main game.

In one room, the player must climb a set of stairs and make some small jumps across a broken bridge to reach the exit and advance (figs. 1 and 2). This act of traversing through the space is intended to subtly prepare the player for a later room that they will come across, in which they must engage in more complex platforming in order to progress (figs. 3 and 4). Currently these rooms are slightly confusing for the player, as there is no signposting employed to guide the player’s eye towards the exit, or the desired route to take. When I begin cluttering and decorating the rooms my goal will be to draw the player’s attention to these elements as soon as they enter the space through lighting choices and leading lines. I feel that these rooms will serve as a small break for the player from the core loop of combat and exploration.

Item removal

One of my goals for this week was to begin creating some of the functionality of my mod that will help it to stand out slightly more from other level design submissions. This was no simple task, as to get create the systems that I require, I would undoubtedly need to get involved with scripting. I am relatively comfortable using C# in Unity at a novice level, however the Creation Kit uses Papyrus, a purpose-built programming language only found in Bethesda titles. This meant that I would have to spend time learning the new syntax, and teach myself the fundamentals of Papyrus scripting. To do this, I followed along with some tutorials from YouTube channel Darkfox127 (2013), the same channel through which I was able to learn how to make my Crypt Chests. The tutorials began by teaching me how to do simple things such as creating message pop-ups and menus, before going on to make a shop system that takes gold off of the player and gave them a new item in return (something I imagine will be using when I eventually include the gear upgrade system.) After a couple of hours of scripting in the language I felt that I had a strong enough grasp to begin working with it.

As my mod is intended to be a self contained experience with its own progression, I needed a way to take items away from the player. Otherwise, a high-level player will have a very different play experience than a low-level player and may end up feeling that the project is unbalanced. As I thought this would be a simple task, I decided to make my first script handle this.

To start with, I added a large trigger to the mine, fully covering the entrance so that the player has no way of avoiding it (fig. 5).

Next I attached a new script to the trigger, naming it SJCRemoveItems, sticking with my naming convention which allows me to easily find any custom made elements of the mod. The script uses an OnTriggerEnter event to find the player reference and remove all items in their inventory. The player then receives a pop-up message that lets them know that their items and equipment have been removed (fig. 7). Eventually, I will make it so that the inventory items are sent to a chest at the end of the level, so that the player is able to retrieve them after completion of the level. I also made it so that the item removal only occurs if the Boolean variable ‘doOnce’ is false, meaning that the player is unable to trigger the it more than once.

Trap rooms

Another key addition to my mod this week has been the inclusion of ‘trap rooms’. These are optional challenge rooms that the player can enter to gain extra loot. Signposted by metal portcullis’, players can pull the chain to open the door and engage with this optional content. Once inside, the door will shut behind them and they will be ambushed by a variety of challenging enemies that wait inside. Once the room is cleared, the player can loot the chest inside for gold, then find the interior pull chain to re-open the portcullis and escape. These rooms were largely included in the project as a direct response to Dan Taylor’s level design talk that I watched in week two of this module (Taylor 2013). One of his principles for good level design stated that “good level design is easy, medium and hard”, meaning that effective levels allow the player to set their own difficulty by offering multiple options in how they engage with the level. These trap rooms are intended to give players the option to increase the difficulty of their experience, and get rewarded commensurately with gold that they can spend on gear upgrades when they reach the next Crypt of Refuge.

In order to create the desired feeling of risk vs. reward for these rooms, I knew I needed a certain level of investment from the player. In order to achieve this, I wanted to trap them in the room until they had cleared it of enemies, increasing the stakes of engaging with these areas. With my recently gained knowledge of Papyrus scripting, I felt well-equipped to write a simple script that could handle this functionality.

The functionality for the trap rooms works similarly to the item removal trigger and script. Once the player opens the portcullis and enters the room, they enter a trigger that covers the area in front of the doorway. This trigger has a script attached to it that then finds the opened door and sets it to close again (fig. 9). This trigger is also linked to two sarcophagi that will activate and spawn in enemies for the player to fight. This entire sequence creates an ambush situation in which the player is essentially locked in the room until they defeat the enemies and re-open the door. This script also uses a ‘doOnce’ Boolean variable to ensure that the player is only able to trigger this once, and the door will stay open once they have escaped.

Research

For this week’s research, I watched a GDC talk from an Arkane developer about ‘holistic level design’ (Lee 2017). It provided insightful information on looking at your game’s design in a wider context, in terms of how it effects the whole. Using Dishonored (2012) as an example, they discussed how to present affordances to the player so that they know where they can go within the level and what they can do. Within Dishonored, this meant creating a lot of verticality so that the player could afford a greater view of the levels, and the broader possibility space. This applies to my own project, as there are certain areas where I have noticed that players are not sure of what they must do or where to go. This is generally in areas where platforming is required, as the player does not instinctively know to look up. I feel that this is partly because verticality and jumping are not key parts of Skyrim‘s gameplay vocabulary, but also due to the fact that I have not signposted the desired path effectively enough. By rearranging the room and employing lighting techniques so that the player’s gaze is drawn upwards towards this section, I will be able to give the player a better idea of the affordances within the space.

References

Darkfox127. 2013. Creation Kit Scripting (Purchase System) #3 [YouTube tutorial series]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYNGK2vJ418 [accessed 2 March 2022].

Dishonored. 2012. Arkane Studios, Bethesda Softworks.

LEE, Steve. 2017. An Approach to Holistic Level Design [GDC talk]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpOoTAVeEcU [accessed 3 March 2022].

TAYLOR, Dan. 2013. Ten Principles for Good Level Design [GDC talk]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNEe3KhMvXM [accessed 8 February 2022].

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

 Level design work

With the introductory mine section finished last week, it was now time to start working with the Nordic kit, to make the dungeon proper. I knew that I wanted the player to be immediately met with a feeling of awe and mystery when entering this section, almost as if they had stumbled across this place by complete chance. To achieve this feeling I decided to use the ‘Temple’ section of the kit to create a vast hall for the player to traverse through (fig. 1). In the main game, these temples are meant to serve as the above ground entrance point for dungeons, however I feel that it’s inclusion deep underground adds to the feeling of a mysterious lost community. This large, ‘prospect’ space also creates a sense of relief from the overly claustrophobic mine system that the player will have moved through prior to this point.

Following on from this, I made a windy corridor that leads up to the first ‘Crypt of Refuge’ that the player will discover (fig. 2). I intend for the level design to follow a generally consistent alternation between form and void (large and narrow spaces), so as to maintain engagement and keep spaces feeling distinct.

Crypts of Refuge

The ‘Crypts of Refuge’ are meant to serve as a point of solace for players in the game, where they can upgrade their weapons, and store resources for the adventure ahead. When a player comes across one, they are supposed to feel a sense of safety and familiarity. To enhance this feeling, I knew that I wanted their interior space to be round and flowing, to juxtapose the more harsh and angular tone of the rest of the level. To start with, I used ‘NorBurialShaft01’ as a template (fig.3). However, I feel that while they certainly provided the circularity that I desired, the overall profile was rather ominous, with a deep pit in the center of the room. Instead, I opted for the less remarkable, but far more fitting ‘NorCustomChamber01’ which I feel has a more friendly and relieving atmosphere (fig. 4) This room also has the benefit of featuring four exit points, meaning that I have the option for these areas be far more connected to the rest of the level, with multiple routes through which the player can enter them.

My next step for the Crypts of Refuge was to create the persistent ‘Crypt Chest’ that the player will be able to store and access all of their equipment through. I was unsure of how I would go about implementing this, or indeed if it was even possible within the Creation Kit. I anticipated that whichever way it would work, some Papyrus scripting would be required so I decided to try and find some online tutorials that would help with this. To my surprise, I was able to find a Creation Kit tutorial focused around ‘cloud chests’ which told me everything I needed to know (Darkfox127 2013). Cloud chests are a persistent chest that can be accessed and updated in multiple locations using connected triggers, and require no script writing at all! When a player interacts with a Crypt Chest, they are actually activating a trigger that is connected to the ‘real’ Crypt Chest, located in a completely different scene, through which they can access and store items. With the help of this tutorial, I was able to quickly make multiple functional Crypt Chests that are all connected and work exactly as intended. This is fantastic news, as I anticipated these posing more of a challenge to implement, which means I may be able to begin looking at some stretch goals for my project if everything stays on track.

Chest design

In certain areas, I have begun to place treasure chests for the player to discover throughout their exploration of the level. I am not fully certain on how these will function in gameplay, however my current plan is that these will give the player varying amounts of gold that can then be spent in Crypts of Refuge to purchase items and upgrade equipment. A key design philosophy of mine for this project is that the player should be constantly incentivised to explore and almost always be rewarded for that – whether it be through an interesting piece of lore, a new shortcut, or gold.

My design and creation process behind these chests was relatively straightforward. I began by duplicating a Norse chest in the object window and renaming it to ‘SJCChestBase’. My naming convention of using the prefix ‘SJC’ (my initials) for all unique objects means that I can easily filter the object window to see which items I have created for the purpose of the mod. From this base I was able to make multiple duplicates, and filled each chest with a differing amount of gold. The low-value chests had 25 gold in them, the medium-value chest had 50 gold, and the high-value chests contained 100 gold. I intend for the low-value chests to be relatively common and easy to find, whereas mid-value and high-value chests will require a keen eye and challenging traversal to access.

Research

This week I watched another fantastic level design talk from GDC, this time recommended to me by Steven, my design colleague (Davis 2019). Given by Sony Santa Monica’s Rob Davis, the talk discussed the many learnings of designing levels for God of War (2018). Throughout the talk, Rob provided multiple rules that designers used to help create effective levels within the game. A foundational rule seemed to be that all levels must accommodate for the game’s three established core pillars: combat, narrative, and exploration. These pillars were evenly and naturally distributed throughout the levels, ensuring for a consistently engaging player experience. Another key rule was the inclusion of clear exploration breaks soon after a new mechanic has been introduced to the player at the end of a level. This would then allow the player to re-enter the hub area of the game and use their new abilities in various areas. He also discussed the concept of theming each level around particular mechanics, using the example of ‘shock arrows’ in relation to God of War. By having levels focus largely on a particular mechanic (normally one that has been recently introduced during gameplay), they can be kept fresh and engaging, as well as allowing the player time to master the new mechanic and add it to their skillset. If I were to examine my current project through this lens, it could be said that my central theme for my level are the Crypts of Refuge, along with everything that they afford the player (item management, gear improvement, a point of respite). Most other aspects of the level have been designed in service of this feature, and serve to accentuate their utility.

References

Darkfox127. 2013. Creation Kit (Cloud Chests) [YouTube video tutorial]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsB4e8isB28 [accessed 23 February 2022].

DAVIS, Rob. 2019. The Level Design of God of War [GDC talk]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSB29qx6sWw [accessed 24 February 2022]. 

God of War. 2018. Santa Monica Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment.

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

Statement of intent

Having finished the body of my statement of intent last week, at the beginning of this week I spent time reading over and critically analysing the document for grammatical mistakes and areas for improvement. On the whole, I was satisfied with my writing, however there were some areas that were reworked for conciseness and clarity. In my research section, I was able to cut down on a great deal of words by simply including an image that conveyed my point far better than I could in writing. I also made sure my referencing was in line with Falmouth-Harvard guidelines. While not the most exciting job to undertake, it was important to take the time to ensure my written communication was to a high standard. This is not just because it is part of the marking rubric, but more importantly because communication is possibly the most important skill for a game designer to have, whether it be through a conversation with a teammate, or an extensive game design document.

Level design work

With the statement of intent completed and submitted, I am now able to turn my full attention for this module onto the level’s creation.

To start with, I added some scenery to the large open room that serves as the final mining area before the player enters the Nordic crypt proper. As the player enters the room at an elevated position, I needed a way for them to naturally reach ground level. To do this, I used the ‘scaffolding’ kit, placing a platform connected via a bridge, as well as a staircase (fig.1). Next I decided to make the space feel more natural by placing structures that help to add elevation and reduce the amount of flat surfaces resulting from modular pieces. I added an exit at the opposite side of the room, in direct line-of-sight of the player. I think that the final shape of the space feels far more natural and irregular than it originally did (fig. 2).

As I continue to become more proficient with the Creation Kit, understanding which pieces fit together and memorising naming conventions, I hope to be able to create level spaces at a quicker pace. I want to be able to have the flow and pacing completed with enough time for me to do some FX, lighting and clutter passes. This will not only make the level much more visually attractive, but can also be used to direct the player through deliberate signposting and lighting decisions, making it a crucial part of the development process. As a disclaimer, I do not intend to detail every single step of my level creation process for this project, as I feel that would make for a rather dull and lengthy blog. Instead, I intend to write about any parts of the development process through which I have learnt new techniques or faced unique challenges that have led me to grow as a game designer and developer.

Transitions

From here, I knew that I had to somehow transition from the mines into the Nordic crypt. This posed a challenge as they are formed of two separate “kits” (how Bethesda refers to modular sets) and I was unsure how to blend between them. In some cases, the artists have planned for this event, and included custom transitions that allow a level designer to seamlessly transition between different aesthetics. However in this case, I would be unable to rely on such a technique, as I wanted it to look as if the miners had accidentally broken through into the crypt. As far as I’m aware there is no custom transition for something like this, which meant I would have to get creative.

I started by placing a ‘MineCLHall1Way01’ and ‘NorHallBg1Way01’ in the same location. Then, I turned grid-snapping off and carefully aligned their floor sections, allowing for them to somewhat blend together. However this transition was far from perfect – as you can see from the images there are visual seams on both the floor and walls where the assets overlap (fig. 3 & fig. 4). Even more noticeable is the void above the Nordic hallway, resulting from the cave hall piece being far taller. Luckily, there are a number of tools at my disposal within the Creation Kit to help counteract these issues.

Firstly, I filled in the gap above the transition by placing a variety of ‘boulder’ assets arranged to look like a naturally sloping ceiling. Next, I covered over the floor seams by placing some ‘dirt mounds’ into the corridor, making the floor look more uneven and gradual in its transtion. Finally, in order to cover up the wall seams, I placed two ‘cave pillars’ at either side of the hallway, making a natural archway for the player pass through. I think that the transition is now relatively seamless and believable, rather than abrupt and sudden (fig. 5 and fig. 6).

Research

This week, I watched another GDC lecture, all about incorporating narrative into level design (Menzel 2017). The talk provided some interesting insights into narrative delivery through deliberate level design. This extends past environmental storytelling, and into all aspects of a game with the lecturer arguing that all elements that make up a game contribute to storytelling. I found the section on pacing to be particularly insightful and beneficial. Good pacing is a very difficult aspect of game design to achieve, as games are inherently interactive and variable in their pacing. Menzel offered ‘movement incentives’ and ‘movement deterrents’ as techniques through which a game designer can attempt to better control the pace of their experience. Movement incentives include threats, objectives and time limits, whereas movement deterrents include tension, obstacles, and puzzles. I will endeavour to use what I have learned from this talk within my own level’s design moving forward.

References

MENZEL, Jolie. 2017. A Narrative Approach to Level Design [GDC talk]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhKjv7CPUqw [accessed 18 February 2022].

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

Learning Creation Kit

I have spent some more time learning the Creation Kit this week, trying to extend myself into areas of scripting. Hopefully, my mod won’t require very much scripting in order to be functional, however some features will certainly require it. For instance, I want to limit the player’s carry capacity and allow them to spend resources in order to purchase new equipment and items. For this I will need at least rudimentary knowledge of Papyrus, the language used by the editor. I have been recently learning a large amount of C# in an effort to be a more T-shaped developer and help out with technical aspects of my current team project. Because of this, I am confident that I will be able to learn enough Papyrus to get my intended features to work.

I have also learnt a great deal of keyboard shortcuts within the Creation Kit that will help to speed up the development process of my level design. I will learn many more throughout development, but here are a number of keyboard shortcuts I have learnt so far:

• Zoom in/out (scrollbar).
• Pan/orbit camera (shift + mouse).
• Quick focus on an object (shift + f).
• Rotate tool (w).
• Move tool (e).
• Scale tool (s).
• Turn grid snapping on/off (q).
• Turn rotation snapping on/off (ctrl + q).
• Select snap reference in render window (shift + q).
• Top-down view (t).
• Orthographic view (0).
• Turn lighting on/off (a).

Statement of intent

As the deadline for the statement of intent approaches, my focus has been largely focused on continuing to develop the document. Having written both the ‘project outline’ and ‘rationale’ sections last week, my attention was first turned to the project’s scope. Planning for scope is a crucial part of any development process so I tried to write this section with an objective and critical perspective. I began by outlining reasons why I am confident in my project’s scope, including the rapid iteration afforded by the modular kits, and being able to rely on a lot of pre-existing scripting found in the game. Next, I listed potential risks to development, discussing the size of my level and the time it may take for me to learn the intricacies of the Creation Kit. After that, I wrote a list of contingencies that should mitigate these risks, such as cutting content and focusing on the core hook of the mod. Finally, I created a timeline for the project, bullet-pointing what I intend to complete each week of the module.

I chose to leave the research section of the statement until last as I have been continually conducting research into level design and the Creation Kit engine, so as to best prepare myself for the project. Luckily, I have been making a note of many of the GDC talks, tutorials and texts that I have accessed by recording them on this blog, meaning I was able to extract points and repurpose them for this assignment. I split the section into two parts: one for more academic research that has elevated my understanding of level and systems design, and one for inspirations and case studies that have informed my ideation and development. Finally, I filled out all references, which was again made easier by the fact that I have referenced many of the texts on this blog. I hope that this section of the statement is able to reassure markers that I understand the importance of research and market awareness when developing personal projects.

With all sections of the statement of intent written up, I will now be able to move into full production of my Skyrim (2011) level mod. I am excited to get the ball rolling and learn some new skills. Next week, I will make sure to read over the statement for any grammar or formatting issues before submission.

Level design

I have also continued to develop the level space itself, extending the mines to be more labyrinthine and representative of real mine systems (fig. 1). As can be seen in the image, there are now dead-ends, and an area that loops back on itself, to promote the feeling of claustrophobia and confusion that I am intending to initially instil in the player. My intention is to use narrow space in order to “create tension by giving space scarcity, limited amounts such that space becomes a valuable resource” (Totten 2014: 118). I want to build anticipation and intrigue in the player by initially leading them through narrow winding tunnels, that eventually disorient them, before they are met with the relief of a larger ‘prospect space’ that signifies the entrance into the crypt proper. After some iteration through playtesting to evaluate pacing, and look for visual seams, I am happy with how this initial level space and feel it serves as an intriguing set-up for the bulk of the level. I look forward to next week when I can advance the development of my level.

Research

As my project develops, research will be crucial to creating an effective and engaging level design. This week I watched a lecture discussing the design of “radically non-linear single player levels’ (Aubrey 2019). Many interesting points were raised, including the idea that non-linearity allows for deeper gameplay as a more open level allows the gameplay systems more room to breathe. This design approach gives the player more room for self-expression through engaging with the various mechanics. The lecturer also went on to discuss the different layout types of non-linear level design including symmetrical layout (low tension center line with a left-right choice), concentric layout (increasing danger as you move towards the center), node layout (a series of interconnected clearings), and field layout (a large area of increasing risk). While my level design is not intended to be “radically non-linear”, I would like to incorporate elements of non-linearity with multiple paths that offer elements of risk vs. reward for the player so this talk was beneficial in ideating that.

References

SERR, Aubrey. 2019. Designing Radically Non-Linear Single Player Levels [GDC talk]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R75g3elj7y4 [accessed 10 February 2022]. 

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

TOTTEN, Christopher W. 2019. An Architectural Approach to Level Design. Boca Raton: CRC Press.