Third-Person Adventure Project
We worked on the Adventure project for two months. We started individually with different levels in different projects. We each created a block mesh for the level we wanted to make. Then we were assigned teams and were instructed to combine each other’s levels into one fluid, good-looking game. Now that the month is over, we have a completed game that looks how we want it to.
Blockmesh Phase
What Went Right
[ Blockmesh 1 ] – The initial process started fine. I spent a lot of time detailing my level during block mesh because I wanted the playtester to have an excellent idea of what they were looking at. I had a lot of fun doing block mesh because it was something I had never done before and something I was excited about. The details ended up looking great and I got compliments from my peers which made me feel good. I want to be a level designer in the industry so doing this and having it turn out exactly how I wanted made me feel very happy.
[ Reworking Level Start ] – The new version of my level start looked much better than the original version I had when finishing LVD1. I wanted my level start to be bigger because I felt like there was hardly any content between my level start and my focal point. I spent about 6 hours remaking the whole section in block mesh the night before it was due. Even though I was running out of time I didn’t feel rushed at all. I felt very in control of everything and just cranked out my brand-new level start and was very proud of it compared to its last rendition.
[ My Waterfall ] – My favorite piece of my entire level. The waterfall was always part of the original plan with my level; however, I could never figure out how to do it the way I wanted to. At first, I had it come off a cliff to the right of the player and just have a little pool where the water was falling (similar to the one in Adventure Campsite). Then I changed it to have a river flowing to the left of the player starting at the end of the waterfall. Now in its final rendition, it has a small river between the waterfall on the right that connects to another waterfall that the player can’t see the end of on the left.
[ Tree Falling Sequence ] – Best part of my new level start section. It took me a while to get this working how I wanted it to. I had maybe 6 or 7 different renditions of this sequencer until I finally got it looking good. This is probably something that I’m most proud of in my entire level. I’m glad it came out the way it did for the final product.
[ End/Exit Transition ] – This tied in great with my teammate Cal Burnham’s level start. My level ended with an abandoned village by the cliffside. Cal’s level started with an abandoned village leading up to an abandoned castle on the cliffside. We were able to tie it all in very well by using the same assets on our village houses. It turned out great and we were very excited about it.
Asset Phase
What Went Wrong
[ Original Level Start ] – It was just plain terrible. I made it incredibly smaller than the newer level start because I counted the grids wrong. I over-cramped the jungle, so the player camera kept clipping through trees. Overall was an annoying and terrible start to a level. I went too hard on the detailing, and it ended up killing me in the long run.
[ Cave-In Sequence ] – Originally I liked the small cave-in sequence I had made up during the blockmesh phase. When it came to importing assets into the level things started smoothly. After a couple of tweaks to the sequencer with assets I had imported, it just looked wrong. I tried for a couple of days to get it working the way I wanted to, but I ended up giving up because I didn’t want to run out of time to work on the project. I ended up scrapping the sequence entirely.
[ Personal Agenda ] – The team had conflicting personal schedules. We could’ve managed time better, but our personal schedules came into conflict. Between work and school, some people didn’t have enough time to get their work done on time. Unfortunately, this is something that happened and we must deal with the consequences. Luckily, we weren’t too late, and we are still proud of our game.
[ End of Month Laziness ] – I got a little lazy. I’m going to be completely honest here and say that I did get a little lazy with finishing my level. I could’ve used my time properly and made the level look better. I am working on getting better at that.
[ Making the Moodboard ] – The mood board was confusing. I couldn’t figure out exactly what I wanted, and I wanted it to be a unique level. Since I had a restriction, it made me nervous, and I couldn’t keep a solid idea for a long time. It took a few days for me to even decide what I was going to move along with. I feel like I did well with my finalized level compared to my mood board, but I don’t know if anyone else would feel that way if they saw it.
Overall Conclusion
Overall, the whole process was very fun. I ended up learning a lot about level design and I’m very happy that I did. Taking what I learned from this project, I now have a bit of experience with creating my own game from scratch. I now have something that I am proud of and am excited to do it again. This was a great opportunity and I can’t wait for my next big project!