Orbital Blast
Level blockout
third person arena shooter
set on an orbital space station
Overview
Project Details
This project was created as an exercise in designing maps for shooter multiplayer games. Main goal was to create a compact map with good flow that would be fun to play on multiple rematches.
Project Description
A third person arena shooter with 4+ player action (others are AI combatants at the moment). Set on a derelict space station, orbiting a strange extraterrestrial planet, players are battling against time and themselves to win before the engines of this sci-fi compound implode and launch everyone into the vacuum!
Level Goals
- create a medium sized classic arena shooter map
- multiple game modes compatible: deathmatch, CTF etc.
Inspirations
- Unreal Tournament, Quake III arena, Halo multiplayer
Themes
- science fiction
- orbital space station, arena battle
Tech
- Unreal Engine 5
Game Design
NPCs - Enemies
- other players
- AI bots - same character as the PC
Environment Mechanics
- jump pad
- dash pad
- end timer
Items
- health pickups
- weapon pickups and ammo
- weapon types
- pistol
- automatic rifle
- shotgun
Playmodes
- deathmatch
- team deathmatch
- capture the flag
- duel (1on1)
concept art by Blake Rottinger
Design Process
Level research
The research process for this level was very different from other personal projects since it was for a multiplayer map. I did not want to rely so much on preproduction and brainstorming, rather I hopped into 3D blockout as soon as I had the basic concepts and ideas laid out.
Level Design Document
The sum of research and brainstorming can be found in the document in the link for download below.
Mood & Atmosphere
derelict, gritty, sci-fi, industrial hallways, mixed up with once living quarters of a giant circular space station
Scale & Architectural Style
- orbital space station is circular in shape, consisting of hallways and multistory connection areas
- encompasses only a part of the full space station
- gritty industrial with parts being almost high futuristic with paneling and holograms
Major Areas / Rooms
- exploding core room
- central processing room
- elevator hall
- cryo chambers
- piloting room
Layouts
Diagrams & Sketches
The 2D drawing phase for this level was quite short in order to get to the 3D blockout as soon as possible: simply because I could not get the feel of the space on paper and needed to design in 3D as soon as possible. Nevertheless, this map saw its fair share of layout iteration before getting to the final design.
Initial diagram
- whole level project started as a sketch from an old notebook
- the idea for it started as a premise for a multiplayer shooter map, set in space on an exploding space station, and the players had to race against the time to win
- various sketched ideas were initially considered for the final layout
- all of the variations always consisted of a core in a middle (not necessarily the middle of the map!) and the circular hallways encompassing it
- with various connections and vertical solutions throughout the design phase
Blockout
Designing the Blockout
Moving from layout variations, the blockout also had its start with different layouts being considered. The final design was then a product of thorough testing in game engine, to see the blockout and space in 3D, to get its flow and achieve optimal player immersion and movement flow.
Major Level Areas
The final blockout consists of the main central Core Engine Chamber. Two smaller control rooms which give way to the outer planetary galleries. Galleries are connected via a system of vertical Halls that open to several floors and act as a stop and a breather from the fast paced directional movement of the elongated galleries.
Level Features
In this project I used Unreal engines Lyra Game Sample, which came with its premade game modes, game mechanics and elements for a shooter style game.
Full Playthrough
Testing
Playtesting the Level
The final step in level creation was playtesting. I gathered a wide variety of people to play the game, with various experiences in playing video games. This was done to collect as much feedback and level bugs as possible.
