I wanted the player to get a feeling of squalor, so in the first picture he sees a dirt ground and homeless people complaining about the unfair hierarchy of the world they live in. The rich live like kings above this canyon. Secondly, I wanted to center the player to the tower in the distance, so I used the two vertical pillars and rocks to frame the far tower as your goal in the distance, using a darker background to make it stand out. It also shows the green, dark sky, and trees above to further indicate the setting as a canyon in some cold part of the world. Lastly, I wanted the player to know they were going into a combat zone, so I used an audio cue to indicate a gang and that they are entering a hostile area. In the final picture before entering the combat zone (the Market), the player is funneled into the bottom staircase and shown the tower in front of him again to reinforce the destination.

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The below pictures show the Market area shootout that I designed. I created a circular area with cover that would allow both the Player and the Enemies to circle each other and always find cover. I sprinkled some pistol ammo and health to help incentivize cover based movement. I also had it so the fire in world comes about from a small explosion on a barricade that the gang had set up to “protect their turf.”I visually scripted the fire barricade activating and deactivating as well as pushing players back, dealing small damage, to gate the combat arena. Once finished, players are treated to a small verbal exchange that extinguishes the fire. I also put a graveyard in the Market place as a morbid reminder that this city is dangerous and those are most likely due to the gang violence that the Player just fought.

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While on the bridge, the Player should once again see the tower up close. I did this so the player could be reminded of their destination and draw them to the right. The bridge itself signals the end of the Market district and the start of the Town Street district. When entering into the town, I made the right side heavier with more objects and take up more of the screen to try to draw Player to the right. On the left side of the street, I give the Player two health drops to heal from their battle. To the right, I try to draw the Player’s eyes with the various clutter, lighting, and the maroon canvasses. Once in the alley, I give the player a ladder to an open area, which is a break from the building patterns up until now. Inside the room , the walls have a more vibrant color to try to draw the player inside. Afterwards, I valve the players by having them drop down on the other side of the fence to follow the alleyway. This was meant to signal to the player they are entering a new area.

Reflections: Looking back I would put lighting in the room and make the ladder a lighter color since the shadows (after building them) make the ladder blend to the background too much.

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When exiting the alleyway into the main Town area, I placed crates, stands, and vases to create a pathway that would lead players to the Restaurant. I created the neon sign in Maya and the material in UE4 to help it stand out as where the player needs to be. To further reinforce that, I put it next to the tower and put lighter colors that helped it to stand out. The Player needs shotgun ammo to beat the enemies inside, for this I kept the doors open and allow the Players the option to not listen to the camera zoom sequence and test out whether they could kill the shotgun enemies (spoilers they can’t). I took inspiration from Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild in allowing the Player to see how outmatched they were. Next I same turquoise color to draw players to the open space of the park, which would later become important. For the alleyway, I used a kid running out to draw the player’s eyes to the munitions sign and graffiti with a half exposed sign to help indicate a right turn at the end of the hallway. I saw this as an opportunity to expand the world and the narrative, so I created a quest to kill a guard, take his wallet, and give it to the munitions guy to get shotgun ammo. This was also why I made the park as noticeable as it was. However, I also added a moment of a kid coming out calling for his dad (spoilers its the dude you just killed) to try to give this an emotional beat, one that Players can stay to listen to or leave and still hear the consequences of their actions.

Reflections: I would consider how to make it more apparent that the target you need to kill is in the park. Such as having a segment where, he maybe enters into the park as you exit the alleyway. I find that that’s perhaps the more technical approach that makes sense in the world. Otherwise, I would have to create a high vantage point in the park where the target would stand on after receiving the quest from the munitions man.

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I gave the Restaurant two entrances, a front and rear as well as windows to allow for a 360 approach to this combat arena. The idea is that the first level, allows the Player to disengage if they choose it. The Restaurant utilizes the walls, chairs, foot stands, and carts as cover. However, I made the shotgun AIs move towards the player in every situation and did not place health or shotgun ammo, so getting more is completely dependent on killing more enemies. The level has sprinkles of cover but mostly open space with room to run through tables or walls. I designed it to encourage running around since I made shotgun combat with the philosophy of kinetic movement, more so than the pistol combat it almost is more of a necessity. I also scripted, the primary target, Chang the guy with the pistol, coming out after all the enemies had been defeated to deliver an emotional beat when he exclaims that the Player killed his family. Once the Player kills Chang, this triggers the final sequence, which I scripted all the way to the tower breaking the gate and the rifle enemies spawning.

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I scripted the tower falling sequence and breaking the gate as well as the rifle enemies spawning. I designed it so that the balcony, the staircase , the left side, and the right side would be blocked by rifle enemies. To do this I decided repositioned the player after a brief moment where I take their movement away, to face the hole, directing them to the path and using the rubble and enemies to reinforce it. I do the same thing for the Town Street section to guide them to the bridge where the final cutscene could play to end the level.

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