Level Design
Overview
Sister’s Shadow level design has evolved a bit since its conception. The original idea anchored 2 main areas with a central zone. It included some backtracking and had a final area that you unlocked after going between the two zones. In the redesign of the map this structure expanded massively, but kept the original vision. Now it had 4 major zones with areas within them all connected to a very central hub. As development progresses the vision evolves more and more to meet the story and gameplay, there is no telling how big the map will become in the shipped title but even now it’s growing.
Contributed Breakdowns
PHILOSOPHY
To make every environment understandable and fit with the story:
Elaborate map design and flow to reinforce ideas like backtracking
Changing environments that introduce obstacles as the player progresses for freshness
Exploration gameplay so players “feel” like a real detective looking for clues
Hand-placed set pieces with sound effects and particles increase immersion
Reverb zones tuned per area to make spaces feel acoustically distinct and reinforce the audio system
Area-specific particle effects that interact with environment and add atmosphere to each zone
Iteration 1
The original concept took a lot of inspiration from the Resident Evil series’ first title. The idea of traveling to and from on a rundown estate was easily expandable and fun to work with. Standard to this gameplay were some small puzzle elements and the addition of minor backtracking. The vision was there but needed some refinement.
Iteration 2
Starting on iteration 2 with new team members on the team, I was able to take a step back and design the world and map a little better. I took the vision of the first prototype and turned it into a fully traversable map. It featured 4 major zones, minor areas in each zone, and the game flow from this point forward was more or less set. While populating the map didn’t come to fruition, the blockout and texturing were finished.
Before & After
Iteration 1: without the final zone north
Iteration 2: without set dressing and foliage
