Knights of the Future
A Third Person Adventure
Story Summary
The game takes place in a medieval world where a small population of the world has had an unnatural technological leap and banded together and started the corporation known as the KOF (Knights of the Future). You play as a KOF deserter trying to even the playing field by seeking out a mystical power to fight back.
Project Breakdown
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5 weeks half time (4 hours/day)
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Created using Unreal Engine 5
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Focus on set dressing/level art
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Create a vertical slice-like experience.
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Challenge myself creatively by limiting asset use.
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Marketplace assets/plugins used
Interaction with ALS created by Jakub Wos
Epics Infinity Blade asset packs.
Megascans
Flythrough
Interactive
Top Down
Level Art
Design Techniques
Framing & Composition
Since my level had a lot of scenic shots I had to focus a lot on composition and framing throughout my piece. I had to keep things such as leading lines, focal points and visual anchors in mind throughout the whole dressing process. Whenever I could I framed the landmark from different player sightlines.
Negative space & Readability
I wanted to highlight the player path and make it very clear where the player should walk. I did this by using negative space. Since the area is very rundown and takes place in a snowy area, debris and snow worked perfectly in making the surrounding areas more cluttered.
Enhance the level design
I wanted my set dressing to benefit the level design instead of just making it more pretty. I incorporated more leading lines in the environment and also used lights to highlight important objects. I set dressed to make the player FOV narrower and hide stuff from the player and cut down on my own workload.
Storytelling
I spent a lot of time on environmental storytelling. I tried to illustrate through the dressing how the castle got into its current state by using the cannonballs and catapults on the other side of the wall. I placed decals of skid marks after the moving boxes to show that they had previously been moved. I also barricaded the courtyard in a way to make it seem like the people were defending themselves against the zombies.
Funnel before Reveal
By funneling the player into a tighter space it allowed me much greater control over the scenic wow-moments I used this technique at the entrance to the banquet hall for example where I wanted the player to instantly see the throne room at the end of the hall and lure the player there.
Pre Production
When I was thinking about what to do artwise, I decided that I wanted to challenge myself and pretended that I got tasked to dress someone else's level. I thought this could be a fun challenge, and a valuable experience as I won't always set dress my own levels. Once I settled on this concept, I brainstormed other things I wanted to accomplish with this project by compiling a list of objectives.
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Challenge myself creatively by limiting myself to a few asset packs and using one of my older levels I designed with no established theme.
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Improve my space planning and creativity by having my blockout centered around traversing a giant building.
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Create many distinct areas that all fit the common theme of the level.
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Differentiate myself from other ALS projects by having a non conventional theme.
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Try to improve the established level design with my set dressing.
Coming up with the Theme
I decided to theme the entire experience around a rundown castle in a dark souls-esque setting. I thought this was a good way to justify all the turns and jumping puzzles. By setting it in a dark souls-esque world I could also incorporate some hints of wizard aesthetic to get some more freedom in the architecture.
But.. why guns though?
To make the level stand out a bit more and fit the ALS template better I decided to juxtapose the setting by having modern weaponry in my world. I looked specifically to remnants of the ashes as my main inspiration but still stuck to having the game take place in a medieval setting because I wanted to make something a bit more unique.
Space planning
I started by doing some space planning and tried to piece together in my head how this fictional castles layout could look like before assigning a theme to every room and area. I took into account what the player would be doing in the area before assigning a theme. During this process I thought a lot about Served spaces and Servant spaces. I started analyzing what areas would the player linger in and what areas they would just quickly traverse to know which areas i should spend the most energy on. After collecting all that info I started assigning themes to the areas fitting of their purpose.
Main Areas
Ruined Castle Yard - Servant space
Castle Entrance Hall - Served space
Describe your image
Describe your image
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What is the area's purpose in the world? The ruins of a decorative courtyard, the guards of the castle lived in small houses here to keep the castle secure during times of war.
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How does the theme compliment the blockout?
The ruins provide believable cover for the player and sell the idea of this being an area designed for combat.
By having the grappling hook placed next to a dead soldier it provides some world building.
Use the players implicit knowledge that grappling hooks and trees go hand in hand to teach them what the grappling hook points in the game look like.
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What is the area's purpose in the world? This area serves as a side entrance to the left side of the castle. Its connected to a balcony area on the right and the front door leads deeper into the main area of the castle.
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How does the theme compliment the blockout?
The dressing on the front of the staircase hides the fact that the door in the back is blocked by debris until the player is close enough to have already been tricked. By placing this area in front of the training grounds I could destroy the room with cannon fire to provide world building and also use the destruction to create leading lines with the snow and light coming in through the roof.
Ruined Castle Balcony - Servant space
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What is the area's purpose in the world? The area used to be a balcony to look out over the training grounds, the area afterwards are remnants of a room and a corridor leading to a watch tower.
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How does the theme compliment the blockout?
The player can't miss the world building that the castle was destroyed by cannonfire due to the climbing section framing it for a pretty long time.
The climbable extrusions are made more obvious by them being white on a otherwise gray area.
Rafter Corridor- Servant space
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What is the area's purpose in the world? This area takes place above the corridor following the blocked door, the area is severely damaged and the stairway up to the roof has been completely destroyed leaving only debris for you to climb on.
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How does the theme compliment the blockout?
The true path after the bait and switch is greatly enhanced due to the giant statue that acts as a point of interest. The candles on the wall help guide the player during the climbing section. The cannonfire holes provide natural sources of light and provides good contrast
The Wooden Stairwell - Servant space
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What is the area's purpose in the world? This area is connected to the rafter corridors ground floor through a bridge and acts as the beginning of a library.
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How does the theme compliment the blockout?
By destroying the wall behind the staircase on the outside the critical path became much clearer.
The destruction also helped foreshadow other areas if the player is observant.
Banquet Hall Entrance - Servant space
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What is the area's purpose in the world? This area acts as one of the entrances to the banquet hall.
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How does the theme compliment the blockout?
The lighting creates a good contrast to the next room.
Gives an idea how the whole castle would look if it was more intact.
The smaller doorways enhance the funnel to reveal effect.
The Banquet Hall - Served space
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What is the area's purpose in the world? The castle's banquet hall acts as the heart of the castle. It is connected to almost all parts of the castle through its many doors. It is also connected to the throne room.
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How does the theme compliment the blockout?
The throne room acts as a good point of interest to lead the player forward. The elevation and giant pillars work well for the gunfight that takes place later on.The statue carrying the flame helps lead the player around the debris to see the pushable box.
Church Courtyard - Servant space
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What is the area's purpose in the world? The castle's courtyard. It sits in between the church and the castle training grounds. Soldiers who died during training are buried here for convenience sake.
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How does the theme compliment the blockout? The entrance to the training ground has been completely blocked to sell the idea that the soldiers were defending themselves from something coming from the church.
The candles and snow frame the critical path to lead the player into the church.
The Church's Secret - Servant space
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What is the area's purpose in the world? Remnants of some kind of evil ritual place of worship.
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How does the theme compliment the blockout? The red tree acts as good framing when the player descends the first time.
When the player exits the chamber the now destroyed church wall is front and center and acts as the next landmark.
Courtyard Stairwell- Servant space
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What is the area's purpose in the world? This area acts as one of the entrances to the castle courtyard.
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How does the theme compliment the blockout? The giant hole in the wall creates leading lights into the banquet hall. The hole also gives the player a final look at the church before the player reaches it.
The Church - Served space
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What is the area's purpose in the world? The castle church acts not only as a church but also hides a dark secret. It's built upon the ruins of a decaying and evil red tree that holds unfathomable power.
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How does the theme compliment the blockout? The fire braziers help lead the player up to the second floor.
The stained glass helps lead the player to the top floor.
The giant cracks in the floor hints to the player that they need to break it.
Castle Training Grounds - Servant space
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What is the area's purpose in the world? The ground floor of the area is a place for soldiers to train against each other. The area also houses the majority of the castle's catapults.
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How does the theme compliment the blockout? The catapult towers explain where all the cannonballs came from. The helicopter showing up also got foreshadowed at the beginning of the level and the player can now hopefully piece together that the reason the castle got damages from its own weapons is because they tried to hit the helicopter.
Level Design
Design Techniques
Landmark
The church is quickly introduced as the goal for the player via an establishing shot and serves as the main landmark throughout the level. My goal was to keep the church visible throughout most parts of the map to help build the player's mental map and to build a sense of suspense and progression.
Leading the player
Since my experience is purely linear I wanted a subtle yet effective way of showing the player where to go. I decided to use fire as a universal shape language to signpost to the player where to go and what to interact with. I thought the warm colors would both fit the mood of the level and provide a nice contrast against the cold environment. I placed candles around corners to lead the player and made all the grappling hook points be placed under a ceiling mounted brazier to make them stick out in darker areas
Level Loop
To hide the fact that the level's main exit is in the banquet hall I used several tricks such as placing the other path on a seemingly unreachable elevation above the player, and also funneling the player into a corridor of debris that deliberately hides the left side of the map. This in combination with a big open hole that shows the church on the right misdirects the player into thinking that the church is the end goal and this is just another one off room.
In medias res
I wanted my level to start in medias res and take place right after a gun fight to quickly establish the world and enemies and to justify having a slower platforming section in an otherwise very action filled genre. I thought this could provide a good opportunity to focus on visual storytelling and level art at the start of the level.
Snack kill
During the first encounter with an enemy encounter I give the player a positional advantage as to not overwhelm the player. During the first encounter with a zombie the player will encounter it with its back turned towards the player giving the player enough time to react and give the player a free kill.
Pre Production
After setting up and trying out the features of ALS to know what I had to work with, I started brainstorming things I wanted to accomplish with this project and compiled a list.
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Establish an end goal at the start and continuously build up to the end, just to then subvert the experience by having the level continue after you have reached the end.
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Make a chase sequence that ends with a gun fight.
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Have the player return to a previous area and use the space in a completely different way.
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Provide the player plenty of opportunities to take in the environment while still having fun traversing.
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Create at least one memorable set piece in pure Uncharted aura.
Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu
I decided to follow the principles of the four act structure when I designed my level.
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1. Introduction (ki) I introduce the player to the grappling hook, torch and the climbing in a safe environment during the start of the level.
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2. Development (sho) The platforming evolves and incorporates things such as pushable boxes, dark areas and the need to leap and drop down levels to progress. I also introduce the shooting by giving the player a snack kill after the cutscene before the chase sequence begins.
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3. Twist (ten) The chase sequence begins, the player now has to use all their platforming skills to escape the zombie horde and helicopter and have a final shoot out with the KOF.
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4. Conclusion (ketsu) After the shoot out the player can breath and climb up to the second level at their leisure
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When it came to the gameplay and level flow, the final chapters of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was my main inspiration. Since I wanted to mainly focus on my environment I decided the cooldown periods in the Uncharted series would be a good middle ground between scenic vistas, platforming and combat.
Before and After
Full Playthrough
Reflections
This was a very rewarding and fun project and I am quite pleased with how it turned out. It was a fun but very challenging experience to essentially design the gameplay and the visuals in a vacuum and then combine them and try to make sense of everything. I feel like it truly tested my creativity and problem solving and that was my goal with this project. However there is a lot of stuff I would have liked to finetune and polish if I had more time.
Think more outside and around the blockout: I feel like I started off following the blockout way too much in regards to the architecture. Later in the project I realized I could have a lot more freedom in regards to the areas the player never reaches. I would have liked to redesign the ceilings in the earlier areas for example to better sell the theme of each area, right now they are mostly following the blockout and look very flat.
Less wide angle shots: I now understand why the dark souls series often funnel the player into tight corridors and rooms, by giving the player a wide field of view i hindered myself in not being able to hide stuff from the player as easily. This made me have to put a whole lot of effort into the outside of the given area as well as the inside. It also made me spend unnecessary time dressing areas the player will never reach, had I instead chosen to do a more condensed and tight experience I could have spent way more time on the finer details which I find to be more fun.
Cut down the length: By cutting down the length of the level I could have spent way more time on each individual area. It also would have made it much easier to present it in a clean and condensed way.
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Thank you for reading!