overview
As the degree’s final project a partner and I developed a videogame called Return Of The Titans. Firstly, we studied ancient Greece’s culture and mythology since this is the period and location where the game takes place.
I did the level design following the research results. I focused on creating this demo so that the player can get a small taste of what the full game feels like. I designed the level so the player can understand and test the mechanics and how the gameplay and the story relate. I was always keeping in mind the visual style, to provide a unique gaming experience.
I programmed all the game in blueprints.
Level design
For the level design, I created a series of maps in which I visualize to the detail the different terrain elevations, the layout of the most relevant buildings, the main quest’s route and the location of enemies and collectibles.
Then, I went through those maps several times to see which parts of the level didn’t fit and their possible solutions. Since the demo is the post-tutorial level, there weren’t a lot of mechanics so the level design had to be very minotious.
terrain / blocking
For the creation of a realistic terrain I used the World Machine program. We defined the different heights in layers that could then be merged. The resulting layers were the following: low zones, middle zones (higher soils), mountains, terraces, and islands. The node I used to “draw” the space of the occupied layer was the Layout Generator, discovering polygons and adjusting their properties.
The first thing I did in Unreal was import the terrain made in World Machine and adjust the terrain with the sculpt brushes and fixed the retopology. Small modifications were also made, such as eliminating city streets or adjusting the direction of the rivers and the direction of some streets or roads. Throughout this process, with each change in the field I was checking its playability.
Then I continued with the blocking of the level. When blocking, in addition to setting the placeholders of the houses, I also placed the enemies and collectibles.
environment
The environment of Return of the titans is very diverse, since it’s an open world. It’s made by several area: the village, the city, the forest, the temple and the palace. I use different assets to dress the map using the Unreal’s tool foliage. Every path along the map has something different, the composition guides the player using a certain level of asymmetry.
Firstly, we define the style of the different areas, to properly distribute the tasks and mantain the visual style even though we were two different people working at it. After finishing the layout of the main roads and the points of interest, we chose a lighting that complemented the planned design.
Cinematics
soundtrack
contact
Noemí Seoane
I’m a video game designer specialized in level design. Now I’m studying the Master of Game Design at the U-Tad, preparing myself as much as possible to specialize in what is really what I want to dedicate myself to professionally.
noemi@noemiseoane.com
+34 644 28 34 10