Spider’s Web Prototype
Third Person Action Adventure
Playable in Singleplayer
Created as practice
Developed over 1 Week
Unreal Engine 5.5
3 Person Team (Luis Brito - Design, Viktor Krauss - Composing, Gavin Hendershot - Sound Design)
5 minute runtime
Pre-Production
Started by listing out what elements I had, the traits I could play into, and the questions I had to answer with them.
I used the elements, traits, and answers to build out events that are compelling, starting with the final moment.
I then worked my way backwards, creating the mission that the player would take on in this level by sketching out the events that’d build ontop of each other.
I then did a very basic map just to have a jumping off point once I hopped into Unreal.
Before I hopped in Unreal, because I was the only person making this mission happen. I had to make sure that I validated the gameplay each event required. I had to take these scripted moments and break them down into interacting systems.
Goals:
Emulate the chase sequences from Uncharted
Create a visually impressive level using my own developed style
Make something that’d usually take a whole team, solo
> Personal Study
Spider’s Web is a simple, third person action adventure level created to practice level design in a T-Shaped manner.
Inspiring Mission Beats that stand on their own as interesting and worth making into gameplay
Robust Level Design that evokes the spaces that I’m putting the player in
Substantial Scripting that shows I can create complex experiences from disparate systems
Intentional Cameras that show I’m considering where the player is looking and the info conveyed
The level is built as a 3 - 5 minute Mission for an imaginary game production that might have a contemporary or sci-fi setting
Gameplay Beat Breakdown
Exploration
Combat
Wake up in your safehouse and explore the surroundings
Discover a way out of the District and follow it, notice your shadow
Escape the quad with your friend, begin being chased by the spider
Weave through the stranded cars as you sidestep the spider’s lasers
Take cover in the nearby garden terrace
Steer clear of the spiders gaze as you stealth through the arts area
Race to the Sewer before the Spider catches up with you
Explore the Sewers and discover the Spider’s weakness
Expose the spider to sewer water and take the moment to slip by
Deftly bait the enraged spider into lasering the water tower and dying
Inspired by the Truck Chase Sequence in Uncharted 4
When laying out the space, the focus was on creating clear sections with their own identity that blend into each other
Roughly 100 x 100 Meter Space
Using the principle of “Big, Medium, Small” to fill in the space with detail
Two levels to design on top of each other - the spider’s path and the player’s
Focus on creating a District-type space with a bunch of unique locations
Very plain traversal spiced up by the Chase Sequence
Scripting a chase scene involved a lot of creating general behaviors that can be easily tweaked and covering edge cases
Spline based Spider proxy with velocity based movement that can lead, follow, and keep in line with the player
Spider Body Controller with Procedurally animating Legs
Laser emitters that are attached to the Spider body that pressure the player
Network of Triggers that are activated by both Player and Spider progress
Sequencer events that trigger to give life to moments in the level
Camera work that highlights what the player should be focused on in the moment while creating that AAA feel
Custom made Camera Rig
Modular behaviors that are built as part of a “Camera Stack”
Scripted Camera moves that focus on the Spider, the player destination, and drawing lines of action between them
Branching Camera behaviors if players “miss their mark”
Additional Work that really stretched what a Level Designer does in service of creating a fully featured experience
Modeled and Rigged Spider Skeletal Mesh
Basic Audio System programming to create dynamic soundscape during chase
Coordinating with Composer and Sound Designer to juice the experience
Basic VFX work
