The initial start to the creation of this level was to do a ton of research into the genre I was going to make. I used Photoshop and PureRef to draw and compile a list of all my research to the point that I can draw the initial pass of how I would like the layout of the level to be like.

I chose Ratchet & Clank due to its distinct level design and atmosphere of the game. Some design elements from my research I found was that every level in the game feels linear however there are two or more ways to get to your eventual objective, and once that objective is complete the game allows you to continue exploring the level if you missed things but otherwise you can take a teleport/taxi to get back to your ship. The level also had to be designed in a way so that players did not feel punished or their time wasted so each path has some merit for choosing. Also in the game they tend to have secret collectibles that are out of the way to get whether its through a platforming challenge or heavily guarded.

The aesthetic of level was next to be established a lot of the references I found I wanted the tone of the level to be mysterious and alien like since you’re approaching this new world. The colors of the level were going to be the biggest eye grabber of the level. So I chose a traditional purple and green since they complimented each other well to balance out the cooler tones of the level I’ll have pockets of warm colors with the yellow in the level. I saw that as fire that would balance the green and purple of the nature which further pushed me to make a swamp the location of the level.

Drawing a layout of all that I wanted was the next step the initial first pass of the layout was good enough to give a sense of scale of how big the level should be, but during the whiteboxing phase a glaring issue popped up of the verticality the level is that the level was entirely too flat. The factory also had to be re-imagined during the whitebox phase to sell the concept of the level more. The second pass of the layout was to reflect the new design of the level and even expanded on the size of the level while making more compact.

Blueprint was the next phase of the level design process. For this level the main BPs I wanted to create were involved in the main feature of the level a giant poison lake. The poison lake will continuously damage the player if they’re inside it. The other BP revolved with the poison lake is a boat that traverses it so I made a boat that travel over the lake with target points. Another BP I made to help with conveyance and guiding the player are lights that flicker to gain the attention of players.

Whiteboxing was the next phase in the level design process. To get a sense of scale I started off by importing the UE4 mannequin into Maya to establish a sense of scale. During the whitebox phase I really wanted to play with the initial mood of the level and its more important mechanics. With blueprinting the poison swamp and creating the fog and lighting was first, then messing with the post processing to bring out a lot of the overall cooler tones and establish a sense of depth as you look across the level. Through initial playtesting the level lacked many verticality but the size of it felt perfect so those all got address during set dressing.

Since the level is a very large size set dressing was a hefty task to do. As making the level feel like its an actual living world with its own narrative is the main task at hand. Also conveying the player to naturally go to into locations so they never feel lost at where to go or what to do.

In the level lights were heavily used to convey the path. Torches, Blue/Green mushrooms were used to indicate the golden path a player should take. Pink mushrooms were used to indicate a secret is near. The color green was used to indicate things the player can interact with. Purple and Red were things that can harm you so the red enemies, the red fire, and the purple lake all can harm you.

A major part of the level being enjoyable is optimizing it. The level was optimized to be able to play at 60 FPS throughout the entire level. My first priority was the Treehouse Town as it has so many lights and moving enemies and projectiles. I messed around with the lighting channels and types of lights to lower the complexity until it was at a point that the level is mainly blue and green with very minor instances of yellow.

Any meshes and materials that had a harsh lightmap had to be replaced with more efficient assets that were either a cheaper looking material or something entirely new. Doing this did not sacrifice the look of the level in any way as keeping the aesthetic was the top priority.

Making this level was very enjoyable experience as it was a level that I really wanted to break out of my comfort zone.

Large Expansive Level - Making a level with so many mechanics and a need to be set dressed allowed to get a better understanding of scope. As originally I wanted to make more mechanics for the level but it would cut my time for set dressing and playtesting.

Night Time Level - Creating a level that takes place at night and is stylized means that I had to really look into how to light my level while ensuring that I don’t make a level that’s too expensive to run, keeps with the theming of the level, and actual serves a purpose whether its narrative story telling or mechanics based.

Modularity and Asset Packs - I got to learned how to make more creative structures while being limited with a modular asset pack. The Treehouse Town and the Factory are both made with a modular pack, but came out unique in structure and design.

Blueprints - Having to create my own mechanics was a lot of fun. Creating a boat that can traverse a lake, poison damage, playing with cinematics, flickering lights, flying cars in the sky, using widgets, making objectives that require collecting things, making optimizable BPs, and more. All of these were valuable lessons that I can use to incorporate in any level.

Overall - This is my favorite level that I’ve made so far as there were so many pieces to put it all together from the beginning to end. Doing research and establishing scope, and then pivoting to an obtainable goal when something doesn’t work out as envision.

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