Battle of Dunwalsh
Fallout 4
Project Overview
"Battle of Dunwalsh" is a single-player mod for Fallout 4 in which the player, the Sole Survivor, is asked to help the town of Dunwalsh take down a group of raiders. The quest was designed to showcase Fallout's combat mechanics while prioritizing stealth and long-range builds.
Engine: Fallout 4 - Creation kit
Platform: PC
Development Time: 7 - 8 Weeks (150+ hours)
Playtime: 8 - 12 minutes
Design Goals
Design Goal 1 - Long Range Combat
To take advantage of the exterior environment, I decided it would be best to design around long range combat as I knew that the outdoor area would allow for long sightlines and unique enemy placement making it good for long range builds.
The first area, "the Battlefield", is designed to introduce the player to the long-range combat. It's a cover shooter inspired area with medium and tall covers spaced around to allow the player to start playing their way. Though as the level progresses the sightlines become longer and the cover is more spaced out, enforcing the long-range playstyle.
The layout of the cover gives the player multiple options. The blue cover gives the player immediate cover, the barrels give the player a tall cover for better protection, and the player can see the upper terrain clearly.
The layout of the cover gives the player multiple options. The blue cover gives the player immediate cover, the barrels give the player a tall cover for better protection, and the player can see the upper terrain clearly.
The second area, "Rooftops" also adds new challenges. While the player can start stationary, the walls blocking their sightlines and the more spaced out enemies force the player to move from building to building in order to take out the enemies. To allow for the longer range and stealth routes, a 2nd floor was added to the first 3 buildings to give the player's more choices.
The area begins with long sightlines so the player can see enemies from further away, but still have to deal with walls forcing the player to move forward to take down other enemies.
Rooftop provides tall cover to incentive ranged combat, meanwhile the building across uses medium cover to allow or mid-range.
Each building is connected by narrow paths making progression easy, but also potentially makes the player vulnerable. Reinforcing the ranged combat.
The area begins with long sightlines so the player can see enemies from further away, but still have to deal with walls forcing the player to move forward to take down other enemies.
The "Outpost" was designed to test what the player has learned. The area has 3 entrances; the main entrance in which the player must fight enemies head one, a ground path to the left that has more cover allowing the player to sneak, and the final upper path which is designed for sniper builds to take out enemies from afar though has the least amount of cover.
By entering the right side of the outpost, the player can get to a highpoint. While ideal for long distance combat, does leave the player vulnerable. Which encourages them to move to the medium cover in front of them.
Taking the left entrance allows the player to use the lower path. While not ideal for long range, it does provide the most cover to the player.
The area has sniper huts which enemies use, but the player can also use them by climbing up the towers. Thus reinforcing the ranged combat.
By entering the right side of the outpost, the player can get to a highpoint. While ideal for long distance combat, does leave the player vulnerable. Which encourages them to move to the medium cover in front of them.
Each area is designed to provide the player with unique challenges and oppurtunites to make for unique combat. By doing this it forces players to adapt and creating more interesting combat scenarios.
Design Goal 2 - Exterior Environment
In order to make the level feel big while having a linear route I decided to base my level off a war town city in order to allow for open areas while still blocking off certain areas.
The Red sun shade uses contrasting colors to stand out and the wires above create leading lines guiding the player towards their next goal.
- Sniper Route
The Red sun shade uses contrasting colors to stand out and the wires above create leading lines guiding the player towards their next goal.
I found that framing the entrance to the next area and using leading lines were the most effective ways of conveying the intended route. Along with showing this at the start, The Battlefield, also served to teach the player about the level layout.
Building walls break up the sightlines forcing players to move in order to fight. While the walkways create guiding lines and provide cover for the player to fight on.
For the "Rooftops", the walkways served as useful tools for progression and leading the player from one building to the next.
Multiple entrances allow for multiple options. Flaming barrels help each entrance stand out.
- Sniper Route
Multiple entrances allow for multiple options. Flaming barrels help each entrance stand out.
For the "Outpost", has multiple entrances so it was good to have each framed in different ways to hint towards the intended playstyle.
Development Process
Designing the map
I knew from the beginning that I was going to have 3 major combat scenarios: the Battlefield, Rooftops, and then the final outpost. Wanting to do something different from "Trouble at Hardlock", I decided to have the level take place in a war torn city which allowed for easy adjustments later on.
The player starts close to their final objective, though because it is blocked off they have to take the longer route in order to get there. This provided justification for the player to take the intended route, while also providing a shortcut once the player has completed the final objective.
While the main flow remained unchanged, a lot of minor changes were made to create more engaging combat scenarios. The Battlefield entrance is now a hallway so that the player would be funneled into a larger area. Early builds had Ghouls in cages which you could set free and attack other enemies, though I found it added little to the overall gameplay and cut it out. The final change was to the Rooftops which now had more verticality for some of the buildings so the player had more long range opportunities.
A major adjustment was sightlines being to open for the player to exploit. While the level designed around long range combat, the long sightlines allowed the player to take out more enemies from the entrance of an areas. Adding in tall cover forced the player to move during long combat scenarios and added more cover options in the level.
Post Mortem
What Went Well
Balancing the environment
From the beginning I made very little adjustments to the cover as there were enough far off sightlines that allowed for long ranged combat, but also plenty of medium to tall cover for enemies to weave through and still allow for multiple playstyles.
Balancing the enemies
The level has a healthy mix of short, medium, and long range enemies. This made for a scenario that allows the player to keep their distance but prevents them from camping.
What Went Wrong
Letting playtesters adjust my design
I got numerous playtest that suggested I placed weapons to accommodate for their own playstyle, rather then committing to the one I designed for from the beginning. For future playtest I'm going to evaluate what my design goals are.
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What I Learned
Creating an unfamiliar scenario
I'm not typically a ranged player, so the initial documentation was daunting as I had to design around a playstyle I didn't really know. After doing research and getting advice from my piers I was able to come up a well design structure and it paid off.
Gallery
