Drowning Campus
Dying Light
Project Overview
"Drowning Campus" is a single-player mod for Dying Light in which the player, Kyle Crane, is tasked with traversing an abandoned campus to release clean water. The level is designed to recreate Dying Light's rooftop exploration and free running, by having the player go through visually unique buildings.
Engine: Dying Light - Dev Tools
Platform: PC
Development Time: 10 Weeks (120+ hours)
Playtime: 7 - 10 minutes
Design Goals
Design Goal 1 - Parkour
I aimed to recreate the rooftop traversal of Dying Light, while also making the level accessible. I did this by spacing platforms out in such a way that force the player to jump, while also giving the platform enough room in case the player overshoots the jump.
The platform above forces the player to jump while the cardboard boxes below makes traversal easier.
Surface is big enough for the player to move around, while the buildings are far enough apart that the player has to jump to progress.
Barrels are spaced far enough apart that the player would be forced to jump but also allow for leeway so that it's not unforgiving.
The platform above forces the player to jump while the cardboard boxes below makes traversal easier.
Balconies were placed for long drops to act as safety nets in case player's miss a jump. This was done to create the feeling of traversing rooftops while also giving the player leeway in case they miss the jump.
Climable objects like pipes, act as a way for the player to get up to higher areas while also being easy to use for players of all skill levels. This was added to create a different style of navigation compared to the building traversal seen throughout the level.
Design Goal 2 - Conveyance
Given that the base game is an open world adventure, an early goal was to implement conveyance so that it wouldn't distract from the level while also getting the player's attention.
The first form of conveyance was the use of tape, located on higher terrain. This was done because it stood out while also making sense for the level. In addition to informing the player of areas they needed to climb upwards in order to progress.
Tape hangs over multiple ledges hinting at the player to go upwards and that the ledge is climable.
Tape leads the in the direction of the player's goal along with showing an alternative route for the player to use.
Tape Hints at the player's next step, while the light above hints at the player's ultimate goal.
Tape hangs over multiple ledges hinting at the player to go upwards and that the ledge is climable.
The second form of conveyance was the use of lights. The player won't always be looking at the primary objective so having lights that stand out grabs the player's attention as a hint towards the primary goal.
Green light stands out from the rest, thus grabbing the player's attention.
Orange light is visible from the bottom floor, combined with the tape hanging down tells the player the ledge is climable.
Similar to the hotel, the flickering light helps objects of importance stand out.
Green light stands out from the rest, thus grabbing the player's attention.
The final form of conveyance was the use of pipes in the Water facility. These act as leading lines to point the player towards the main path. Them being blue and yellow contrasting with the grey wall further draws the player due to the contrasting colors.
The pipe being blue stands out from the environment catching the player's attention.
Combining the pipes with lights and tape, allow the player's eyes to be drawn upwards to see their next goal.
Once the player gets the key, they can use the pipes as a safer route that also guides them to their next goal.
The pipe being blue stands out from the environment catching the player's attention.
Design Goal 3 - Unique Locations
A goal from the beginning was to have multiple unique locations so that the player felt like they were covering a lot of ground in addition to making areas visually stand out. For this I'll be using the Hotel area as an example
For Whitebox I focused my design around getting the basic elements implemented being: enemies, placeholder geometry, the key and the locked door. Lights over the door and key served as conveyance, and the book shelves served as cover for the player.
Initial Gameplay focused heavily on adding decorations and visuals to sell the environment. I went with old style hotel to set it apart from the other interior spaces in the level along with low and circular cover to allow more movement options for the player. The aesthetics focuses heavily on furniture to show the area as a functional lobby for the greater hotel.
Gameplay Complete I focused on refining the existing content. Making sure the furniture was spread far enough apart, the carpets acting as leading lines to the exit, and the enemies not getting in the player's way.
The Aesthetics and Launch milestones, I focused on the lighting and shadows. To make the Hotel feel old and abandoned, I used yellow lights that brightened up the level to contrast with the white aesthetics of server room before it. Heavy shadows were used on the lower floor to distinguish it from the bright upper floor.
The other areas include: the Server Room, Industrial Rooftop, Pizzeria Rooftop, and the Water Facility.
Development Process
Designing the map
One of Dying Lights primary gameplay highlights is the building to building parkour, so I set out to recreate that with my initial map layout. The initial idea was to start from a street level, have a sewer escape section, then climb on top of a series tall buildings.
The beginning steps of 1 and 2 were cut so that it created a more streamlined level that was focused entirely around the rooftop and building exploration. In addition every rooftop was raised so that the player wouldn't be able to get to the ground level, along with designing a better sense of verticality for the level.
Early on I ran into a issue with the size and spacing of all of my buildings. This resulted in me readjusting the size as the first major fix in the IG build, then I would add in more objects to give the player non-enemy obstacles to deal with, while also adjusting the platforming to create a more smooth and consistent experience.
The final building was the most iterated area of the level. This was due to the following: over abondance of enemies, platforms resulting in awkward platforming, and an ending that frustrated players. The area was expanded to spread the platforms out more, in addition to splitting the area into two sections so that the player would have to traverse the entire playable space. Which ties into the ending, as the later half of the level had more rooms added so that it would focus more on exploration. This allowed me to create a more memorable ending were the player has to get past a goon and use the balcony to escape the level.
Post Mortem
What Went Well
Adjusting Content Early
After watching playtest I realized the sewer section wasn't adding much to my level aside from a set piece so I decided to cut it. Along with changing the starting point to be the rooftop of the first building, which allowed for a better sightline towards the final goal. These changes proved better for the development process.
Implementing Conveyance
The tape and lighting conveyance was implemented after the initial Whitebox testing and proved to be very effective. The changes made focused on making the tape more natural to the level along with adjusting the placement and contrast of the lights.
What Went Wrong
Overcomplicating the Initial Design.
The original version of this level featured the player exploring an open world and using one of many paths to get to the primary objective. This design was ultimately to ambitious and had to be trimmed down to the design above.
What I Learned
Visualize the map before it is built
It wasn't until the first playtest that I realized a lot of my initial ideas were not going to work. If I had visualized how the level was going to player before I had built it and be more objective about my initial design, I would be able to polish the level earlier.
Design with different skill levels in Mind
In the Whitebox build, many players couldn't focus on the objective because enemies were overwhelming them. I learned to test out enemies in advance before building the level, so I could see how they behave and interact within the game's logic.
Gallery
