Imminent Labs
Level Design | 3D Modeling | Programming
Project Summary
About:
We created an abandoned labratory that the player finds as an urban explorer. Everything is in disarray, and there are still some creatures lurking within. The player must navigate through the complex in order to find the keypad combination required to escape.
Purpose:
Collaboratively create a horror game purely focused on the level design and environmental feel.
By working on this project, we could each learn how to better present settings to players, creating a more immersive game. We decided on our labratory idea in order to keep the overall map composition simple, allowing us to focus more on the complexity of our individual sections.
Preproduction
Our primary puzzle mechanic we wanted to focus on was having a keypad door that would require the player to navigate around the level to learn the code.
My Section of our game included the outside starting point, as well as the central entrance area for the labratory. For my initial paper map I wanted to keep everything simple in shape and layout to focus on clear ideas for everything I wanted to include. This would be doorways to each area that other team members worked on, and some basic set dressing to get the theme across.
After receiving some feedback, I adjusted my paper map to have some more visual interest, and better player navigation. I changed the lobby to be circular, and added a storage room for the player to access in order to see where they would eventually have to navigate to. Since other members already utilized crawling through vents, I used that for access to the storage room for consistency.
Whitebox
At the time while building out my section, I realized that I did not know how to use two sided materials in Unreal Engine and my methods of getting around it were failing, so I had to go back to the simple rectangular design of the building and lobby. This meant I would simply build the walls out of many retangular shapes, rather than using a thickened cylinder with a double-sided material.
Due to this regression of the lobby design, I wanted to make up for it by further developing the outside section. I wanted the lab to feel like it was secret and hidden from the general public, so I wanted the outside area to be forest like, making it feel in the middle of nowhere. I added simple grass and tree FABs to the area for decoration and establishing invisible wall barriers. I then added a local fog volume to not only help create the eerie feeling of the level, but to help obscure level boundaries from the player's perspective.
To help convey the idea that the lab was abandoned due to some catastrophic failure, I used several red lights to use as warnings, like emergency lighting. That was the main purpose of the lighitng in the supply closet, while the lights above the doors doubled as a navigational helper for the player in the dimly lit environment.
I created everything shown in my level sections, with the exception of the grass and trees which were FAB imports from the Unreal store, and the keycode door which was made by another member. The teleporting doors used to move between all player's sections of the level, the collectible items, and their HUD display that would show pieces of the keycode to the player were all programmed by me.
Final
For the final version I decorated both areas a lot more for more convincing evironmental design. I used both FAB imported and default materials included in our template to make the areas look nicer.
For the outside, I imported a fence FAB to both create a sense of security around the building and lockout the player from the originally designed straight forward path to the entrance. The player would now have to navigate through part of the grass to a dropped flashlight, which would lead them to a broken part of the fence to enter. I modeled simple driving blockades to use as invisible wall barriers past the fence, and added modeled delivery trucks to fill up the space and show that the facility truely was abandoned and not just vacated. I created light posts to help illuminate the very dark scene, and made one fallen over specifically to light up the front door after realizing that the player could barely see it at all otherwise. I also added the text signage because we lacked both the time and the skill to convey what the building was beyond a shadow of a doubt to all players, though it also helped as a strong and ominous center piece that stood out in the dark fog.
For the lobby, I modeled actual test tube containers to replace the cylinders. I wanted them to feel like they once displayed expiramental creatures to any officials that might visit the lab. Since I had extra space from making the ceiling so high to make the player feel small, I stacked another tube on top of the others and made one side fallen over with and empty with its fluid. This would signal that something escaped, which would be our monster. I updated the mesh of our collectible to look more like a digital device, and updated the the display for the code combination to match in color and design. I additionally couches for the lobby corners, tv monitors and a chair for the reception desk, and drawers for the supply closet. I used other members created assets for the vent covers, shelves, and updated lighting.
Additionally, the opening cutsene of the camera panning in was created by me.
Reflection
I think this experience was very beneficial even beyond its original goal. This was my first ever collaborative project in Unreal, and it taught me a lot about the necessary communication required to create a cohesive level that utilizes everyone's shared ideas. We made lots of mistakes as we learned the process of managing a shared design space, but we learned and adapted to push forward anyway. I definitely could have put more work in to polish my section a bit better, but with many time constraints between other projects, I would still say I'm proud of the work I've created.