Alleria's Legacy
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Solo Project
Unreal Engine 5.4
Blueprints
Game Designer
Created in 1 year, 6 months
Alleria's Legacy is the game I created as my thesis project to receive my MFA in Game Design at Academy of Art University. Halfway through my program, I had to create and come up with a game concept that I would present to the department directors at the university to approve the thesis project I was going to work on. Over the course of the semester I came up with a plan to design a 3D third-person open world RPG game featuring the main player character having a bow and arrow. Once I was approved for the project in the spring of 2024, I was able to begin working on it. I continued to work on the project until I graduated in December of 2025 for over a year, receiving feedback and assistance from professors at the University as I developed the game. I presented my finished project to the panel of directors who were very impressed by the work I had created. Below you will learn how I designed, created, and scripted the game over the course of a year and a half, going into details of the systems I created to bring the game to life.
Game Design
Game Design
Game Overview
Alleria's Legacy is a 3D third-person, fantasy themed, open-world RPG game featuring ranged bow and arrow style combat. The game is heavily inspired by games like Horizon: Forbidden West and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. I created the game to follow a main sequence of story quests with objectives, cutscenes, exploration, and combat throughout the game's design. I wanted the world to feel open and vast like most players feel when they play open world games, so I designed the outdoor world to give this feeling of being large and giving the freedom for the player to explore anywhere they wanted.
Elevator Pitch
In a conflicted world filled with strife, war, and dark secrets you play as Alleria, a skilled huntress who has her life uprooted when her home is invaded and her father is killed. In this third-person, open-world role-playing game, explore a vast fantasy landscape, use her skills with a bow and arrow, and uncover the mysteries behind her father's death and a kingdom on the brink of civil war.
Gameplay Pillars
The following are the major gameplay pillars I created for the game. Scroll down to their respective sections to learn more about each one.
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Level Design (Exploration)
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Story Narrative and Cinematic Cutscenes
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Quest System
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Combat System
Level Design
Level Design Overview
When it came to level design for this project I wanted the world to feel large so I worked on capturing a vista view early on in the game when the player comes up on a hill and can see the rest of the valley below. I also tried to incorporate little "pockets" of areas that would only be accessible if the player was on the correct main quest, similar to other open-world games. Only once the player was on the correct quest could they unlock the area that was relevant for the story to progress. Lastly, I blocked out all locations in the game using Unreal's brushes and static mesh objects, and used my skills to make all architecture have a fantasy theme that you might find in the medieval era.
Upper Forest
The upper forest is the area I refer to as the first major zone of the game that includes the starting location of Stonebrook Garrison, a small syndicate camp, and a cave. Early on in development I made sure this area was on a more raised plateau so the player would eventually be funneled to the edge and be able to see a nice vista view of the rest of the game in the valley below, so I could capture that open-world feel.
Upper Forest Development
Stonebrook Garrison
The first major area in the game where the player begins is a questing hub I called, Stonebrook Garrison. The main player character, Alleria, flees to the garrison after her father is killed in her hometown of Stormyr. This place serves as the first major questing hub where the player can talk to NPC's and complete main and side quests, buy things from vendors, and explore.
Stonebrook Garrison Development
Small Syndicate Camp
The syndicate are a group of rebel soldiers that serve as a major antagonist force in the games story, which I go into more detail in the story section. The player will need to go to this camp early on in the game to free the prince of the kingdom who's been captured.
Small Syndicate Camp Development
Syndicate Cave
After the prince is free, he will have you go to a nearby cave that has an item the player will need to collect. The cave is guarded by more syndicate soldiers and can only be unlocked with a key that you get from the previous quest, so this area will remain locked until the player is on the correct quest.
Syndicate Cave Development
Lower Forest
The lower forest is the area in the valley which houses the majority of the level. I created a village, a temple with a 3-step puzzle, a larger syndicate camp, and the end portion of the level with the final city gates. This area went through the most changes in development. As the level got larger I decided to continue adding areas to this section of the map, so I ended up not doing the other levels originally proposed in my midpoint, and just keep adding to and improving this level.
Lower Forest Development
Faerside Village
I had planned for a village inspired by White Orchard from the Witcher 3 way back in my midpoint. I decided to use this area as the next major questing hub for this lower section of the valley, similar to Stonebrook Garrison. The player can talk to NPC's, complete main and side quests, and explore and discover loot.
Faerside Village Development
Puzzle Sanctuary (Temple of Senos)
This area of the game is called Temple of Senos in the story but I often referred to it as a puzzle sanctuary because it houses a 3-step puzzle required to beat the game. I thought adding a puzzle section to the game would really mix up the gameplay loop because up until this point it was a little repetitive with talking to npc's, using the bow to kill enemies, and walking around and discovering loot.
Puzzle Sanctuary Development
Large Syndicate Camp
This area went through many changes throughout development, originally planned to be the only barbarian camp I was going to have in the game. After I had created the smaller camp in the upper forest, I decided to create a much larger one because of the way the story was progressing.
Large Syndicate Camp Development
Hayset Outskirts
The end of the game is when the player makes it to the city of Hayset with the two artifact fragments they've collected. I did a light block out of Hayset since this was going to be the end of the game I wasn't going to make an unplayable area hyper detailed. The player gets ambushed by the syndicate at the end of the game so I changed the terrain around the outskirts of Hayset to help make it easier to stage the cinematic when the player gets ambushed.
Hayset Outskirts
Conclusion
I had a lot of fun designing the level and blocking out each location over the course of development. I went through many iterations of different areas until I came to a design I was happy with. I am always looking for ways to improve my level design and always think to myself how can I make an area better.
Story Creation and Cutscenes
Story Creation
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Quest System
Quest System
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Combat System
Combat System
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Development Cycle
Early Pre-Production
Midpoint First Concepts
I first started brainstorming the idea for this project at the beginning of the spring 2024 semester, where we had an entire class semester to come up with a thesis project idea and get it approved by a panel of directors at the end of the semester. I went back and forth on game genre, POV, style, and what engine to create it in but I eventually decided on a fantasy themed, 3D, 3rd-person, open-world RPG game. Fantasy and open-world RPGs are my absolute favorite types of games and I thought I would have the most fun designing a game of a similar type. For the class as we were brainstorming we were required to come up with a thesis abstract, list of deliverables, and a project time-line using a gantt chart. Below you will find the very early documents I created and presented to the panel of directors for approval before I could start working on my thesis.
Thesis Abstract, Deliverable List, Gantt Chart
Midpoint Review Presentation
I presented my finalized power point of my thesis proposal to the school's main directors at the end of my 2024 spring semester. I was approved on my first try as the game design director liked my presentation and thought everything I pitched was within scope and could be done before I graduated. Below is my finished power point presentation I gave for my Mid-point review.
Midpoint Presentation
Development
Summer 2024
Summer 2024 Development
Fall 2024 Semester
Fall 2024 Development
Spring 2025 Semester
Spring 2025 Development
Summer 2025
Summer 2025 Development
Fall 2025 Semester
Fall 2025 Development
Post-Production
Final Presentation
I presented my finalized thesis project to the panel of directors at Academy of Art University on December 2nd, 2025. The department directors were very impressed with the level of polish I had added to the project and were very happy with my submission. I passed and received my MFA in Game Development at the end of the semester. Below is a download link to my final presentation that I gave to the University. I am also including a Dev Log I started working on during my spring 2025 semester to keep track of all the changes I was making to the project each week.