David Bishop
Level Designer
Alleria's Legacy
Role: Level/Game Designer, Scripter
Duration: June 2024 - December 2025 (1 year 6 months)
Engine: Unreal Engine 5.4.4
Alleria's Legacy was my Master of Fine Arts thesis project that I created while I attended the Academy of Art University. I spent a year and a half planning, conceptualizing, designing, and integrating a vertical slice of an open-world fantasy RPG game inspired by games like the Witcher and Horizon series.
The game follows a main sequence of quests that follow a story narrative, with open-world level design structure. The game features meaningful exploration, a ranged bow-and-arrow combat system, vendors/NPCs, player progression, narrative cutscenes, and more.
Goals:
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Conceptualize and design an open-world RPG emphasizing player agency, exploration, and narrative progression.
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Create strong design documentation including walkthroughs, deliverable lists, top-down maps, PowerPoint presentations and more.
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Design and create refined systems through intensive scripting of combat, NPC quests, UI design, and cinematic cutscenes.
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Learn more and focus on improving my Unreal Engine design and blueprint scripting capabilities.
Project Roles
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Conceptualized and owned the development process from original concept to fully playable prototype.
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Designed each system with attention to detail, with intensive testing and reiteration of each core system.
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Developed a narrative inspired by classic RPG storytelling conventions.
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Emphasized player agency in the game design structure with non-linear level exploration.
Game Designer
Scripter
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Scripted every system in the game with scalability in mind, with organized comments and intentional blueprints.
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Used Unreal's blackboard and AI tools to create behavior responsive enemies.
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Created multiple animation blueprints with thoroughly thought out state machines.
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Scripted hundreds of blueprints, each serving a unique purpose.
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Implemented open-world design structure allowing for many non-linear player paths.
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Designed and accounted for every possible "what if the player does X" scenario to allow for proper player decision making and agency.
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Incorporated different types of points of interest and level vista views.
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Strategically placed rewards, enemies, and quest required items throughout the level in intentionally designed spaces to improve the player moment-to-moment level experience.
Level Designer
The Design Process
I went through an intensive pre-production process for this project that started with multiple weeks of changing, iterating, and incorporating feedback on every aspect and system of the project. The project concept was approved by my thesis committee after I presented them my thesis presentation that served as a blueprint for the entire design process.
Thesis Proposal Power-Point
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I created the core game design structure and declared each core system that the game would have.
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I listed out every important deliverable for the project including systems, UI, level props, etc.
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I thoroughly explained how I could maintain scope and the main goals I was setting out to achieve with this project.
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After months of designing the proposal power point I began work on refining the specific level details in top-down maps, walkthroughs, and asset lists. The original concept for this project included 3 different levels, but after many months in production my first level became so large that including others would have been out of scope for the duration of the project, so I had to cut them.
Top-Down Map and Walkthrough
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I created rough top-down maps to serve as guidelines. The final project ended up being much different from the original laid out map.
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I created some level walkthroughs with many changed details throughout the design process.
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I ended up scrapping or vastly changing ideas I had come up with in my maps or walkthroughs that I discovered through creating and testing the level.
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Open World Level Design
I designed the world with open-world exploration in mind, allowing the player to explore the world at their own pace. Several locations are gated behind main story progression and will be locked unless the player has reached that area in the main story. I developed the world to be in a forest environment, with many trees, rivers, rocks, and human structures/encampments. I blocked out each location using Unreal static meshes and brushes as well as the landscape tool for outdoor areas. Player progression was also a large focus, with higher level and dangerous areas being located farther away from the game's start point. The world is broken down into the following main areas:
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Stonebrook Garrison: Starting area of the game and one of the main quest hubs. Includes NPCs with quests, vendors, loot chests, and more.
Small Enemy Camp: An early enemy encounter location with lots of loot and rewards. The player will explore here naturally early on in the main story.
Small Cave: A small cave with treasure and story related objects. Will be locked behind main story progression and inaccessible at first.
Faerside Village: A medium sized village located in the lower valley area of the map. The village is always accessible but the player will be guided towards the village as part of the main quest line.
Large Enemy Camp: Larger enemy camp with many higher level enemies. This area is always accessible but the main story will lead the player over to this location.
Temple of Senos: Puzzle area in the lower forest area of the map. The puzzle can be completed at any time even if the player isn't on the associated main quest.
Hayset Outskirts: Ending location for the game that lies right outside a city. The outskirts are always accessible but the city marks the end of the playable area and will not be able to be entered.
I designed the world into two main sections which I called the Upper Forest, and Lower Forest. The Upper Forest area is on a much higher elevation and houses the starting lower level areas of the game like Stonebrook Garrison, the small enemy camp, and the small cave. As the player leaves the Upper Forest they will path towards a large vista designed to reinforce world scale and player progression as they look down on the valley below.
Upper Forest
Lower Forest
(Click to enlarge images)
Core Systems
Quest System
I designed the quest system to be similar to other RPGs, where NPC's with quests are marked with exclamation points over their heads. The player can press the 'E' key next to them which will either open up a small quest information widget if it's a side quest or start a cutscene if it's a main quest.
Design Challenges
Designing a quest system that allowed for chain quests, cutscene integration, UI communication, a quest log, and mini-map navigation was a very difficult challenge. I scrapped my first system 5 months into development because it was too limiting on the system I had envisioned. The old system didn't allow for chain quest lines that required prerequisite quests to have been completed. I solved all of my problems by developing a quest ID and invisible quest actor system. This allowed me to:
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Always have a reference to a particular quest when the player starts it
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Easily store all quest information including important quest trigger events
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Have a way to reference individual quests and objectives through an ID system.
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Allow for easy replication and expansion in adding new quests
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Make it easy to create new quest types and allow for innovation
As an example, there was one quest where the quest objective was for the player to shoot a few targets at a training range. I used the systems built in "Kill" objective type for this, to essentially "kill" the targets when the player shot them to complete the objective, without the targets actually having to be destroyed.
System Scripting
I scripted the quest system using a database, 3 structures, and many blueprints that store, display, and run each aspect of the quest system. I separated each quest into 4 main objective categories: Gather, Kill, Interact, and Location. When a quest is started by either a special quest giver, or a level trigger, it would spawn an invisible actor that is easy to reference and stores all quest information.
Each quest is broken down into stages, with each stage having single or multiple objectives. Once a stage is complete the next one will automatically start, until the quest is complete. Below is a gallery of images from all the scripts I created including all blueprints, data table, and structures.
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Combat System
I designed the combat system to be fairly simple as it was the final addition to the game during the final 5 months of my thesis development. Inspired by games such as Elden Ring, I created a dodge roll ability for the player that would allow them to get "invincibility frames" if they timed their dodge right before an enemy attack. I developed the bow to feel realistic, allowing the player to draw an arrow for a longer period of time to increase power, damage, and range of the shot. I also implemented headshots that reward precision which deal massive damage to the enemy. As a defensive option, the player can also use health potions to heal themselves if they have one available. However, the enemy is able to interrupt this animation. Potions can be bought with gold at any vendor throughout the game.
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Upon player death, the player will respawn at a location dependent on their last completed main quest.
Due to scope issues, I only developed 1 melee enemy type. The enemy was created with Unreal's blackboard and AI behavior tree tools, and has multiple states including patrolling, chasing, and investigating.
Combat Example
Bow Example
Player Death Example
Buying Potion Example
Design Challenges
I ran into many challenges trying to design a simple but also satisfying combat system. The player's bow was the hardest to get right. I scrapped my entire previous animation blueprint and bow system that I used over a year into development to design a new one that would work with the new combat system.
The old system was a very basic animation that spawned/launched an arrow at a set speed. I designed the new one to allow for varying draw times that would vary the arrows speed and trajectory, power, and damage. I developed a better animation blueprint that had better animation states between drawing, holding, and firing arrows. As part of my polish pass I added the following to the bow to make it feel much better to shoot:
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Sound effects to each bow state and a UI indicator letting the player know the bow is at maximum draw.
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Sound and visual arrow impact effects which included blood splatters and wood chipping.
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An arrow trail to clearly indicate the path and trajectory of the shot.
System Scripting
I scripted the player's bow by using a blueprint component that I designed to be very modular and scalable that could also be used for an ranged enemy type if I had the time. I wrote a new animation blueprint that had new bow aiming locomotion, and better transitions between bow aiming states. The animation states coincided with custom events I created in the blueprint to handle conditions needed for those states.
I designed the melee enemy with Unreal's AI behavior tree, giving the enemy three primary senses: Sight, Hearing, and Damage. The enemy could sense the player by "seeing" them in a frontal cone, and they could also hear the player if they made too much noise like shooting a shot near them or walking too close the AI could hear the footsteps. Lastly, I added a damage sense so the enemy would immediately know where the player is if they were hit by an arrow.
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Narrative and Cutscene System
As this was an RPG game I was creating the narrative became an important element and coincided with the quest content. Each main quest had one or more cutscenes that served to progress the story and give the player a break to mix up the gameplay loop. I created each cutscene with Unreal sequencer and used free imported animations, VFX and SFX, as well as AI dialogue I wrote and recorded through the use of ElevenLabs. I created many cutscenes throughout the game but below are snippets of a few of my favorites.
Intro Cutscene Snippet
Cave Collapses Snippet
Far Seer Ritual Snippet
Mother Vision Snippet
Ambush Snippet
Final Cutscene Snippet
Story Synopsis
The story begins with the main player character Alleria, who is a skilled huntress and works with her father at the local butcher's shop in the capital of Stormyr kingdom. The capital city is invaded and her father is killed, making her a refugee fleeing to the nearby kingdom of Mithros for safety.
Mithros has problems of its own, with a civil war brewing from a group of rebels known as the syndicate. Mithros' king is lazy and negligent and has allowed rebel groups to pillage his own citizens with little resistance. The game starts when Alleria arrives in Mithros and is soon tasked with finding the king's son, Loric, who went missing on a scouting mission.
The player goes on an adventure which eventually leads her to several strange magical artifacts with unknown origin and power. Alleria has a strange connection with these artifacts that many others do not, allowing her to harness their power. These artifacts are being hunted by multiple groups of people including the syndicate, and Alleria needs to find out why before they fall into the wrong hands.
Design Challenges
Creating the cutscenes and writing the dialogue of each character was challenging. I experimented with different ways to make interesting cutscenes using only sequencer and free assets I found online. For several of them I included important "flashback" sequences, and built an entirely new set that was off the playable map. These sets were developed with specific camera angles in mind, and I didn't bother detailing areas that would end up being off camera.
One of my favorite sequences to create was one where Alleria was talking to her mother who she presumed was dead, as her mother explained the origin and importance of the magical artifacts she was collecting. I created a monologue with the mother's voice in the background as I played out flashbacks of historical events in separate sets I blocked out for the purpose of the cinematic.
System Scripting
I scripted the cutscene system to be integrated with the quest system, and created custom events that would run cutscenes and be called off of quest triggers. During cutscenes, I disabled all player inputs and removed the UI but added subtitles to the dialogue. Cutscenes are played from the player blueprint and use references from the particular quest they are playing from, like which cutscene to play and the duration to play it for. Below is a gallery of images of some of the blueprints I used to play cutscenes at the right time.
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Alpha Versus Final Build
Below are side by side comparisons of the same areas during early alpha build production, and the final finished build. Several areas went through many iterations throughout the 1 year and 6 month development cycle until I settled on the final one that I really liked. (Click on images to enlarge).
Alpha Build
Final Build
Upper Forest
Stonebrook Garrison
Small Enemy Camp
Small Cave
Lower Forest
Faerside Village
Large Enemy Camp
Hayset Outskirts
