David Bishop
Level Designer
Mystery of the Temple
Role: Level Designer
Duration: November 2023 (3 weeks)
Engine: Unreal Engine 4.27
Mystery of the Temple is a vertical slice of a 3D puzzle game. Inspired by games with dungeon puzzles like Legend of Zelda and Uncharted 4, I set out to create a simple game that had a multi-step puzzle for the player to solve that they would encounter in an underground Egyptian style temple area.
I wanted to create a game that had an engaging and satisfying to complete multi-step puzzle that one might encounter in a dungeon environment. I played through many other games with similar puzzles and realized my favorite part of them were the "aHa!" moments you get when you figure out the puzzles pattern or process. I incorporated this philosophy into my own puzzles design to give them that same feeling.
Goals:
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Create a dungeon environment with a multi-step puzzle that incorporated recognizable patterns and satisfying completion effects and rewards.
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Create strong level documentation including a top-down map, asset list, level walkthrough and puzzle diagram.
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Implement the puzzle into the environment by changing the block out to match the puzzle step (moving stairs, platforms, pillars etc.)
The Design Process
I began the level design workflow by taking inspiration from other games and learning about what makes them challenging, satisfying, and frustrating. With little time for this project I needed to design a puzzle that was on the simpler side, but also rewarding and fun. I worked on reinforcing the games two main mechanics - interacting with objects and stepping on pressure plates.
Puzzle Design
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I designed the puzzle with the players ability to interact with the environment in mind, which would be stepping on pressure plates or pressing 'E' near an object.
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I wanted to start with easier steps, teaching the player about the mechanics of the game.
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I slowly increased the difficulty by adding more false solutions and obstacles in the players path.
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The geometry of the level changes with each successful step completed to represent progress, integrated by in-game cutscenes.
I created this image in Adobe Photoshop when planning out the puzzle steps. Multiple steps were changed and step 4 was cut entirely due to scope constraints for the final finished product.
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Puzzle Step 1: Light a sequence of unlit fire braziers by pressing 'E' near them. There will already be several braziers lit and the player has to figure out that they need to light the unlit ones.
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Puzzle Step 2: Rotate 4 different pillars to spell out the word "Safe", which was changed from "Sanctuary" in production. Sanctuary was a reference to the other game I had made before this one but was too long and challenging of a word for it being the second step of the puzzle.
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Puzzle Step 3: Step on a series of pressure plates in order. Each pressure plate has a symbol on them, and the key for the player to know which ones to step on are located in the room.
I designed the top-down map for this level using photoshop. The final product in-game underwent many changes and differs drastically from the map I had created. During this process I found many design flaws in the original concept. The original map suffered from symmetry, which resulted in many changes to the temple design to break up the symmetry and offer less confusion to the player when traversing the map. I also cut or changed multiple puzzle steps for being too challenging and too large and out of scope for the project.
Once the map was complete I wrote up a level walkthrough and level asset list. I went through each sequence of events the player would follow in chronological order, and created a short narrative for the game. I also composed an asset list of all the assets I would need for the level including scripts, props, animations, SFX and VFX. (Click to enlarge the image on the left)
I white boxed the level using Unreal Engine brushes and static meshes, constructing the level by following my map. I added detailing to the block out to have it resemble an underground Egyptian style temple, with architecture that would match. I broke up the symmetry of the level as often as I could, making each side different from the other to help the player with navigation and not getting confused which side of the platform they were on.
I scripted the in-game cutscenes through Unreal sequencer for the completion of each puzzle step including a bridge raising, the reveal of a secret staircase, and the rising of a platform out of the floor. I scripted each puzzle step logically through the use of Unreal blueprints, with an example below. Finally, I created the lighting for the level and used special SFX to indicate correct or incorrect actions/solutions.
(Click to enlarge)