Level Design: Beware of the Blob
The Most Important Level
In planning, we knew that level 5 was going to need to do a lot. A such, it had the longest development cycle of any of the levels. Level 5 was the tonal and narrative shift of the game; through play and environmental storytelling, the player learns that the building they are escaping is in the midst of being taken over by humanoid robots. These were the specific design goals:
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Narrative - Introduce the Robotic NPCs
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Aesthetic - Eerie, foreboding, intimidating
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Mechanical - Focus on the Heart item
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Structural - Non-linear (to be more Zelda dungeon and less Portal test chamber)
I knew I wanted a large, empty hub room to be the focal point of the level for a multitude of reasons. The first is that would simply stand out against all the other smaller or more populated rooms in the game. It had to be mostly empty to give the sense of unease and slight agoraphobia, especially since, this being a stealth game, open spaces are a place disempowerment because there is nothing to hide behind. And perhaps most importantly, I could direct the player's full attention to the first Robotic NPC, with ominous glowing red eyes across the dark room.
This was the first initial sketch of level 5. It's largely incomplete. I imagined four ways to leave the hub room, with the bottom two leading the player to a Guard NPC and Researcher NPC respectively.
Exit 1
Exit 2
Exit 3
Exit 4
The first Robotic NPC that the player sees is the robotic version of the Scientist, who teleports to 4 set points in a determined cycle. These teleport points lead the player down the twisted narrow hallway on the top right, which ends with a tied up Scientist that the player has to eat to continue. I imagined this would be an emotionally evocative moment of enlightenment for the player, and I was pleased to see that was true in countless playtests.
From there, the player can chose between Exit 1 and Exit 2, and, depending on which one they chose, they will can progress further in the level by going through Exit 3 or Exit 4, respectively.
The first design was made before we realized that we were going to have each level focus on a specific body part (which are equipment in the game). We also hadn't figured out a puzzle piece that a Heart would interact with. So this next sketch was incorporating the new environmental hazard, cold.
The second draft of level 5, including the new emphasis on the Heart. The snowflake areas are cold.
I pitched this sketch to our creative director. I wanted an initial room before the hub area for the player to get acquainted with cold. This version also had the idea of a wrapping back to the starting area to enter another room. This proved convoluted and took too much attention from the hub room, so it was scrapped moving forward.
My aim for each level was for them to end on a high, and this level was no different. I wanted to cap off this tense and scary level by giving the player a catharsis, a chance to feel powerful at the end of a disempowering level. The player cannot defeat the Robotic NPCs, but with 4 Hearts, they can stun them and become essentially invulnerable. Like the star in Super Mario Bros it is temporary, as the player cannot actually finish the level with it, but it allows them to strike back against the enemies that have tormented them the whole level.
I then drew the full design on graph paper to get the scale of everything correct before building it in the engine.
The final sketch of this level involved a number of branching and reconnecting paths in order to ensure multiple methods of reaching the exit.
Since the player returns to the start of the level when captured (but the state of the level is preserved, the bottom left area was designed to be easily skipped after completion. This was to minimize backtracking.
The process of going from level sketch to the final level involved lots of minor tweaks. The narrow corridor was changed to have more boxes than walls to give a shelf for the free camera, as playtesters had trouble navigating it without improved visibility. The initially scrapped idea of returning to the starting area was revived in regards to the optional bookcases. A Robot near the end of the level was removed as it increased the difficulty of the level to an undesired degree.
I worked with our art director on this level especially to ensure the tone of the level was preserved and enhanced by the art direction. Unique lighting and distinct environment objects were carefully placed to ensure players wouldn't get lost, but couldn't be placed so liberally as to draw attention away from key elements. The level had to be dark enough to feel unsettling, but bright enough to easily see everything.