Meshy Abominations

At the Game Developers Conference this year, we checked out some cool new tech that turns text and pictures into 3D models. We tried it out to see if it could help our 3D artists with our Crimson Knight capstone project. The idea was cool, but the results were a bit mixed.

The tech can create 3D models, but they ended up being way too detailed. Each model we made had way too many tiny parts (polygons), about 300,000 to 400,000, which is a lot more than we needed. We can fix these models to make them simpler without losing too much detail, though.

One problem with these models is that they have lots of tiny errors, like holes and random points that stick out. Fixing these could take a lot of time, which kind of beats the point of using this tech to save time in the first place.

However, the tech did a great job with textures and UV maps, which are the parts that make the models look good with colors and details. It even made a new Pokémon character look awesome by adding cool details to its feet, making them perfect for a dog-like creature.

Another good thing about this tech is that it gets the size of the models just right. We didn’t have to adjust the size at all, whether it was for characters, props, or big parts of the scene.

Even though there are some issues with the tech right now, it’s really good at making textures and getting the size right. It’s promising, and it could be super helpful for making video games in the future.

Flag Rise and Loot

 

I wanted to create a mechanic where a player can stand in one spot for a few seconds and a flag will rise up a flagpole, once the flag reaches the top, a bunch of loot will dop at the base of the flagpole. I used a variation of the door rise blueprint we learned in the first semester to have the flag rise.

For the ground loot, I wanted the loot to generate the loot type and rarity randomly using an array, similar to how loot is spawned in the game. Rarity is defined by color: Blue, Green, Purple, Gold, in this blueprint, they are not weighted so there is an equal chance of each showing up. There are four ammo types, Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun and Health.

Blocking Out My Fortnite Level

 I started this morning by creating a top-down map layout of my new Fortnite point-of-interest, using the original Coney Crossroads as a reference for scale and street positions. Once I was happy with my design, I imported the map image as a decal in Unreal Engine 5, and projected it onto my terrain. This gave me a handy reference right in the viewport to start shaping the terrain accurately. Next, I sculpted the land using UE5’s built-in landscape tools, matching elevation, adding a river, and placing two bridges leading into my location.

Once the landscape felt right, I quickly realized the default UE5 character was a bit too small compared to a standard Fortnite character, so I scaled it up by around 7% to match Fortnite’s height. This adjustment helped make sure my buildings felt natural and the sightlines matched Fortnite’s style better.

Now I’m laying out my buildings using the Fortnite grid, which is exactly 512 Unreal Units per square. Using this grid makes it easy to keep my structures, like the watchtower and temple, at the right scale and feeling good during gameplay. I’ve got my watchtower walls built out. Currently it is four stories tall, and I’m adding floors and stairs to test if the scale feels right. If it ends up feeling oversized, I might shrink it down later.

Take Over Camera

In this segment, I created a blueprint designed to commandeer the player’s camera and transition it into a cinematic view. The challenge arose from the limitations of the AWALS pack, which doesn’t provide a reference camera until the game starts. To work around this, I extracted the player’s camera directly from the player controller and stored it in a variable for later recall. This allowed me to switch seamlessly between the default third-person perspective and the cinematic camera positioned far out over the Cornwall cliffs, woods, and the vast ocean.

This cinematic camera not only offers a breathtaking view of the landscape and the abandoned mining site but also foreshadows the next sections of the level where Nathan Drake begins his climb up the side of the mine building. By dynamically switching perspectives, the blueprint enhances the narrative flow and immerses the player deeper into the environment. Overall, this solution balances technical constraints with creative storytelling, providing both a functional gameplay mechanic and a visually engaging experience that aligns with the Uncharted spirit.

Making Rocks Sleep

I have fractured rocks in my Level Design level. they slide down a hill with the player and land at the bottom. 90% of the time they settle in a perfectly position, but there are times when the chunks of rock block off the path, preventing the player from advancing. Usually, the player can awkwardly climb over them, but more than once that hasn't been an option. 

I learned how to make the fractured objects "sleep" upon resting. So, when the rocks come to rest, there is a brief pause, then they shrink down and eventually disappear.  You can adjust the timing so the rocks disappear after a longer pause and adjust how long they take to shrink once they start to disappear.

 

Falling Floor Blueprint

In my current level, I set up a blueprint-driven trapdoor sequence designed to create an unexpected moment of tension. When the player steps onto a seemingly stable platform, it suddenly collapses beneath them, sending them plummeting into an underground mine shaft. This scripted fall isn’t just a dramatic moment, it also introduces a key narrative question: How will the player escape the mine? 

Right now, the platform collapse relies purely on simulated physics, rather than a fully scripted sequence. So far, it has worked every time in testing, but I can’t shake the feeling that this approach will come back to haunt me later. Relying on physics alone means there’s always a chance for unexpected behavior. Maybe the player falls slightly off-course, or the platform doesn’t break in exactly the way I intended. A more controlled approach, like a cinematic sequence, would allow me to ensure consistent results every time, guiding the player exactly where they need to go. While the current system is effective, I may need to revisit it down the line to guarantee a smooth and predictable experience.

 

Breakaway Cliff

At the beginning of my level, I have a long cliff that Nathan Drake will slide down. To activate the drop, Nathan stands on a part of the cliff, the rocks crumble beneath him and he slides down a long hillside.  To accomplish this, I used a variation of Ben's blueprint to trigger a destructible boulder. We had to turn off the damage for the rock pieces because it kept killing Nate part way down the hill. I also wanted him to ragdoll part way down the hill for a moment, but I wasn't able to accomplish that yet.

IWALS Metric Gym

Clearly IWALS put a lot of effort into this package, there is a lot going on. It took me several hours to figure out how to spawn an enemy and get that enemy to attack the player. First, I had to make a special blueprint with a custom event to initialize the spawn. 

Then IWALS uses a Simple Human AI Spawn blueprint to indicate where the enemy should spawn. 

Then finally a Path Track Actor which allows you to set a patrol path for the AI to walk to and follow. As well as adding waypoints for the enemy to pause at. It also looks like there might be the potential to have the enemy sit at points or trigger other animations. 

To connect all of those, there is an eyedropper tool that you can use to select which enemy should connect to which spawn point and then eyedrop again to select the patrol path.

Creating My Own Uncharted Level: Cornwall Copper Mine

Designing my own level for Uncharted 4 was a fun and creative process. I decided to set the level in an abandoned copper mine in Cornwall because Cornwall has beautiful cliffs and a history of mining, which fits perfectly with the adventurous spirit of Uncharted. I wanted players to feel like they were exploring a mysterious place filled with hidden pirate treasures. First, I thought about the story and how Nathan Drake would find clues that lead him into the old mine. This helped me create a cool background for the level and make sure everything made sense.

Next, I broke the mine into different parts to make the gameplay interesting. The level starts at the Cornwall Cliffs and Woods, where players find the hidden entrance to the mine. Then, they explore the upper part of the mine, climb down old equipment, and move to the lower part where they find strange stonework. The level leads to an old pirate chamber, where players solve puzzles to find a clue to bigger treasure. Finally, Shoreline mercenaries arrive, and Nate has to fight his way out of the mine. I included different paths so players can choose to explore more or take a quicker route, making the game more engaging and replayable.

Once I start building the level, I plan to focus on making the mine look and feel real. I intend to add  details like overgrown plants, broken tools, and old pirate symbols to make the environment exciting. Adding sound effects like dripping water and the explosion when Shoreline arrives will create a spooky atmosphere. To make the combat thrilling, I designed tight tunnels and open areas where players can use cover and plan their attacks. By combining exploration, puzzles, and intense fights, I created a balanced and exciting level that matches the Uncharted series' style.

Concept Art for Capstone

For my capstone project this year, I am serving as a level designer for a medieval knight game in which a knight travels to purgatory to kill a god. I have been tasked with creating the throne room and cathedral for the god. This will be the primary space where the main gameplay will take place. This area serves as the arena for the boss battle.

The direction I received specifies that the area needs to be a large, open play space with no places to hide. This design choice ensures that the boss AI cannot lose track of the player or encounter issues such as bumping into columns or other structures.

I began by researching throne rooms and cathedrals from the Gothic era but soon shifted my focus to Romanesque architecture, a precursor to Gothic. I decided on a chamfered triangle shape for the general play space and contrasted that with a circular dome roof. To avoid an empty feel when entering the space, I filled it with church pews and fire braziers to illuminate the area. All of these props are designed to be destructible, preventing them from becoming obstacles when the player is running through the space dodging attacks.

I started by creating a basic pencil sketch of the space on scrap paper and then began to block it out in Unreal Engine. Once I was satisfied with the general look and size of the space, I took a screenshot into Photoshop to conceptualize how the space could look once fully fleshed out. This process also provided our lighting artist with a clear idea of my intentions for the space's lighting requirements.

Connecting Blueprints

There is a scene where we chase the tribal leader through the woods along the river. It ends at a forest fire, blocking off the path through the canyon. To prevent the player from backtracking, the fire spreads blocking off the path. Getting the fire blueprint to work was challenging for me. I had difficulty with my first method which was changing the collision and visibility. Now the fire moves (very, very quickly) from the other fire and transforms into place.

The pigs seem to have lost their material and animations. I need to fix that.

The Stalactites work beautifully, crashing down in front of the player as they traverse the cave.

Canyon Climbing Areas

There are a few areas in my canyon level where I need the player to climb. To do so, I placed an invisible ladder over top of the climbing areas. in this first example, the player has, what appears to be, a series of handholds built into the cliff conveying that there is an opportunity to climb. In reality, the handholds do nothing, the player is climbing the ladder.

This second example requires the player to climb up on to a tree to cross a river. Similar to the cliff area, we are using a hidden ladder. The black and cyan grid visible in the first image is an invisible barrier that prevents the player from walking into the river.

Metrics Gym

We are working on a Metrics Gym showing all of the abilities for a first-person level so that the gameplay can be tested before or as the level is being designed and built. 

The first example here is a "bear," (yes, its a pig, but it's the best that I could find in our library.) The "bear" is an enemy in the level. It did not have an AI system, so I had to build a blueprint that allows the "bear" to roam around in the green area with a walking and idle animation. once the player enters into the pig pen, the pig will track the player. Once the player enters into the collision capsule, the pig begins an attack animation while continuing to track the player. There is a final, very small collision capsule around the pig that allows the player to press K for kill, which triggers a final Death animation. In my blueprint, there isn't any damage points for the player or the pig, we haven't covered anything like that in class yet. 

The second example here is a cave scene that has a falling Stalactite. This is triggered when you enter a narrow doorway and resets when you exit the cave area. In the actual level, there wouldn't be any reason to reset it, but for the metrics gym, it made sense. I wanted to have the stalactite use actual physics to drop, but that didn't seem possible. So, I used a Timeline to animate the stalactite mesh. The stalactite drops fast enough that the player is never able to get under it. This, again, prevented the need for the programming of damage points.

Space Station 2

 Continuing on RPP, we have added a few rooms to our space station and did some more set decoration. Hang showed me how to use InterpToMovement and RotatingMovement to make my balloons and space debris float which really adds some life into the project. a couple of my balloons bump into each other. The next step would be to have them react to each other and prevent that.

Space Station

 Our RPP this round is working on a game about a small robot waking up the crew of a space station. I was tasked with creating a space station with areas for the robot to complete menial tasks.  To do so, I combined various kits to create a maze with areas for the tasks. The only task we have established is to repair the sparking pipes with some sort of welding tool. We still need to figure out more tasks.

Lighting Assignment

 

I modeled the break room because I wanted to see it illuminated only by the vending machine. I couldn't seem to get the shadows quite right...yet

Hang helped me out, a point light was the wrong choice, rect light was better. 

AND he showed me how to get a 4k screenshot!

Storytelling in Level Design

Hero (player) must survive the level.

Create a lived-in world - not just a game space,

Seven Point Story Structure

1. Hook
1. makes the reader ask, "what happening next?"
2. First Plot Point
1. result of inciting incident and starts the journey
3. Pinch Point 1
1. protagonist is put under pressure, villain is introduced
4. Mid Point
1. protagonist moves from reaction to action
5. Pinch Point 2
1. protagonist fails, all is lost; provides fuel to get to number 6
6. Second Plot Point
1. everything comes together; the hero can fight/win
7. Resolution
1. the end goal of the novel; end of journey; conclusion

Kevin's Secret Assignment

I spent a day working on Kevin's Secret Assignment. I had to learn a lot about PolyCuts since I couldn't seem to get subtractive geometry to work. I'm pretty proud of my courtyard, I think I matched the reference image pretty well.  

Throne Room

West Courtyard

East Courtyard

East Courtyard with more cover

Reference Photo

RPP2 Final Level Design

 Admittedly, this isn't much of a "Level" it is more of an arena space. However, this space is all that was required in the game. After the first week of laying out the original space, it looked very bland and needed set dressing. So, I filled the empty spaces with trees and random junk.  One of the trees is elevated slightly off the ground to best frame it in the window on the menu screen.

Flow and Pacing

• Navigation Flow
• guide the player through the level
• lighting, combat, puzzles, collectables 
• pitfalls
• dead ends with no reward
• unclear buttons or levers
• not framing a view
• direction of opening doors
• open in the direction of the players progression
• monotone levels
• same assets repeated
• large flat planes as playing surfaces 
• lacking variety of enemies, predictability 
• Gameplay Flow
• Difficulty
• Should increase in difficulty as the player progresses through the level
• Learning new skills/mechanics
• Placement of Obstacles or Bosses/Mini Bosses
• Story Beats 
• too fast, too slow, too monotone?