Container City Project: part 1

2015 has began after the short but sweet break of the Christmas holidays, which consisted of eating sleeping drawing and learning a bit of Maya. The new year has brought with it new projects and we have recently been set the Container City group project which is an exercise in using modular assets to create a game level. This level would have to have some modular sections 

This project was quite interesting because none of us have really ever designed a level before which would be a significant design issue in and of itself. We would have to effectively guide the player though the level using tricks in interactions but also mainly incorporating the path into our designs and lighting. Some good examples of this comes from games like the Bioshock series, Portal and Metro 2033.

The beginning section of Bioshock Infinite focuses on exploration an uses subtle cues in composition and lighting to naturally cultivate player interest.

The modular aspect of the level was also going to be a challenge because it was something we understood little (which thanks to research we understand now) where we would have to make the modular assets be able to work together so we could rapidly change and redesign our level if we had to. This would allow us to correct game play issues quickly if we applied it well.

With our group of 5 we started the project by quickly planning, listing ideas and brainstorming on our whiteboard. We also looked at inspirations on the projector from images, moodboards and game play demos for other games. Once we had generated a nice list we started narrowing it down and developing. at first cutting our list to 5 ideas and going into more detail of what they might be like. In the true spirit of iteration once we chose one of the 5 we actually took a step back and made some changes leading to our decision to create a Kowloon walled city market place level where tight alleys and dingy stall have been cut out of shipping containers.

Looking at pictures of the real life Kowloon but also drawing inspirations from films and games like Deus Ex, Blade Runner, Metropolis, Big Hero 6 and push really helped us flesh out and image in our mind of a cramped claustrophobic atmosphere were you could only occasionally see the sky.

                  

I made some sketches and photo bashes after moodboards for concepts of the feeling of the environment and props how it would be filled with grime as well as artificial lights beaming down from above the player.

We spent time in engine to generate our basic blockout of the levels and have been revising the level and improving it as we have been going along. We have also added particle effects, dynamic lighting and interactions to bring the level to life. Ladder, cameras that link to a screen, lifts and switches that turn off some particle effects are all part of the project so far.

We have also been beginning the modelling process while doing this. My roles on the project so far have been particle effects, concepting, level design and modelling and I haven't been involved with the iteration side of this at all. Although at the moment much of my work on particles and lighting have been placeholders for now until we finalize the level and how it works. I have learnt how to use flip book textures and to create particle sparks that flicker as they fall like in real life and when they hit the floor they trigger and event which spawn some smaller types of particles which burst out like in real life. I also experimented with things like rain but decided it would suit the level to have too many movement and particle effects especially when it would already be an assault on the senses with the flickering lights i made to mimic old broken fluorescent lights. I have also been modelling the stalls that will fit inside some of the containers. This is a modular assets and will be reused a couple of times in the project.