Heaven's Collapse
Heaven's Collapse is my end of 4th year project at IIM it's a two player coopetition infiltration game.
​
You are sent with your friend to destroy the Upper City, playing different characters each with their unique abilities you need to progress together, but still make sure he knows you are the best.
​
-
Vertical slice.
-
8 Months of developpement.
-
Unreal Engine 4.
-
Team of 17 students (Design, Art, Code, Producing, Sound).
-
I was the Lead Level Designer.
-
Full scale level.
Characters
The game features two characters with their unique abilities, each player playing one.
​
Sachi:
-
Debt collection: some people owe favors to Sachi in the upper city. He can collect them to gain an advantage in the level.
-
Invisibility: he becomes invisible from his ally and enemies.
​
Yulla :
-
Bow & Arrows: a simple bow used to eliminate robots from far away.
-
Wall climb: some walls made in special material are climbable by Yulla.
-
Ground Protection: she can also make the same material grow creating new walls on the map.
Sachi
Yulla
Pre Production
References
After deciding on the main theme and high concept gameplay the designers and artists discussed on the context and atmosphere of the game.
​
We settled on the cyberprep aesthetic and started gathering references for the universe and the level design?
Planning the levels
On this project we had two level designers working together to produce each our levels.
We wanted the game to take place in a city the players ascend in, so we divided the world in three places each getting higher in the city.
​
I was tasked with creating:
-
First test level
-
Tutorial (Downtown)
-
First gameplay level (Downtown)
Iterations
Milestones
As this was a school project we had to present the project and the updates from the last milestone to teachers and professionals of the industry.
So I was tasked with creating a different level each couple of weeks to showcase the new features developed in the meantime.
Showcase levels
For each milestone we decided it was a good idea to create a special level to present the new mechanics and gameplay elements in context for the teachers and participants.
​
These levels are a sequence of level design patterns, each placed in order to highlight and explain the advancements in development.
​
But this approach was time consuming: I produce a level in about 3 days out of a 5-day week.
Moreover I often had to modify the level at the last moment because of bugs and modifications which prevent the presentation of a brick of gameplay. And while working on these levels I couldn't work on other levels for the vertical slice.
Production
Test Level
Planning the test level
I was quickly tasked with creating a first blockout level to test the characters capacities and make it fit the goals for the release.
This level was to be playtested by other students not familiar with the project.
​
This playtest came early in development, so we had to focus our playtesting on several points to make sure our core design was strong and the players understood and went with it.
Lessons from the playtest:
-
The base coopetition gameplay works.
-
The level when played correctly works.
-
But the level is too wide so players don't stay together and start exploring.
-
Players like exploring and using their characters capacities.
Tutorial
Teaching both players
To design the tutorial I had to teach both players mechanics at the same time so that one wouldn't get bored.
The second reason we needed to teach both players at the same was to make them understand how their characters worked together.
​
But they also needed to be taught how specific interactions made for competition worked, so keeping both players at the same place was important so they didn't miss a piece of information.
In this part Yulla learns about the bow opening the way for Sachi, while Sachi learns about his invisibility.
Both see the other use his ability.
To make sur both players learn about the next bit together I put a funnel and made sure the first one would take a bit longer to get through so the other one can catch up.
Downtown
Drawing and plans
I started by creating the first level of the game: downtown.
​
Downtown is a level supposed to be open and let the players explore and learn about their abilities.
The challenges of creating this level were many : I had to create a level open enough for the players to discover their abilities and synergies, but also keep them in closed space so that they couldn't just run away with one locked behind an obstacle only one of them can get through.
Open Level
The level is split in different sections and patterns. Each section is closed off by a two-players lock. And the player can explore all sections before finishing the level.
​
Each section has different entry and exit points to create a feeling of an open city and not a simple street the player is navigating.
For instance the same path will not always open when Sachi interacts with a door for a favor.
​
The level contains many ways for each player to explore their character's abilities and learn new ways to use them.
Level Flowchart
Tutorial
Tutorial Challenge
Entering Downtown
If the favor unlocks the door
If the favor distracts a guard
Bar Area
Garden
Labyrinth
Design Techniques
Locking different zones
We didn't want to have players to get to far apart or be blocked because one of their abilities allowed them to pass somewhere the other couldn't.
So we created some level design patterns that made it impossible for one character to get past.
Framing
My level contains a special objective: an enemy giving to the player that eliminates it some extra points.
I wanted to create a race like moment where both players would run for it. To set up the race I made sure they both had the information at the same time and place.
Variety Mix
In accordance with the experience, we wanted to offer the player the game, and the levels shouldn't be focused on only competition or cooperation.
The level is composed of different patterns, each being rated on how competitive or cooperative it is.
In this situation the players are forced to cooperate, one helping the other navigate a labyrinth.
Conclusion
Heaven's Collapse is my end of school project and the biggest one I worked on so far as a Level Designer.
I like working on the different levels because I learned a lot in different fields of game production, we had to overcome many differents challenges in different fields of the industry.
But the level has some problems that more playtesting could have helped spot and improve the experience of the player.