GREED
Greed is a level designed for the game "Ascending Inferno". I was given complete control over the end to end design, concept, theme and layout. This was completed in 5 weeks following Oppolyon Studios Schedule.
Ascending Inferno Steam Page
Level Design Document
Summary
During my time at Oppolyon Studios I was lucky enough to have full control over the concept, pitching, layouts and theme for the level "Greed". This level is in order from "Dante's Inferno", where the game is inspired from, and directly above Gluttony.
Setting and Theme
The level was first designed to be a large casino, though sadly was scrapped as it was too similar to the level Lust. When I first started working on the level, I first started brainstorming what would be some unique ideas that could fit into the game world without interfering with current and future levels styles and level flow.
I ended up at three possible ideas:
-
A large castle where the as the player scales the environment is gradually growing richer and richer.
-
A large tower where a huge hole was dug where the rich up top throw their scraps.
-
Two divided sections, one being poor and one being rich, divided by nothing other than a difficult jump that requires a risk.
​
The last was chosen through a vote I casted for the team on google forms.
​
Level Layout
For the initial level layout I wanted something that continues from the previous level quickly and cleanly that supported the gradual growth in difficulty previously found in other levels thus far. I also wanted simple and easy read jumps that were a mix of long, short and hard, also supporting the level mechanic throughout.
The overall layout, end to end
Purple indicates the level mechanic
Lower Section (Slum) Layout
Upper Section (Palace) Layout
Level Objectives
The general level objective was to have it be a connection between the lower (gluttony) and upper (Wrath) levels while maintaining smooth transitions and fun but challenging gameplay.
​
I accomplished this by having a few points around the lower section of the map that fell straight back into Gluttony, as well as a portion of the upper section also having this hole. This keeps the player on their toes while having that connection between the levels. I also added to this by having falls and jumps that were unique to other levels show up briefly with the jumps on some of the "Greed Platforms", giving a new challenge to the player through something they would find familiar.
The lower hole connecting to Gluttony
Jumps
To keep consistency throughout the level, I first started with jumps that were suited for the level's difficulty. With reference to previous levels like Gluttony, I was able to incorporate a slight increase from when first entering to when exiting.
​
A jump that seems easy but requires thought, bumping the difficulty from previous levels. Also, note the effect of the Greed Platform in the middle.
Level Mechanic
The level mechanic went in a similar direction to the theme, being decided by a vote with me presenting my designs to the team and polling afterwards. This can be seen on the Greed LDD where some of the scrapped designs are there for reference if needed in the future.
​
The final design was the "Greed Platform", where when the player lands on the object it has a 3-second timer before enabling gravity on it, resulting in it falling. It then respawns after 30 seconds.
During the implementation of this mechanic, the layout changed to support it, with some sections being cut due to difficulty and a lack of readability.
The brown boxes are the "Greed Platforms"
The Purple boxes are the "Greed Platforms"
I scripted this mechanic through Unreal Engine's "Blueprint" system, where I added the necessary components so that when the player overlaps with a small invisible box above the platform, a timer is set and physics is applied to the object. This then goes onto another timer that waits a few seconds before destroying the object. This was the simple direction and was done relatively quickly, giving me more time to fine-tune the layout of the level.
Playtesting
Playtesting was conducted internally during my time on the level, which provided me with the necessary feedback to start my iteration on the level. Most of the feedback was about the difficulty being either too easy or too hard in a certain section of the level, or not enough of a variation in jumps.
Below will display some of the changes I made after receiving and applying this feedback:
Added horizontal variation
difference in falls for easier traversal
Added level mechanic for difficulty with the contrast of a slanted platform
increased hole amount with variations in jump height and length
Larger holes into Gluttony, spiking
New section with a long fall
Post Mortem
Through my time working on this level I learnt an incredible amount about how platformers are approached, how difficulty is balanced, how rage games are designed and how variation can mean the difference between a boring, bland level to an exciting and challenging one.
Improvements
Firstly, I would have spent more time playtesting and gaining feedback from the team. The feedback and information I received were transformative to both my approach and the level. This information allowed me to make more informed choices about how I set the level up and how players interacted with the level, though more would have most likely improved the level even further.
Secondly, I would have lowered the time spent brainstorming ideas for the level mechanic. The chosen mechanics that were sent to the team through the poll took a large amount of my time which could have been used more efficiently elsewhere (ie the layout, testing, etc).
Lastly, I would have communicated more with the art team to support the direction of the environment. During the earlier stages of the level, I struggled to design a layout that would both look and play the part. Increased communication with the art team would have allowed me to hone what needed to be in the level, what works, what doesn't, and the various compromises that were made to allow the level to shine from both angles.
Thank you Oppolyon Studios for allowing me to work on this!
Misc Images
Some misc images from the current state of Greed! Credit to the artists working on this, stunning work :)
