Role and Purpose:

I took part in a two week long skills bootcamp with open games studio INFINITY27. During this bootcamp, I was working as a game/level designer tasked with creating a prototype for a side quest which would fit into the game they were currently developing called Samsara.

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What I did:

• I designed and created a level with around 5 minutes of gameplay.

  • The level included a vista, combat encounters and loot pickups.​

• I implemented an NPC interaction with a branching dialogue tree.

• I created a quest, with a back story, which fits into Samsara's themes and tones.

• I was apart of daily agile and scrum meetings with the studio.

  • These meetings allowed each member of the studio to say where they were at and if they needed any assistance.​

• I learned the studios workflow and software, which allowed me to work remotely and keep track of the tasks I was completing.

  • The software we was using was Unreal Engine 5, Perforce and Hansoft.​

• I took part in some play testing and submitting bug reports for the in development game.

• I presented my side quest prototype to a team of developers at the end of the two weeks. 

  • I created a presentation to show off what I had been working on to the development team (programmers).​

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Software Used:

• Unreal Engine 5 - The engine I used to create my level​​

• Photoshop - I used to create my level design diagrams

• Confluence - I used to create my documentation

• Perforce - I used to push my work to the studios master project

• Hansoft - I used to keep track of my tasks I had assigned myself

• Miro - I used to create my branching dialogue

• Google Slides - I used to create my power point presentation

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Extra details:

The reason I wanted to take part on this skills bootcamp was because it is equivalent to two weeks of industry work experience. I was working to a professional standard surrounded by full time game developers working on the same project. It was a great experience that I feel I have benefitted greatly from. It has given me confidence and reassurance that I can work effectively in a work environment.

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At the start of the two weeks I was introduced to the team at INFINITY27 and learned their process and workflow for the upcoming days. We started playtesting the game they are developing and submitted any bugs we had found. 

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Once we had completed the bug testing and had gotten familiar to the game and its themes. I was given the task of creating a prototype for a side quest which would fit into Samsara. This quest could be broken down into three different categories: quest design, level design and dialogue writing. I completed documentation for each area of the side quest I was creating.

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Quest Design:

When thinking about creating my quest, I started off by writing out a number of possible ideas in a Confluence document. I then chose my favourite three ideas and expanded them in more detail. Once I had done that, I chose the idea I believed was the best and developed it much further and into a fully fleshed out side quest. The side quest needed to have a start that would draw the player in and make them want to complete it. The middle needed to consist of intriguing gameplay that would keep the player engaged and the end needed to be memorable and have consequences for the player depending on their decisions. 

 

Click the icon below for a PDF of the Quest Design Document I created that explains the quest fully.

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Dialogue:

For my dialogue creation, I used Miro to plan out the branching dialogue trees, creating flow charts so it was easier to visualise the different outcomes of the conversation. I planned out three different NPC interactions: the first conversation with a traveller who introduces the quest, a note found upon a skeleton the player can read, and then the second conversation with the traveller after the skeleton interaction. 

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Click the icon below for a PDF of the Dialogue Document I created that goes through the dialogue trees and has a link to the Miro. 

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Level Design:

The level design was very important to this project. I started by designing the level inside photoshop and made a layout that included all of the essential information, as well as finding reference images for the theme the level would look like. I then started creating the level in Unreal Engine 5 and blocking it out. My original design did need some iterating with certain lines of sights and enemies placements among other things. Eventually I was able to have an almost fully functioning prototype of my quest in engine, with the exception of the final traveller conversation.

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Click the icon below for a PDF of the Level Design Document I created that shows my diagrams and a level breakdown.

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Overall, I am very satisfied with this project as I was able to show off my abilities to design and implement a level into UE5 to an industry standard under industry conditions. This has filled me with confidence that I planned to take into the next project I create.