Third person horror game
In an arctic lab, shoot and bash your way through your mutated coworkers and use your with to find you lost best friend.
Project details:
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Group project 7 at The Game Assembly
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Type of game: AARPG
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Project length: 14 weeks half-time
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Team size: 21
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Engine: LLL (Live Love Laugh Engine)
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Editor: LLL (Live Love Laugh Engine)
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Reference game: Resident Evil 2 Remake
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My role: Level Designer
Safety First team members:
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Programmers: Neo Nemeth, Niklas Fredriksson, Simon Igelström, Zoe Thysell, Erik Ljungman, Semi Asani and Joakim Larsson.
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Animators: Jack Thell Malmberg, Elias Runelid and Tanya Bengtsson.
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Artists: Victor Ek, Mirjam Hildahl, Philip Tingberg, Daniel Gryningstjerna and William Holster.
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Tech Art: Frode Ödéhn, Malte Hedenstrlm and Sara Ekstam.
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Level Designers: Mina Mirhosseini, Tilde Persson and Christoffer Carlsvärd
My contribution
I was in charge of the layout and blocking out act 1.
We used this level to set up the story and present the initial problem to the player to drive the narrative further.
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By splitting up the player controlled character from her friend with a malfunctioning door due to loss of electricity we introduced the core gameplay loop, which included search and finding fuses to gradually get the power back to the facility. And by closing off the intro section, and removing the option of turning back, we could effectively drive the horror experience and the pacing of the act.
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The process
The goal was to create a very linear level, with sharp corners and narrow corridors to create tension and build suspense, and make the player feel claustrophobic.
By creating few places to hide while using confined spaces to slow down the player, we could maintain the pacing and evoke the feeling of isolation.
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After the area was blocked out and playtestet I focused on polishing the AI och the friend, to make the narrative beat stick the landing. ​​
Finishing touches and reflections
I learned a ton from this project, from creating believable and tight interiors to constraining the player in order to make them feel more uncomfortable and be wary of their surroundings.
The collaboration and communication across disciplines worked great, and I had fun creating small scenes with a bit of environmental storytelling, to further increase the fear of the unknown and provide small samples of backstory.
