Starboard
Summary
Engine - Unreal Engine 5
Role - Level Designer
Genre - First person action adventure
Ownership - I owned the docks portion of the game. I also assisted in the setdressing/cluttering of every other portion in the game.
Pre-production phase- The Docks blockout
Starboard is a first-person melee runner being developed in Unreal Engine 5. created a space docks block out by taking inspiration from the reference image I found. The design of the blockout makes sure to plan out and impleament early versions of the games core mechanincs. Such mechanics include wall-running , vaulting, grappling, and rope swinging. Fast paced and challenging gameplay, requiring players to make split second decisions was the main intented feel for the level.
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Reference image - Image that the docks was roughly based on.
The Docks front view - This is the front view of some ships parked at the docks. The docks will also contain a lower level that the player can explore. Contains early versions of the pink dash crystal and floating wall run spots.
Blockout of hollowed out meteor - This spot is meant to tutorialize rope swinging. Contains an early version of the green rope swing crystal.
The docks starting area - This area is meant to tutorialize vaulting, sliding and wall running.
Production phase - The Docks 2nd interation
For the second iteration of the docks skybox was added and art assets were being implemented into the level. The level also now includes enemies and fully functioning rope swinging and dashing. The layout remains the same. The objective for the level was also being prototyped, which involves obtaining three cannonballs for a giant cannon that will fire and open the path to the end of the level. Constant playtests were conducted to gather any feedback.
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The docks starting area 2nd iteration- This area was altered slightly to remove the sliding and wall run tutorial to save for later. Art assets were added for the hollowed meteor and floating rocks the player can walk on.
The docks high view 2nd iteration - Blockouts were added to represent small buildings on the left side of the docks. Small towers with green crystals were added to give the player another means to get around enemies.
The docks alternate high view 2nd iteration - Early versions of side areas were added in this iteration. These areas are small and require the player to venture off the critical path but will reward the player with collectable treaure.
The docks Thresher - The Tresher is the main enemy of th e docks. They do both melee and range attacks. This diagram shows their size in comparison to the player character.
Production phase - The Docks final interation
For the final iteration of the docks I completed the set dressing and cluttering of the docks. before that I made some final changes to the layout. I implemented an objective. The player must obtain a cannonball in the middle of the map in order to fire a cannon that will open the path to the next level. After a chat with my design lead we decided that having three cannons was not ideal as there would be too much backtracking if a player missed one of them. So I reduced it to one cannonball. According to feedback from play testers, it was difficult to know which way to go. So I simplified the layout. Instead of offering multiple paths to the end, I reduced it to two. Both of these paths will funnel the player to where they need to go so it should be impossible to get lost or miss the cannonball. Play testers reacted much better to the new layout and I got approval from my leads to finalize the level.
As for the set dressing, the story of the docks is that it is very poorly build and constantly falling apart. So I made sure to add plenty of debris and broken wood planks in the docks to give it that feeling. There are several areas that are used for storage so I made sure to fill them with crates and barrels. I also added several structures with clutter to make the space feel more lived in.
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The docks final Iteration - Player start.- This is where the player starts and they can choose to go to the lower level or stay on the upper level.
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The docks final Iteration - The lower level This is an area where animals are butchered and prepared to eat.
The docks final Iteration - Upper level - This area is an outdoor restaurant.
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The docks final Iteration - Storage area - This is a portion where the threshers store cargo and spare parts.
The docks final Iteration - The cannon -This is the cannon that will allow the player to transition to the next area.
Other Contributions - Downtown
The downtown portion of the game follows immediately after the docks. It consists of four main islands: A market island, a storage island, a boat tavern island and a residential island. The level had to be cluttered after setdressing was finished.
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Other Contributions - The vault
The vault portion of the game follows immediately after the downtown portion. It is more heavy with puzzles and has a final boss encounter. The level had to be cluttered after the setdressing was completed.
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Other Contributions - Cinematic levels.
Starboard features a prerendered intro cutscene cinematic. For this small levels needed to be built, setdressed and cluttered. There are 4 portions to the cinematic cutscene: The Tavern, The Dock, The Captain's Quarters and The Ship.
The Tavern
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The Dock
The Captains Quarters
The Ship
