ANDARA:
RISE FOR REBELLION
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Team size | 18
Software | Unreal Engine 4
Role | Level designer & Game designer
Team size | 18
Software | Unreal Engine 4
Role | Level designer & Game designer
ANDARA is a frenetic third-person shooter developed at ESAT by a team of 16 students and two teachers in the role of producers. During this 10-month development, I assumed the following tasks:
• Worked as the coordinator of a three-person Design team.
• Contributed to designing virtually every aspect of the gameplay (systems, levels, combat, puzzles, UX/UI...).
• Developed the final level of the game, from layout to scripting and QA.
Planning
Planning
During this stage, we as the Design department created all of the necessary documentation so the whole team could have a good grasp of how every aspect of the gameplay needed to be. This included an extensive GDD with the following sections:
Narrative design.
Relevant Design theories.
Player character.
Enemies.
Level elements.
Level Design Document.
Sound design.
Excerpt concept from the GDD
We also created a Miro board to have all the relevant design information in a more visual, accessible, and flexible way. We kept updating this Miro board as the development advanced and many adjustments were made to the design of our game.
Excerpt from the Miro board
Fulfilling our design
Fulfilling our design
During production, our main hurdle as designers was ensuring that the fast-paced gameplay we had envisioned actually took place. We wanted players to be in constant movement, both to avoid potential damage and to take advantage of beneficial mechanics, such as the finisher healing and the active reloading mechanics.
The finisher healing mechanic is a dash towards any enemy with low health that eliminates them and heals the player.
We had to tweak values like the distance at which this action can be performed and its healing amount to make this mechanic desirable enough for the player, but not too overpowered.
We also worked with the programming team on this mechanic's set of particles. We iterated on them so that they enticed the player enough and also communicated to them that they were being healed aftwerwards.
Players have two kinds of shots in ANDARA:
A submachine gun type of shot when they're not aiming.
A potent rifle type of shot when they're aiming.
The active reloading mechanic is simple enough in concept: when players run out of ammo in one of their two types of shots, they can recharge it quicker by actively using the other one.
With this mechanic, we addressed the problem of some players using only one type of shot all the time — thanks to it, the combat gameplay is much more dynamic.
The other side of the coin in terms of ensuring a frenetic gameplay were the enemies. We designed a basic, fodder type of opponent that doesn't pose a great threat to the player and can even help them, since they can serve as moving health kits thanks to the finisher healing mechanic.
Concept art for the fodder enemy, the Technician and the Charger.
In contrast, we have the special enemies. Each one of them was designed to challenge users in unique ways and encourage movement on their part. The Charger, for example, goes after the player at great speed and forces them to always keep an eye on him and dash out of the way at the right moment. While charging, this opponent exposes its weak point, which is located on his left shoulder. The Technician, on his part, keeps his distance from the player. He only reveals his weak point when losing the shield after performing one of his special attacks, thus encouraging players to chase after him and bait those attacks.
Creating the final level
Creating the final level
I had the job of designing the third level of the game. Being the last level, all of the previously introduced and tutorialized features needed to be properly showcased. The spaces had to be well thought-out, too: our art department was under heavy constraints and we needed to make the most out of every single space while maintaining a sense of constant progression through the map.
I will now break down the design process of my level's very first area. The idea was to create a space that was small but with plenty of verticality and gameplay variety in it. Pacing was also a huge factor, as I strove to give players a great balance of exploration, combat, and light puzzle-solving.
The first step was gathering visual references, both from similar games and especially from rocky natural landscapes and our own team's environment concept arts. I then created the first layout:
Lighter colors imply higher terrain. Black represents untraversable terrain.
THE MAIN PATH
Players enter the area and fight a few enemies, then explore to find a door (1) that's locked from the other side and another door locked by three timed triggers (2), of which only two are accessible at the moment.
They then explore further and do some platforming to reach the other side of the first door and open it. Immediately after this, a big combat ensues in the central area from which the player came in.
After the fight, players can now solve the second door puzzle: standing on a particular spot, they can quickly shoot the three timed triggers (the last being now available through the opened first door).
With the second door now open, players can explore further. To the right, there's a secondary path where they can obtain some power-ups. To the left, some platforming through the highest part of the level will take them to the exit.
ITERATION
After a first rough blockout, many playtesting sessions took place and led to plenty of changes, mainly to improve the readability and difficulty of this area. Some of these changes were:
Moved the entrance so players could more easily see the exit from it and have a clear objective from the beginning.
Eliminated the skirmish before opening the first door. Players were coming from a big final combat in the previous level, so they needed a longer breather between fights.
The time to activate the second door's three triggers was extended. The triggers themselves were repositioned to make the puzzle easier to read.
The optional area on the right was made smaller and a bit more hidden so that it better reflected its secondary path status.
The platforming section on the final part was changed to a simple walk. Falling down during this section wasn't a big problem, since it was specifically designed so players could go back to trying in a matter of seconds — at this stage, though, users felt like they had done enough in this area, so I gave them a more reliable way out. That way, I didn't risk ruining their sense of accomplishment at the last moment.
After locking down the blockout process, the art team entered and did a first pass on the area. From there on, the adjustments were minimal and had more to do with pure gameplay elements, such as the intensity of the combat (number of rounds, types of enemies, etc...).
GAMEPLAY
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