Jordan Cordina
Junior Level Designer

The Facility

Genre: Stealth (First-person)
Players: Singleplayer
Platform: PC
Status: ​Released Prototype

Contributions

Position: Level Designer
Team Size: Solo
Using: Unreal Engine 4
Duration: 3 months

Responsibilities

  • ​Sole designer from concept to final blockout 
  • Utilised visual scripting for events and story beats​
  • Used architectural techniques to guide player movement solely via the environment
  • Iterated and evolved level over seven stages based on player feeback

Gameplay Summary

  • The Facility concept was a first-person stealth-action game, with a low-tech 60's spy films theme
  • Level is linear and low-action, featuring multiple stealth routes
  • The player starts without equipment, forcing them to rely on stealth
  • The mission is to covertly infiltrate 'The Facility', using tall grass​ to stay hidden​

Contents

  1. Design Goals
  2. Level Breakdown
  3. The Beach - Technique Breakdown
  4. The Cave - Technique Breakdown
  5. The Cove - Technique Breakdown
  6. ​Major Iterations
  7. Reflections

Design Goals

From an early stage my design goals for the blockout were:
  • Encouraging player movement solely through environmental cues
  • Creating a sense of mystery as players unravel the Facility's purpose​
  • ​Building tension to enhance the danger and make payoffs feel great
  • ​Introducing the crouching and stealth mechanic to players

Level Breakdown

  • Level features exploration and stealth sections
  • Story beats and scripted events feature heavily in the first half
  • Architectural techniques used to increase impact of level beats
  • Stealth section features risk and rewards routes

The BEach - Technique Breakdown

Environmental cues lead the players attention towards the next story beat. Level geometry blocks view of distant and nearby boat.
A view of a distant ship and a scripted tugboat moving from right to left, guiding players to the next view.
A second view is blocked by geometry, revealing a switchback route when turning around. Light guides the player to the next area.

The Cave - Technique Breakdown

Lighting implies a false path ahead. Instead the floor collapses, breaking player expectation and building tension. The pickaxe and earlier crystal-story beat also hint at a sinister purpose behind the island's operations.
The player is forced to reorient themselves and find the way forward. The shape and properties of the environment funnel the player towards the exit.
Small tunnel requires crouching to enter. Gunshot audio creates a sense of danger  that builds tension further. The tight space contrasts with the open view that follows, increasing the vista's emotional impact.

The Cove - Technique Breakdown

An elevated vista gives players an overview of the cove area, offering a choice of high and low-risk routes. The view is made more emotionally impactful from design techniques set up in prior areas.
The route on the left of the vista branches, offering multiple lower-risk paths, with environmental storytelling visible along the route.
The beachside route to the right is the quickest but riskiest route to the facility, rewarding skilled players.
A hidden route behind a building can be discovered when travelling one of the low-risk paths. Environmental cues link it to the facility and invite players to explore it.
A final vista is offered atop the facility steps, rewarding players with a view of the challenge they overcame​ before moving onto the next part of the level.

Iterations

Beach

Initial beach - silhouette and arch good but feedback showed it looks like a dead end
​Final beach - driftwood points player towards cave, raised sand inside cave shows there's more to it (subtle)

Cove

Initial cove - playtest showed the destination was unclear - too much emphasis on the boat
Mid cove - linear route, firing range could be emphasised, facility not clear enough, raised ground obstructive
Fin cove - multiple points of interest, POIs emphasised, clear silhouette and contrast for factory, multiple routes

Reflections

Copyright - Jordan Cordina - 2024