Isolated - Singleplayer Titanfall-Inspired FPS Mission
Project Length: 2 Months | Team Size: Solo Project | Tools Used: Unity, FPS-Engine Asset Pack | Role/s: Level Design, Systems Design, Narrative Design
Overview: A movement/parkour single-player FPS level, made in Unity, set in my concept for Titanfall 3 campaign.
Level Showcase:
Mission Narrative: In this story mission, players take control of an unnamed Militia pilot left in a collapsing and flooding city on an unnamed planet abandoned by both factions after the end of the Frontier War. Left with no titan and few weapons, they must escape the remnants of the city still under IMC control and find both their titan and the remaining Militia troops; otherwise, their hopes of escaping the planet and returning to the Frontier would be futile.
This blockout contains the first 1/4 of the mission, where players are tasked with escaping from the IMC camps located within the city. Their goal is to reach the gates leading out of the city which would lead into the next section of the level.
Level Playthrough
FloodTown_Demo.mp4Design Goals
Subtle Guidance & Smooth Flow:
I wanted each encounter to smoothly transition into the next by foreshadowing the next encounter and allowing players to use their intuition to figure out how they need to get there while offering areas that are still linear enough to funnel the player to where they're supposed to go. Since this is meant to be a story mission, allowing some non-linearity is good for the player experience, but the design is still meant to lead all players to the same area at the end of an encounter.
Multiple Approaches to Encounters:
I wanted to try designing each beat in a way that presents players with an area where they can see most (but not all) of that section of the level and give them the chance to decide their approach. While the intention is still to guide them towards the next level beat, I wanted to offer subtle ways that players can use their own style during traversal-focused sections of the level and in combat-focused sections by offering cover-to-cover areas that encourage stealth or slower-paced tactical fighting while still having an environment that players can sprint and zip through to quickly take out enemies guns-blazing if they want to.
Recreating the "Titanfall Feeling":
One goal that I knew would be a challenge to take on was to modify the asset pack character controller and re-balance some of its values to feel more slick and fast like pilots do in Titanfall since the aim was to design a level experience that feels like a Titanfall campaign mission. By playtesting and tinkering with the player's movement stats, I was able to get pretty close to the feeling while adding my own flair (triple boost jump.)
Level Design Process:
Level Pre-Production:
For this project, I began by familiarizing myself with the tools I was using (the character controller) while sketching out some very rough ideas of how I wanted the level to flow (see Figure 01). I was focused more on the feeling of the level and how I wanted the encounters to play out more than where it was taking place and what the context of the level was. This design was started with a gameplay-first focus.
I began working on the first iteration of the blockout (see Figures 02-04). Originally, the area that is currently the end of the level was intended to be the introduction, as I tried to focus on adapting what I had drawn, but after creating a version based on the drawing and doing some initial playtesting, I wasn't getting the results I wanted, so I tried again,
Figure 01: First Draft Sketch
Early Prototyping & Testing:
After the initial playtest which focused on the movement since enemy AI wasn't implemented yet, I shifted my focus from making a random Titanfall-inspired level to really focusing on making something while envisioning what it would be if it were to be included in a future Titanfall title. From there, I was able to tear apart the level and start anew.
I expanded the level and scrapped many parts that didn't flow well or didn't fit this more focused iteration of the level and began fleshing out new encounter ideas while trying my best to take the flow of each encounter and the background narrative context into account.
After completing this new iteration and running some playtests again with enemy AI also implemented this time however, I wasn't able to get the enemy AI to be fully functional so the current iteration of them serves to act as placeholders to demonstrate enemy placement and density in each encounter. The results of these playtests were much better, and many of my original goals were met. With just a little more work, I ended up with the version that can be seen in the playthrough above. While I'd love to continue fleshing out this project and even the broader concept of my own ideas for levels and lore for my version of a future Titanfall storyline, I met my design goals and learned a lot from this project, and I'm ready to apply my learning onto future projects.
Takeaways:
Creating a project with an existing IP and its constraints isn't as easy as I initially thought. It was interesting to try, and I'd love to do a project like this again, working on an IP I love and creating an experience that challenges me to utilize my level and narrative design skills.
Sometimes the key to the level experience feeling right lies not only in the level itself but also in the character controller and the way the player interacts with the game world. This was one thing that I knew wasn't 1:1 with the actual Titanfall experience, but I tried my best, and I'm satisfied with the character controller I used and how it feels in my level. I think it's as close as I can get to feeling like Titanfall on my own.
Having narrative guidelines for level design can help improve the level flow and consistency of the overall design and layout. In my first iteration, it was all over the place with a lack of cohesion because of the lack of focus in my design intention, but in my second attempt, with a newfound narrative focus and idea in mind, I was able to create a level that flowed well between each area, and all felt consistent with the ideas I had in mind for the levels narrative and setting.