Project Goal
My goal for this project was to create a portion of a singleplayer FPS level that emulates the feel and flow of the areas and levels found in Titanfall 2 and it was entirely meant to be a personal learning experience for me.
This was one of my first independent level-design projects, so to me, this project was less about the final product and more about learning about my current skillset at the time of designing the level to reflect on what skills and design principles I had to prioritize improving on first, before trying out larger or more ambitious independent projects.
This blockout contains the first 1/4 of the mission, where players are tasked with escaping from the IMC patrols located within the collapsing city. Their goal is to reach the gates leading out of the city, which would lead to the next section of the level.
Level Playthrough
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
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.
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.