Rebel Scum is a Star Wars inspired FPS campaign map set on the frozen planet of Suund. It takes place after the fall of The Empire. Rebel soldier Amon Vaars has picked up a weak imperial signal and set out to scout. On the planet awaits both wildlife and Imperials that have to be dealt with.
Specification: My Contributions: Tools:
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Studio: None
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Development time: 30 days
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Engine: Unreal engine
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Team size: solo
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Game design
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Level design & dressing
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3D modeling
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Narrative design
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Scripting/Programming
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Cinematics
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VFX
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Unreal Engine
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Autodesk Maya
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Adobe Photoshop
Design & Scripting
Earliest sketch, Traditional "8"-flow
With heavy inspiration from the Titanfall series, the overall design challenges the player in both tests of agility and dexterity as well as light and heavy combat. It has a clear difficulty curve and a narrative that goes with it hand in hand; as the player discovers more and more of the imperial presence the game gets harder and harder and more focused on combat, less so on jumping challenges.
Core mechanics:
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Double jumping with jetpack
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Wallrunning on specific platforms
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Rapid fire from hip
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Long range fire from Iron sight
Additional mechanics:
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Narrative and cinematic events
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Ziplines and Minecarts
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Sniper A.I
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Melee A.I
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Soldier A.I
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Dog tag achievements
When designing the level I wanted to introduce the final area as a landmark early on. The goal is to make it to the comm array, it can be seen from the very first moment of the game in the distance. I wanted the player to start mapping out the world early on.
But as with any good game, I couldn't allow the player to access the final area in just a few minutes. As the player gets closer to the comm array, another structure appears up on a mountain; the power station. Its cables are streching through the world in order to draw the players attention.
When they make it to the comm array the first time they will get a prompt that there is no power and they have to make it up to the power station in order to get into the comm array. In order to quickly get the player back I created a loop back to the comm array from the power station through a zipline.
Light combat, wallrun and jetpack jump
The first Dog tag collected
The first zipline/gate in the game
Entering the mine on a cart
I wanted to define the different sections of the game to a degree that the player would feel they've changed both pacing, scenery and playstyle. For this purpose I divided the level into three sections. The first being more focused on basic dexterity challenges, light combat and snowy mountains. The second on ranged combat, narrow paths and a crystal filled cavern. Last but not least: the third being heavy combat and a cinematical exit in the comm array, starting from a zipline loop back from the power station. Giving the player the "return from the journey"-feeling, ready to take on the larger threat - so to speak.
When designing the third section, I felt It needed something more. The player ziplines back from the power station and makes it up to the array again. But in order to make the game feel more alive and responsive I added a progression trigger. This hits when the first tie fighters fly in through a cinematic, just before the player ziplines down. The progression trigger spawns troopers along the path up to the comm array, where the player previously has been. So after the player ziplines from the power station, the previously safe areas have been populated with new challenges.
Activating the power and triggering alarm
Along the road
On the tenth day the project data got corrupt. I managed to save an old version of the level, but all my functionality was broken. This created an opportunity to rethink the way I did my systems. I based the new A.I on the old baseline but with a modular approach. Thanks to this I could easily create two new types of A.I: the sniper and the beast. The modular approach was to essentially create a base class for A.I and allow new types to be create as instances from this. I could then choose, from a selection of open variables and functions, how the instance would work. I also added a disintegration shader that melts the enemy when they die for a more responsive and juicy death.
I also made several improvements to the overall level flow. By adding mine carts to the mine, additional ziplines, better framing for the players sightlines and so on. Below follows a full playthrough of the level in which you can see the final product.
All A.I in the test chamber
Full playthrough