Metro-inspired FPS Level
SUMMARY/IDEA
This level is inspired by Left 4 Dead and Metro. It is set in a subway with two stations and tunnels. You need to find a way out of the subway.
With these games in mind the choice of creating a zombie game with a subway setting is the best of both worlds.
Creating a refined blockout experience was the focus.
SPECIFICATIONS
Engine/Tools: Unreal Engine (4.26.2), Maya 2022, Blockout Tools Plugin, Low Poly shooter Pack Sample
Time: 7 Weeks (halftime)
Genre: First Person Shooter
Reference game(s): Left 4 Dead, Metro 2033
OVERVIEW
LEVEL FLOWCHART
LEVEL DESIGN PRINCIPLES
1. FORESHADOWING
The first platform is an important foreshadowing moment in the level, the player can see a bright green light, and water leaking from the ceiling as well as their goal.
2 & 2.1 LEADING LIGHTS
The most noticeable light are the flaming barrels, it gives away environmental storytelling, other survivors have been here and are helping others to find the way out.
As the player jumps down on the train tracks and heads through the first tunnel, they will notice a traffic light, that also flickers. The light flickers make it more noticable and to look inviting for players.
3. POINT OF NO RETURN - THE DROP
As stated before, I wanted to experiment with elevation and added a broken tunnel. It turned into a point of no return to show progress and the player to be on the same altitude as the first subway station.
4. BAIT AND SWITCH
Creating a Slussen (subway station in Sweden, Stockholm) inspired station made sense, this can also let the player explore a bit more, if they choose to walk past the first set of stairs out of curiosity, they may pick up a healthkit and to prevent backtracking, they may take the second set of stairs to reach the ticket hall despite taking the first.
ENEMY ENCOUNTERS
I wanted to let the player explore at a calm pace and not get too distracted with enemies, therefore they will not encounter any enemies at the first subway platform.
The player will start to encounter a handful of enemies at the first maintenance room. They will encounter more enemies in their journey through the maintenance halls.
As the player drops down through the broken tunnel, I added a small group of zombies that spawn right behind the player and chases them, this was made to make the player feel trapped/claustrophobic.
This last act involves running water through the last tunnel. This was added to remind the player that they are close to their destination. A horde of zombies will spawn and start to chase the player.
It also made sense to decrease the player’s walkspeed in the water, to add a last climax.
PROCESS
I started off by looking at the dimensions of a C14 train from Stockholm. I also had an asset pack with similar train and tunnel dimensions. This made things much easier to blockout/whitebox the trains and model the tunnels in Maya.
I made a rough sketch to get an idea of how the level would look like and started with the rough blockout. Creating elevations was tricky at first however experimenting with a maintenance room, modeling a broken tunnel and letting the player to walk through a train created much more dynamic in the level.
After a lot of feedback, I knew players would feel lost with all the different tunnels and maintenance room, so I chose to create a point of no return to show progress.
I also wanted the player to see the tunnel filled with water to add a foreshadowing moment. This would later mean that the player would be close to the end once they reach the water filled tunnel.
As soon as the refined blockout was done, I started with lighting and post process. Since lighting plays a huge role in this project, I spent most of my time trying to get the right feeling at the level as well as to find a way to guide the player through the level.
I also added a flashlight because I knew the level would be dark in some areas.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I really enjoyed this project, and am really satisfied with the outcome.
I have had a few indoor environment assignments but barely lighting so it was a perfect opportunity to learn about it.
I found it very enjoyable and would love to learn more about it too. I was very thankful for the blockout tool which led to faster iterations. With their grid material it made it much easier to get a feeling for metrics and scale.
There is always room for improvement and the ones I would implement were mostly AI related, give the zombies the ability to climb, different zombie types, a boomer style zombie, or a crawling perhaps.