06 - UE4 Blockout Project - Castle Level Design (2 week progression / deadline) by Chris Lomax

 06 - UE4 Blockout Project

25/02/2021 - I was given this two week project on Thursday 11th February 2021 (with the deadline being today at 14:30). For the assignment we had to create a level design based on either a castle, a bridge or ruins. After a lot of thinking, I decided to go ahead with the castle. I thought a lot about what type of game I wanted this castle to fit into. I considered a list of different things such as: is it a Safe Zone? An Enemy Castle? A Puzzle game? A FPS? I decided to go ahead with an oblivion type game. However, the castle / location itself would be a safe zone (with no enemies in). Upon creating my castle, I did a lot of research on a variety of different games such as: Genshin Impact, Final Fantasy 14, World of Warcraft, Oblivion, Chivalry, and the map "Cobblestone" from the game Counter Strike. With the majority of the listed games above, I went to the cities safe zones to see what they contained and I saw a pattern that in those types of games, they always have a safe zone that the player can always go back to, to either buy & sell items or save the game. So instead of creating a level design where you just kill enemies, I was delighted to give myself a challenge in creating as peaceful level and give it a life by having movement in the zone.

With this assignment we were introduced to visual scripting (blueprints). However, from self-studying I have already used two of these in my previous project so it was great to learn more blueprints I can utilize in my future levels. In our level design, we had to have at least one moving object. We were all taught how to create a moving gate. Instead of just having one moving object in my level and to make the level more interesting and engaging. I decided to add some more moving objects. I have some of the npcs that walk up and down on the X axis and some on the Y axis too, depending on where they are positioned. I have a lift that moves up and down allowing the player to see the level from a different view. When the player enters the inn, a song triggers and when they leave, it goes off. And lastly, I put a portal in the level too, so when the player walks into the portal, they are teleported back to the front gate of the castle. (I would have this teleportation to a different location like maybe a dungeon or another safe zone city if it was developed further, but for reference I put it at the start of the castle).

Please see below a few images of the castle level I have created a long with the video which is on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ61r-QhLLg&feature=youtu.be