Project: Unreal Engine (University project)
Role: Designer, programmer, cinematics
About
This project was to create a Metroidvania style game with around 20 – 30 minutes play time from beginning to end including replay-ability. I had a great time designing the level layout for this one, with it being a Metroidvania I wanted the player to be able to have a bit of freedom in which order they could collect new abilities. This brought on some challenges as I had to consider the player having any given ability in each area. For the replay-ability I designed the layout so the player could find secrets if they backtracked but now have access to areas previously blocked due to having new abilities. I also created an accompanying trailer using Unreal engine cameras and editing in Premier Pro to showcase the game’s story and mechanics which can be seen above. I went for a grainy PlayStation One era style to give a retro effect to the trailer.
Skills Used
Unreal Engine Blueprints
Level, mechanic and tech design
Cinematography
Table of Contents
Game Documentation
Below is a PDF of the game’s documentation, click the two arrows pointing right on the right hand side of the box to bring up the tools menu and select presentation mode for better viewing.
Research and prototyping
- I researched previously released Metroidvania games such as Guacamelee, Blasphemous, Shantae Half Genie Hero and of course Castlevania Symphony of the night. This was to understand what made those games stand out from the crowd, what worked or didn’t work so well etc and then come up with my own ideas and analyse the scope for each one.
- I was given a template of the game’s basic mechanics such as assets, the main character and the enemies. I began by playing around with the mechanics in Unreal Engine by setting up basic geometry boxes and placing them into a map and placing the characters down. This was to test the feel of the characters/enemies and how I would balance the difficulty by tweaking the speeds and jump height of the main character and enemies. After a while I began to make a few sketches of what I wanted the location to look like.
- I mocked up a quick representation of what the world layout would look like in the finished game. The player starts off making their way to the castle as an introduction to the games basic mechanics. Once inside the castle then the game would properly begin and introduce challenges in difficulty.
- I sketched out an idea of how the areas would be placed inside of the castle. The idea was that the merchant area would be the focal point in the centre, making it easy for the player to gain their bearings and not to get lost. This room would branch off to three areas containing a boss and a new ability. The way to the final boss area is also in that area, so the player could see an end goal straight away:
- Next was to start creating the new abilities found in each area and to test them against the enemies so the difficulty/fun could be balanced correctly with the environments and pacing. Once this had been done I started to make drafts of the levels:
Blueprints
- Once planning had been done, I worked in Unreal Engine 5 for a couple of months using all of the tools available to make the concept come to life. This included making my own blueprints for enemy attacks and the player abilities shown below:
Trailer/cinematography
- Last of all was to create a trailer for the game (shown at the top of the page). Here is a storyboard sketch showing the concept:
Video Playthrough
- Below is a video playthrough of the game where I talk about the design process: