Test Subject Facility

Design Conditions

Level is designed to be the tutorial level for a first-person horror game, where the player character has the following abilities:

• Darkvision. Can toggle on/off the ability to see in dark areas, but only in shades of grey. While on, continuously consumed Darkvision Energy (you restore this energy when this ability is not in use).

• Merge. Certain objects can be merged into. While merged, player cannot move, cannot be detected by enemies, and has natural Darkvision (always on, no energy consumption).

• Focus/Hold Breath. Can hold breath, which continuously consumes Stamina, to highlight nearby objects that can be Merged into.

Thoughts Throughout Designing

The objective of this linear level is simple: get to the end. It's a tutorial level, so it should introduce the player to the game's mechanics.

To simplify things, I broke the level into sections where each ability could be explored. I made a room where Darkvision is useful, and a room where Merge is mandatory and Focus/Hold Breath is useful. After blocking it out and walking through it though, I felt that the player was given little justification for not using Darkvision.

After some more thinking, I stuck with the level having three rooms; an additional room was added to demonstrate that using Darkvision all the time is not the best idea, as the inability to see colours could lead to trouble when solving puzzles.

To further help guide the player, each room would have dialogue from a scientist instructing the player which ability to use (or not use).

Abandoned Lab

Design Conditions

• There must be at least three areas included in the level for each type of combat: short, mid, and long range.

• It must include a "Key and Door" puzzle, where the player must obtain a "key" to then be used to open a "door" and complete the level. This should be done without making it a literal key and door.

• The aforementioned puzzle must have at least five steps.

Completed Level Steps

The gameplay mechanics I used as a basis for the level were a lightly modified version to Call of Duty: Zombies. The steps to completing the level are as followed, though some steps were intentionally made to be able to be completed before others.

1. Grab the Battery in the Storage Room.

2. Insert the Battery into the Teleporter Room.

3. Shoot the glass container holding the Sacrifice, and then pick the Sacrifice up.

4. Shoot the Knife lodged in the ceiling of the Main Hallway, and pick it up once it has fallen.

5. Place the Sacrifice on the table in the Conference Room.

6. Interact with the placed Sacrifice (after retrieving the Knife).

7. Grab the USB Key from the secret compartment in the Conference Room.

8. Insert the USB Key into the main computer in the Teleporter Room.

9. Go through the open Teleporter.