Level Design – Kismet

I’ve posted a few examples of my Kismet usage – I’ve used it for player tracking, cinematic setup with up to 10+ camera tracks, and bot scripting as well.  Below are the examples, and anyone familiar with Kismet will see exactly what I was going for with these examples!

Some bot patrol pathing

Combat situation setups

Using Kismet for cinematics

Level Design – Without You

Tasked with creating a mission-based level, my design focused more on the story and cyclical progression of the player through the level to accomplish tasks and revisit certain parts of the area.  In that, the ‘U District’ is a close, compacted area filled with places for the player to visit and gain information, close enough that revisiting an area isn’t a burden on the players’ time.

The level was designed in Google Sketchup, as it was primarily a pre-concept for a storytelling vehicle, with the level design catering to the needs of the player in context of the story progression.

Download the full pictorial walk-through here

A coffee shop, used to practice investigation techniques, and a hub for the book-based puzzles in the level

Overview of the community park, looking out on the city. Park allowed for a side-mission (chess) that could unlock further content in the school library

The University. At the end of a series of bookstores and curio shops, the U District is shadowed by this old school

Level Design – CTF WaspsNest

In WaspsNest, my classmate Malcolm and I were challenged to design a map that would accommodate 18-20 players, and make it pop with some ‘wow’ factor.  We took the tack of creating something claustrophobic, with tight passages for close combat, hidden passages for weapon refreshes, and a big, open centre area that allowed for high-powered gunfights, with the ever-present threat of the lava pit that kept the room well-lit.

My role on the project was pre-concept, then lighting, decoration, and paper map overview. The lighting scheme was to have Blue/Red bases designated by the lighting, allowing the player a visual cue that kept them in the game, even if the terrain was laid out to specifically cause chaos during the flag take/return portion of the game.

WaspsNest technical overview

In-Editor overview of WaspsNest being built

Close combat area in the Blue Base

The open centre area. The bridge offers a sniper rifle drop to the very brave

A side passage in the Red Base, leading to an ammo refresh area